Crowdfunding OpenStreetMap data in Mumbai

Update - I've successfully raised ₹20,000! Here's to an ever-improving OSM. 🍷

Premise

Hi, it's contrapunctus — the free software activist, OpenStreetMap surveyor, and mapping party organizer.

For the past few years, I've been trying to realize my dream of contributing to OpenStreetMap for a living, in order to spend more time improving it while also being able to survive. Here's my latest attempt at tackling this problem.

The task

I was recently in Mumbai and I took over 300 geotagged photos there. These can be used to add -

  • ~350 POIs (~150 in Lokhandwala, 65 in Oshiwara/Jogeshwari, and the rest scattered around western Mumbai)
  • ~150 building levels (improves 3D maps in Organic Maps and elsewhere; I'll also add building parts, and improve the building geometry if needed)
  • 17 shop phone numbers
  • 16 shop addresses
  • 18 named landuse areas (apartment complexes and commercial areas)
  • 15 missing buildings
  • 3 street names
  • Miscellaneous details like street lamps, surveillance cameras, sidewalks, etc

It will take me up to 20 hours to add this data.

Can we raise ₹20k INR (= €224 = $237) to fund this task by the 20th of December 2024?

If you have any issues or questions, do let me know. Let's make this happen!

Who has donated?

TFed ₹10,978 ($130)
Ceda EI ₹2544
PlaneMad ₹2,222
Amanda ₹1,691 ($20)
orthocircular ₹1,268 ($15)
sahilister ₹1,000
Projjal
Geominds ₹100
badrihippo ₹25
NLBRT ₹22

How to pay

PayPal

Preferable for those outside India.

cards
Powered by paypal

Bank transfer

Preferable for Indian citizens. Please make bank transfers (IMPS/NEFT/RTGS etc) to the following account -

A/c type: Savings
A/c no.: 2417 1010 19521
IFSC: CNRB0002417
SWIFT: CNRBINBBBID

Please mention "OSM Mumbai 2024" as the purpose of payment.

UPI

Those who have my phone number can pay on my UPI ID - <my 10-digit phone number>@upi

Please mention "OSM Mumbai 2024" as the purpose of payment.

(I've tried to generate a UPI ID which does not use my phone number, but unfortunately that operation seems to be broken on the USSD service.)

Why don't you use…?

I've evaluated a large number of crowdfunding platforms (through oss.fund and other means).

Some (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) don't support Indian users.

Others (Goteo, OpenCollective, Commit Change) aren't really suitable for individuals.

Still others (Patreon, Liberapay, Ko-Fi, etc) are made for recurring donations, not fixed-goal crowdfunding.

And most payment processors (e.g. PayPal, Razorpay, PayU, etc) don't provide crowdfunding interfaces. Stripe doesn't support India.

Even enabling UPI for my phone number requires installing a proprietary app, which will probably refuse to run on my de-Google'd phone in the first place. (Thanks, banks.) Apparently you can set up and use UPI via USSD. I've finally enabled UPI for my phone number.

Finally, I settled on bank transfers for the time being. I hope it poses no great hindrance to the community.

I'm still exploring some alternatives, so future campaigns will almost certainly use a better platform and mode of payment. But future campaigns are also unlikely to materialize if the first one does not succeed 😅

What happens if the crowdfunding target is not met?

If I receive 25% of the goal (₹5000), I'll spend 5 hours mapping from the photographs.
If I receive 50% of the goal (₹10,000), I'll spend 10 hours mapping from the photographs.
If I receive 75% of the goal (₹15,000), I'll spend 15 hours mapping from the photographs.