When I tell people about grants they could get to help fund work on open source software projects, sometimes they are surprised because they didn't know such grants existed. I share:
- sample foundations and funders (such as OpenHumans, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, NLNet, and Comcast) who want to fund open source software projects, and how much they're paying out
- a quick case study on how the Python Software Foundation got funding from Open Tech Fund to improve security, accessibility, and localization for PyPI
- key steps in figuring out a good project idea, budgeting, hiring, and submitting
- how your volunteer groups can follow the lead of the new Project Funding Working Group at the PSF
Most or all of the session will be recorded, so the number of participants will not change that part of the session. If there are very few participants, we'll run a very open and relaxed oral Q&A. If there are 5+ participants, I'll ask for questions via text chat and answer them orally.
What is the goal and/or outcome of your session?:I want the audience to understand that grants are available, what kinds of tasks are most suitable for grant applications, and what the new Project Funding Working Group a the PSF can do to help them apply, and what their own volunteer groups or nonprofit orgs can do to copy PSF's approach. In the hiring section, I would like people to notice that, even if more money would not help them find more time to work on a project, they could hire a freelancer to help them make progress. And I would like more people to walk away believing that it is not hopeless to seek this kind of funding.
We're hoping that many efforts and discussions will continue after Mozfest. Share any ideas you already have for how to continue the work from your session.:As a consultant with grantwriting experience, I'll end the session with an offer to help folks with some free initial research to help them look at funding options. I also hope to turn followup questions-and-answers into material for a followup blog post, and incorporate it into the book I'm writing on maintainership.
Harihareswara is a project manager and programmer. She has managed improvements to pip thanks to MOSS funding. She lives in New York City and founded Changeset Consulting in 2015.