Grant Request
The Document Foundation (TDF) welcomes grant proposals by members of TDF related to the development of the project and its global and local community. If you have questions about the grant proposal or foundation membership, please read the FAQ (below) and then direct your questions to info@documentfoundation.org.
Grant Proposals
Proposals should be for specific projects with a clear objective, rather than support for ongoing activities. Proposals should be brief (a few pages of text at maximum), and they should explain:
- The objective of the grant, including the date by which funding must be received.
- The grant size. If the grant is funding several components of a project, please provide a breakdown of the cost of each component. Please note that TDF may only be able to provide partial funding for a proposal.
- A description of the beneficiaries of the grant (e.g. if the grant is for a LibreOffice event, state the size of the group, the anticipated size of the event, and who in particular benefits from the grant).
- A description of the planned grant follow-up activities. TDF would like to see how the grant was used, so we ask to receive information on the event, project or program that was funded. This could be blog postings, post-event write-ups, web pages, project updates, wiki pages etc.
The refunding will be made as explained on the refunding policy wiki page. You will be notified by which option (TDF or SPI) you will be refunded in the grant awards.
Please submit grant proposals to refunds@documentfoundation.org and allow up to 4 weeks for processing. The Board typically meets twice a month, so if a request is urgent please note that in the request.
Example of Grant Request
Grant Proposal: EUR 600 for members travel costs for the FOSSXXX conference
Grant objective: Bring in several LibreOffice members to the FOSSXXX conference and organize a workshop in order for contributors to gather and work on growing community strategies to foster the regional community
Grant size: EUR 600 total – EUR 100 for each of the members coming in from out of town for the event.
Grant beneficiaries: The six of us are representing our local communities composed of an average of 10 to 20 members. Presenting the project and working together during this workshop will allow us to coordinate efforts to provide direct improvements of the product and grow the community of contributors.
Grant follow-up: We will report on the success of the grant on our blog and mention TDF as providing the grant. TDF will receive an email pointing to the blog posting once it is published.
Template for your grant proposal to be sent in ODT file format via mail at least 4 weeks in advance to: treasurer@documentfoundation.org
Recent Grants
Grant awards are typically announced to the public through The Document Foundation blog. You can also find historical grant approvals in the Resolutions of the Board of Directors.
FAQ
Q. Is there a maximum grant size that can be awarded?
A. There is no set maximum, but grants are awarded with consideration for the annual TDF grant budget and the other grant requests that have been submitted and awarded. The Foundation reserves the right to make a grant smaller than the total you request. If this would not be acceptable you should state such in the application.
Q. Will TDF fund a grant request for food for a workshop, talks or hackfests?
A. Yes! Hackfests and workshops are supported by TDF; however, we suggest coordinating the date and time closely with the foundation to prevent competing events in too short a period of time. In general, we recommend finding local sponsors for food during events, as reimbursement is only considered in exceptional cases.
Q. Will the TDF fund a grant request to cover travel costs to fly in a speaker for a global/local FOSS event?
A. Yes. However, please note that we can only reimburse for reasonable speaker travel expenses, see the refunding policy wiki page.
Q. Will TDF fund a grant for T-shirts, give-aways or other materials for booths?
A. TDF will fund a grant for booth and representation needs. However, try to arrange with your regional colleagues to share the material so it will serve for several teams and multiple exhibitions.
Q. Will TDF fund a grant request for something else than workshops, talks, hackfests, booths?
A. If you think the grant will help develop and reinforce the community, don’t hesitate to submit your request and to explain in details what it would be used for and the expected results. We especially encourage you to send us concrete proposals that unblock a temporary barrier to community growth or project contribution. Ideally such a one-off investment leads to a demonstrable self-sustaining benefit to the project.