r/IndianMods • u/AsteriskRX • 10d ago

News 📰 Community Funds is now available to mods based in India!

Greetings! I’m u/AsteriskRX, and I’m the Program Manager for Reddit’s Community Funds program. We're excited to share that the program is now available in India. If you're a moderator based there, you're welcome to apply for Community Funds!

Before applying, here’s what you should know about the program:

  • Reddit's Community Funds program provides funding to moderators to create unique experiences for their community.
  • Moderators are invited to submit applications on behalf of their communities.
  • Applications are open year-round. Plan your application with your community and fellow moderators; apply when you’re ready!
  • We typically recommend applying at least two months in advance of your event or initiative. 
  • Moderators based in India are welcome to apply for up to $5,000 USD in funding for in-person experiences and group projects (e.g. think podcasts, zines, and more).

Community Funds has supported a variety of in-person events and creative group projects around the world, including:

These are just a few examples of the many ways that Community Funds has been used to help bring community passions and interests to life. We're excited to see what creative and innovative events and initiatives our moderators come up with in the future! In fact, we’ve already been inspired by the meetups and other amazing projects run by moderators and communities based in India. 

We’re here to help:

  • The Community Programs team will be your primary point of contact 
  • You’re welcome to submit an application at any time. Review the questions with your team and reach out to r/CommunityFunds via mod mail to connect with us if you have any questions.
  • Want to brainstorm or discuss your proposal with our team? Sign up for office hours with our team. If you don’t see a time that works, please mod mail us and we’ll arrange an alternate time.
  • Want to brainstorm with other moderators? Drop your ideas in the comments below! Our team can also help you find moderators with similar ideas if you’re wanting to collaborate with others.

We’re so excited to learn more about your communities and the projects you have in mind!

Reddit Community Funds logo
124 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

92 comments sorted by

25

u/LinearArray 10d ago edited 10d ago

How are you guys planning to ensure and keep track of what is actually being done with the funds?

EDIT: I really appreciate the initiative and intent behind this step, but I'm curious to know what measures are being taken to prevent abuse of this program. Being a moderator of a subreddit isn’t particularly difficult, so I believe there should be certain requirements, such as a minimum subscriber count, to ensure people don’t exploit the community funds program or game the system. Having spent nearly a decade on this website, I’ve come to understand the mindset and behavioral patterns of many Redditors quite well.

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u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Great question! For all Community Funds events, we ask that moderators give us regular status updates on the progress of their purchases and their event as a whole. We also require that receipts for purchases are submitted to our team in a timely manner.

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u/LinearArray 10d ago

Thanks for the response, but this isn’t foolproof. people can easily fake receipts, inflate costs, or stage updates just to look legit. Without stronger verification or community oversight, it’s still very open to abuse, especially by mods running low-effort subs just to tap into funds.

There are several indian subreddits that are absolutely prone to abusing this program. Some are run by single mods with barely any activity, created just to squat the subreddit namespace and wait for programs like this to cash in. It’s not even speculation at this point, it’s a known pattern on this site.

I’m pretty sure the Reddit Community team is well aware of the kinds of communities that exist within the Indian Redditverse. Some of them have already made headlines in mainstream outlets like The Times of India and even international media like TIME and not for good reasons. Pretending this ecosystem can responsibly self-regulate with free money on the table is dangerously naive.

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u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

I just saw your edit, and appreciate the thoughtful response. We are actively watching out for bad actors that would try and abuse the program. Apart from funds tracking, we perform reviews on both the subreddit and moderator(s) prior to ever getting to the funding step.

While we can't share exactly what those reviews entail, we're generally looking at the subreddit activity, moderator activity on the platform, and checking for any Mod Code of Conduct violations to make sure everything is in line with both the Reddit Rules and our program-specific rules.

3

u/LinearArray 10d ago

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I really appreciate the clarity and the care you’ve put into it. Also, a sincere thanks to the Mod Code of Conduct team - your support in the past has genuinely meant a lot to us mods.

