Activity Based Funding Guidelines

An ACM India Professional and Student Engagement Initiative

September-October 2025 Cycle

The following activities will be supported by the ACM India Activity Based Funding initiative for the September-October 2025 cycle. The details have been emailed to each recipient individually. 

CYCLE	SUBMITTER	CHAPTER	ACTIVITY
Sep-Oct	Madhur	ACM - NCU Student Chapter	AIRaksha
Sep-Oct	Aditya Godse	AISSMS IOIT ACM Student Chapter	TENET Hackathon
Sep-Oct	Mudit Thakre	AITR ACM STUDENT CHAPTER	GREEN-TECH 2025
Sep-Oct	A M ABIRAMI	TCE-IT ACM Student Chapter	LangAIthon
Sep-Oct	Madhura Pawar	PICT ACM Student's Chapter	Web & App Development Contest – Pulzion’25
Sep-Oct	Nitya Ruparel	DJSCE ACM	Lines of Code 8.0
Sep-Oct	Varivashya Poladi	IISc ACM Student Chapter	Two's Complement: A Pair Programming Contest

Important dates:

	January	March	May	July	September	November
Call for proposals	01	01	01	01	01	01
Application deadline	08	08	08	08	08	08
Proposal Reviews	18	18	18	18	18	18
Announce Decision	23	23	23	23	23	23

Apply online using the ACM India Activity Support Application form.

The Activity Based Funding initiative of ACM India is geared towards partial financial support of activities of its student and professional chapters in India. Generally, any activity that adds clear value to ACM members, and/or the student chapter, the professional chapter, ACM India and/or the broader computing community, would be considered for funding. Typical activities include hosting talks, hackathons, mini workshops, etc. Funding is usually limited to one activity per chapter per year, and may only partially cover the costs of the activity. Activity funding may also be combined with funding through the Eminent Speaker Program (ESP) and any support offered by the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee of ACM India. Applications for activity funding are open throughout the year and reviewed every 2 months. So chapters should plan their activities well in advance and apply for such funding.

Detailed guidelines on the nature of the support and the process for application and decision making are given below.

Funding Rules

• Typically a chapter will be funded once per year. However, a proposal rejected in one review of a year can be improved and resubmitted.
• Proposals that are approved for funding will be reimbursed the approved costs on completion of the event and submission of relevant receipts and documentation.
• Large conferences follow a separate approval process handled by ACM HQ and are not covered under this scheme.
• Chapters should target an attendance of at least 50, composed mostly of ACM members (professional / student), and non ACM members.
• Chapters are encouraged to invite one speaker from the Eminent Speaker Program of ACM India to enhance the impact of the event. The ESP funding is over and above this activity funding, and is not a part of the activity budget.
• Proposals should be endorsed by (a) 20 ACM Members (Please upload a spreadsheet with first name, last name, email and ACM membership number of all the endorsing members), or (b) Two or more ACM Chapters (besides the one organizing it) in good standing, or (c) Three or more academic or industrial institutions. These endorsements should indicate that they will attend the event and support it.
• Funding will not cover the costs of renting a facility or infrastructure. Organizers should find a host ready to provide complimentary space and infrastructure.

Selection criteria for activity approval

• The chapter should be in good standing as on the date of the proposal as well as on the date of the event.
• A clear statement of some objective, measurable value to multiple ACM members, the student chapter, the professional chapter, ACM India and/or the broader computing community is required.
• Expenses types supported
  • Catering cost/Food expenses
  • Travel/Accommodation cost of the speakers
  • Local travel
  • Event prize money
• Expenses types not supported
  • Mementoes, Flowers, gifts, etc.
  • Infrastructure and facility rental costs
  • Printing expenses (hard banners, backdrops etc.)

Sample list of activities

An activity must typically be a day long (about 6-8 hours) and host about 50 attendees. Here are some examples.

• Talk/Seminar: Arrange a day long series of talks by high level experts on locally relevant or contemporary technical issues. The talk can also include an ESP speaker.
• Regional Quiz/Programming contest/Hackathons/Bootcamps or similar activities that keep the fun and learning element of Computing alive. This should benefit both ACM members and the broader computing community.
• Workshops/Tutorials/Presentations/Panel discussions/Mentorship sessions etc.

Funding amount

The support from ACM India for each activity funding will be limited to a maximum of Rs. 50,000 (Rs.Fifty Thousand only) per activity. The costs will be reimbursed based on actual and approved expenses after the completion of the event.

Submission of Activity Based Funding Proposals

Proposals can be submitted throughout the year. They will be reviewed every two months. Chapters are encouraged to apply well in advance, but not earlier than 6 months prior to the event.

Proposal to include:

• Clear objective
• Deliverables
• Activity and publicity plan
• Total Budget
• Support required from ACM India out of the total budget.
• Commencement and End dates

Apply online using the ACM India Activity Support Application form.

The review results will be announced as indicated on the ACM India Activity Based Funding Guidelines.

Funded Project Closure

• A report of the activity and good quality pictures should be uploaded here. Please name the report file as: abf-<YOUR-INSTITUTION>-<YEAR>.pdf, and similarly for the pictures.
• The activity should be reported on the ACM India Chapter Portal.
• All chapters are encouraged to video-record key talks or discussions and make them available to the community at large.
• ACM authorities will review the above and share the claims form upon approval.
• Using the claims form, the scanned receipts for expenses being claimed should be submitted for reimbursement.
• For premature closure of the project, permission must be sought from the evaluation committee, and a closure report must be submitted.

The above should be completed within fifteen days after the end date of the activity.

Funding will be released within two to three weeks of receiving the claim complete in all respects.

For any further information regarding the funding, please write to [email protected].