OTF is excited to announce that we have reopened our Rapid Response Fund and are now accepting applications. As of today, applications can be submitted on our website, and will be reviewed by our team on a rolling basis. Our Rapid Response Fund was designed to reflect OTF’s commitment to a community first approach, to quickly and effectively respond to emerging digital emergencies.
While we were forced to close our Rapid Response Fund, along with our other funding opportunities last year, we know how critical these resources are to our community. The enemies of internet freedom continue to escalate attacks against activists, journalists, and human rights defenders around the world, through online censorship, internet shutdowns, malware attacks, and taking down websites. Simultaneously, the global pandemic has made it increasingly important for people to have reliable access to uncensored information during times of crisis. Which is why our first priority is to immediately restore our Rapid Response Fund to make the resources we have available to address these urgent needs and threats.
We understand that you are all eager to apply to OTF’s other various funding opportunities, and we are just as eager to review your applications and to support the important work that you all do. Which is why we have been hard at work, updating our application processes and operations based on community feedback in order to reduce complexity and barriers for applicants to access our funding, while maintaining OTF’s commitment to due diligence and feedback-driven competitive processes.
We will keep you updated on these changes and other funding announcements on this blog. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to [email protected]. If you have any questions about the Rapid Response Fund in particular, please reach out to [email protected].