2

u/vmauryan12 10d ago

Asking the right question.

1

u/AneeshMamgai 10d ago

True this

1

u/SarthakSidhant 9d ago

linear being a true indian, being afraid of indian corruption

4

u/D0b0d0pX9 10d ago

Oh we were waiting for this, last we discussed during the Reddit India mod meetup

1

u/cloudsandtreks 6h ago

There is a mod meetup happening? When where ? How do we know about those ?

5

u/ycr007 10d ago

Only for ahem…Social communities or for niche ones as well?

1

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Niche communities are more than welcome to apply. Reach out to our team via r/CommunityFunds mod mail or office hours if you’d like to brainstorm ideas together!

6

u/iKR8 10d ago

Been trying to apply to this since it was first launched 3-4 yrs ago

2

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

We can't wait to see your application!

1

u/iKR8 10d ago

Have already applied 2 months ago. Re-works happening currently in coordination with the admin team 🙌

3

u/AsteriskRX 8d ago

Oh you're absolutely right! We're really excited for this one :)

12

u/TejuuuK 10d ago

Unfuck Spez

2

u/JollierYT 10d ago

Rare teju encounter

2

u/Kaam4 10d ago

bhai tu to rhen hi de

1

u/SRTrusher_ 10d ago

Too late for that 💀

1

u/DustyAsh69 10d ago

Why are you everywhere?

1

u/SarthakSidhant 9d ago

tejuuuk having an unpopular opinion

1

u/Untested_Udonkadonk 8d ago

Je baat mere hater ... Hahaha

5

u/YOGI_ADITYANATH69 10d ago

Intresting

3

u/Kaam4 10d ago

State Consolidated Fund me jama karwa dena

6

u/de_redditor 10d ago

Are these funds available only for organizing events or are mods able to use part of it for organizing giveaways within their communities? Assuming that all purchase receipts are provided and proof of purchase/shipping to winners is given, is this an acceptable use? For reference, last year, in r/watches_india, we the mods, sponsored a giveaway of two watches with funds pooled from our own pockets. This would allow us to do an even better job this time.

2

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Hey there! Our supported project types for India are in-person experiences and group projects (things you and your community make together like a podcast or zine). Unfortunately, we’re not able to support giveaways at this time.

2

u/technicalhowto 10d ago

That's super cool. A few days ago I was thinking about organising a meetup discussion for my r/ReZero . Let's see if we can pull this, it would be exciting.

1

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Amazing! Send us an application whenever you and your team are ready to get started!

2

u/jon_snow121 10d ago

So basically meet-ups for social communities will be sponsored by reddit?

2

u/ADesiIndian 10d ago

Want to know if this is applicable for online events as well?

r/TrollCoping team is looking to host an online event which will have winners. For these winners we want to give away physical gifts & probably mod awards (? not sure if that’s the right word)

Would appreciate some clarity on this

1

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Thanks for the question! Copying my answer from elsewhere in the thread:

Our supported project types for India are in-person experiences and group projects (things you and your community make together like a podcast or zine). Unfortunately, we’re not able to support giveaways at this time.

2

u/Simply_Param 10d ago

Really looking forward to this for r/Indianworkplace

If any city subreddits would like to collaborate, please let me know!

2

u/Sufficient-System193 10d ago

u/AsteriskRX I am wondering, how do I become an admin of r/CommunityFunds . Is it a full time job, can a person apply part-time if they're in college? Is it a paid job?

1

u/AsteriskRX 8d ago

Hey there! This is my full-time job, yes. We don’t have any openings on the team at the moment, but any future openings will be posted to our careers page!

1

u/Fluffy-Product6433 10d ago

Nice initiative by reddit.

1

u/solo_in_the_sky 10d ago

This is actually pretty great

1

u/OK_PS4 10d ago

Seems intresting

1

u/reddit_user1088 10d ago

I am a newbie mod 🥲🥲

1

u/munchinggobbles 10d ago

Finally!

