OTF regularly compiles upcoming deadlines for funding opportunities relevant to Internet freedom, including those from both OTF and alternative funding sources.
If you’d like to receive this announcement directly in your inbox, you can sign up for our low traffic OTF-announce mailing list here. In addition, you can find our compiled list of alternative funding sources here. The opportunities listed below are those with approaching deadlines, while a number of funders accept applications on a rolling basis.
OTF Funding
OTF – Rapid Response Fund
Deadline: Ongoing
The Rapid Response Fund is part of a broader OTF initiative which aims to facilitate the development of a strong digital emergency response community that can work together to resolve threats in a timely and comprehensive manner. OTF offers both direct financial support as well as technical services from trusted service partners to resolve digital emergencies experienced by high-risk Internet users and organizations, such as bloggers, activists, journalists. and human rights defenders.
Apply: https://www.opentech.fund/requests/rapid-response-fund
Alternative Funding
Reset
Deadline: November 1
Reset and our network of partners are committed to ensuring that technology works for democracy rather than against it. We must reset the rules and standards for the products and services that are at the centre of these issues. And we must raise public expectations about how the internet can better support democracy, by explaining what’s wrong, exposing why it’s happening, and offering solutions. We believe the internet can once again become a force for good, not a marketplace for manipulation by the highest bidder. https://www.reset.tech/open-calls/
Ford Foundation
Deadline: September 4th, 2020
The software, standards, and protocols that form our digital infrastructure are critical to a free and open internet, and much of it has been built by volunteers. But free, public code—which we refer to as open source software—needs regular upkeep and maintenance, just as physical infrastructure does, and because it doesn’t belong to any one person or party, it is no one person’s job to maintain it. Without maintenance, we see the digital equivalent of a crumbling road or a collapsing bridge. Building toward a more diverse and well-funded ecosystem for critical digital infrastructure, the Ford Foundation and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation came together in 2018 to fund thirteen research projects that fill gaps in understanding of how digital infrastructure is built, maintained, and sustained. https://www.fordfoundation.org/campaigns/critical-digital-infrastructure-research/
RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund
Deadline: August 23 2020 at 23:59 UTC
The RIPE NCC has supported a range of projects and innovative ideas over its 25-year history, and we are now formalising these efforts through the RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund. We know there’s no shortage of brilliant minds in the Internet technical community working on groundbreaking projects, but securing funding to support these projects can be challenging. The RIPE NCC will provide EUR 250,000 per year to support projects of value to the operation, resilience and sustainability of the Internet, with a focus on tools and services benefitting the technical community in our service region. https://www.ripe.net/support/cpf
Ada Lovelace Institute’s JUST AI Network
Deadline: August 30, 2020 17:00 BST
The Ada Lovelace Institute’s JUST AI Network is delighted to announce the launch of a new £40,000 fund, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and a call for proposals for at least four projects that will contribute to locating and filling gaps in ethical thinking about data and AI with respect to racial justice. https://www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/our-work/just-ai/just-ai-visiting-fellowship/
Bosch Stiftung
Deadline: September 11, 2020
The Foundation is divided into areas to support and operate its aid program. In order to pursue the Foundation’s objectives, it promotes external projects and initiates its own projects for developing and running programs. Some 140 employees manage an average of about 800 internal and external projects a year. https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/en/project/european-social-catalyst-fund
European Commission Digital Single Market
Deadline: September 11, 2020
The European Commission supports the delivery of the Digital Single Market through a number of funding programs, which regularly publish competitive Calls for Proposals for projects. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/call-proposals-pilot-project-media-councils-digital-age
The Prototype fund
Deadline: September 30, 2020
The Prototype fund supports the implementation of ideas in civic tech, data literacy, data security and software infrastructure. With a grant of up to €30,000, software developers, hackers and creatives can write code and develop open source prototypes over a period of six months. http://prototypefund.de/?lang=en
ZCASH FOUNDATION
Deadline: September 1, 2020
With the acceptance of ZIP 1014, the Zcash community established a path forward for the continued funding of Zcash protocol development and privacy research. The largest slice of the development fund will be decided by a Major Grant Review Committee (MGRC), which will steward and evaluate third-party development efforts on a rolling basis. Anyone can apply to be a part of the MGRC committee, for a one-year term (with a possibility for re-election). https://www.zfnd.org/blog/major-grants-review-committee-selection-process/
National Endowment for Democracy
Deadline: October 1, 2020
Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program is a federally funded, international exchange program that offers democracy activists, journalists, civil society leaders, and scholars from around the world the opportunity to spend five months in residence at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), in Washington, D.C. https://www.ned.org/fellowships/reagan-fascell-democracy-fellows-program/applying-for-a-fellowship/
Sony Research Award Program
Deadline: Submissions must be completed by 11:59 pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time; GMT-7) on September 15, 2020 / 8:59 am CEST (Central European Summer Time; GMT+2) September 16, 2020
As part of one of the world’s most innovative and recognizable brands, we are committed to support university research and innovation in the U.S., Canada, and select European countries, while also fostering partnerships with university faculty and researchers. The Sony Research Award Program provides funding for cutting-edge academic research and helps build a collaborative relationship between faculty and Sony researchers. https://www.sony.com/electronics/research-award-program#SubmissionGuidelines
Park Foundation
Deadlines: August 10, 2020 and September 25, 2020
The Foundation supports public interest media that raises awareness of critical environmental, political and social issues to promote a better informed citizenry in the U.S. It supports quality, non-commercial media that is substantive, fair, and accurate. http://www.parkfoundation.org
NLnet foundation
Deadline: October 1st 2020 12:00 CET
Since 1997 NLnet foundation has been financially supporting organizations and people that contribute to an open information society. It funds those with ideas to fix the internet. The procedure is fast, competitive and open to anyone. https://nlnet.nl/news/2020/20200801-call.html
Outreachy Internships
Deadline: October 2020
Outreachy helps people from groups underrepresented in free and open source software get involved. We provide a supportive community for beginning to contribute any time throughout the year and offer focused internship opportunities twice a year with a number of free software organizations. https://www.gnome.org/outreachy/
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Deadline: Multiple deadlines in 2020
The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a Quaker trust which seeks to transform the world by supporting people who address the root causes of conflict and injustice. This support is provided, primarily, through funding applied for by applicants. https://www.jrct.org.uk/what-we-fund
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland
Deadline: Multiple funds and deadlines
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs can allocate development cooperation funds to international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) whose activities are in line with Finland’s development policy priorities and goals. http://formin.finland.fi/english
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In addition to the open application windows listed above, you can always check our compiled list of alternative sources of support: https://guide.opentech.fund/appendix-iv-alternative-sources-of-support
Blog: To receive this and other funding or OTF-related announcements, sign up for our low-traffic OTF-announce mailing list here: https://groups.google.com/a/opentech.fund/forum/#!forum/otf-announce/join
Email: Sent your way by a friend? Receive this and other announcements from OTF by signing up for our low-traffic OTF-announce mailing list: https://groups.google.com/a/opentech.fund/forum/#!forum/otf-announce/join
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In addition to the open application windows listed above, you can always check our compiled list of alternative sources of support: https://guide.opentech.fund/appendix-iv-alternative-sources-of-support
To receive this and other funding or OTF-related announcements, sign up for our low-traffic OTF-announce mailing list here: https://groups.google.com/a/opentech.fund/forum/#!forum/otf-announce/join