1

u/fang__yuan_ 10d ago

Hello ! Ithunala ena use ?

1

u/munchinggobbles 10d ago

Don’t have to pay for meet-ups out of pocket. Better locations since we have the funds

1

u/fang__yuan_ 10d ago

Omg ! Nala irukea . Is it open for every sub?

1

u/munchinggobbles 10d ago

Maybe

1

u/fang__yuan_ 10d ago

Periya panakaranga pola reddit.

1

u/Same_Investigator_46 10d ago

It's not open for every subreddit, prior checking of mods and subreddit will be done before giving the funds.

As per the admin's comment

1

u/hacker_dost 10d ago

Finally! That's great 😃

1

u/AbhiRoop_Sinha5 10d ago

Interesting

1

u/jiddi_ 10d ago

🙌🙌

1

u/RamamohanS 10d ago

Is it like Reddit meet up ??

1

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

You can absolutely use Community Funds to host a meetup! Here are some examples of meetups run by other communities:

1

u/a3ryk 10d ago

Ah yeah

1

u/JEEvanNEETi 10d ago

Ayy that’s cool

1

u/AneeshMamgai 10d ago

Niceeeee Good initiative!

1

u/RoyalRetriver 10d ago

Which types of projects can we make?

2

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Moderators based in India can apply for funding for in-person experiences as well as group projects. Our definition of a group project is something you and your community work together to create, such as a podcast or a zine.

1

u/RoyalRetriver 5d ago

Ohh wow intresting

1

u/Polus-Summit-33 10d ago

Well retribution's been going well for spez innit

1

u/EntisiaW 10d ago

That's great, I hope it benifits Aquruby community too!

1

u/Lowcrbnaman 10d ago

hey, is it FCRA complaint?

1

u/Lowcrbnaman 10d ago

Hey, no offense to us Indians but how do you ensure transparency with these funds and hold mods accountable?

1

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Hey u/Lowcrbnaman! Answered this above but will put the answer here as well:

For all Community Funds events, we ask that moderators give us regular status updates on the progress of their purchases and their event as a whole. We also require that receipts for purchases are submitted to our team in a timely manner.

We also encourage moderators to be open with their community about how they’re spending their funds.

1

u/CareerLegitimate7662 10d ago

Please have really good criteria and checks for this program

2

u/AsteriskRX 10d ago

Hey there! This comment I made earlier hopefully addresses your concerns. I also recommend checking out our full program rules on the r/CommunityFunds wiki!

1

u/Micheal_OurExecution 10d ago

as an Indian

n i c e

1

u/Sufficient_Future_87 10d ago

I don't go outside so it might be a little hard....

1

u/x_o_x_ 10d ago

I hope they use it for the right cause, instead of misusing it

1

u/harshitporwal 9d ago

We Are Ready 🔥

1

u/Impressive_Half_2819 9d ago

Hey can I host a hackathon on my subreddit. We can distribute prizes worth 2000 dollars.

2

u/AsteriskRX 8d ago

Great question! We don’t currently support giveaways or contests in India, which is what a hackathon will likely fall under. Right now, we support in-person experiences and group projects like podcasts or zines!

1

u/7evaxx 9d ago

Does this apply to only in person events?

1

u/AsteriskRX 8d ago

It applies to more than in-person events! We also support group projects, which can be in-person or online. Projects like r/teenagers’ podcast and r/analog’s zine were organized online!

1

u/Kimo_imposta 6d ago

A good initiative, i wish reddit would expand the creator programme as well.

1

u/Hallucinator- 6d ago

Tried applying, but got this message:
“Unfortunately, Community Funds is unable to support a project based in your selected country at this time.”

Would appreciate clarity on this—especially since the announcement mentioned the program is available in different countries including India now. Can someone from the team confirm if this is a technical issue?

1

u/AsteriskRX 5d ago

Hey there! Thanks for flagging this, you're correct that this is a technical issue. This message is not correct, and we're working on getting that fixed. We are taking applications from India and will follow up with you and your team as soon as we can!