delightful funding

A curated list of of funding-related resources for FOSS, Open Data, Open Science projects and sustainable businesses.

Contents

• Introduction
• Crowdfunding
  • Active platforms
  • Early stage or under development
  • Self-hosted platforms
  • Unmaintained or archived platforms
• Grants
  • Active grants and sponsorships
  • Government grants
  • Grant aggregators
  • Inactive grants
• Open-source bounties
• Related resources
• Maintainers
• Contributors
• License

Introduction

This curated list aims to provide funding-related resources that are particularly targeted at communities, open source projects, non-profit social benefit organizations and sustainable businesses that operate in the field of IT. In particular those initiatives who want to forego traditional commercial funding options. These initiatives are looking for new more ethical and sustainable sources of incomes, and reject e.g. venture capital investments that are common in Silicon Valley style startup culture.

A companion to this list is delightful sustainable business that collects resources related to new ways of doing business that have a positive effect on environment, community, society, and economy.

The list references and quotes from Wikipedia pages, which provide excellent background and follow-ups for further investigation.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding: The practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet.

Active platforms

• Backme - A Netherlands-based creator support platform, where content creators can receive donations from their backers. It charges a 10% platform fee, in addition to payment processing fees.

• Bunseed - A French platform for online video content creators that focuses on how the creators distribute and monetize content, and also documents self-hosted publishing setups.

• Buy Me a Coffee - An American creator support platform for one-time tips, memberships and selling digital products. It takes 5% platform fee, in addition to payment processing fees.

• Center for Cultivation of Technology - A non-profit "backend provider" for the Free Software community. Affiliated projects use the legal entity to collect donations and to manage their budgets and assets, while we take care of organizational matters such as accounting, reimbursements and financial reporting. They aim to be a lightweight scalable fiscal sponsorship "host", much like a "payment processor for unincorporated projects". But in most cases, they work closer with projects to identify funding opportunities, provide additional services, exchange knowledge about sustainable organizational development, and allow developers to focus on what they do best: write code.

• Cobudget - An open source tool and a practice that enables all members of an organization or group to get involved in decision-making by proposing projects and allocating funds to the proposals they like. User guide available here, and it's on GitHub here.

• CommitChange - A software platform that allows nonprofits and donors to work together to raise money more efficiently. It offers tools like fundraising campaigns, professional events and ticketing, donor management and donation processing with dashboards and reports.

• Comradery - A digital platform where creators can receive monthly payments from supporters, and optionally give those supporters exclusive access to posts and media. It's structured as a worker cooperative democratically owned and controlled equally by all the creators in the organization. Payments are processed via Stripe.

• Crowdcube - A London-based crowdfunding & private market infrastructure platform that helps companies raise and manage liquidity, while giving investors access to primary and secondary transactions in Europe's best private companies.

• Crowdsupply - A platform that helps creators launch with funding and support they need to deliver thoughtfully crafted products to delighted backers. Their mission is to bring original, useful, respectful hardware to life.

• Donorbox - An American fundraising software platform through which individuals and nonprofit organizations can accept online donations. Also supports in-person cashless giving through self-service kiosks.

• Fairy - A South Korean developer sponsorship service by Hada Studio for people to directly sponsor open source projects created by developers. It provides support for small projects that don't fit a paid payment model, so they can continue to operate. They charge a 5.5% fee that includes payment processing fee.

• Fedifunding - A platform that allows people to directly contribute to keeping the Fediverse sustainable.

• GiveDirectly - A nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world's poorest households. In doing so, they aim to accelerate the end of extreme poverty globally.

• GoFundMe - An American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses.

• Indiegogo - An American crowdfunding site, Indiegogo is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Users can solicit funds for an idea, charity, or start-up business. It charges a 5% fee on contributions in addition to Stripe credit card processing charges. The site runs on a rewards-based system, meaning donors, investors, or customers who are willing to help to fund a project or product can donate and receive a gift, rather than an equity stake in the company.

• Ko-fi - A platform for indie creators to make money doing what they love, where people can support creators via tips, memberships and commissions.

• Liberapay - A non-profit platform for recurrent donations that's maintained by a non-profit organization of the same name, registered in Querrien, France in 2015. Liberapay is primarily aimed at funding free and open-source software, artists and content creators, though other uses are allowed. It's on GitHub here. They do not charge a fee on donations.

• OpenCollective - A funding platform for open and transparent communities to collect, spend and manage money (donations and sponsorship). Provides tools for community engagement, budget reporting, and fiscal sponsorship. OpenCollective is a sustainable business and their entire platform is open-source. Fiscal hosts can be joined to avoid dealing with tax + accounting. Also allows setting up your own fiscal host for projects (collectives).

• Patreon - An American monetization platform that allows users to run a subscription service, as well as sell individual digital products. Through Patreon, creators may earn a recurring income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers, who act as patrons. It charges a commission of 8 to 12 percent of creators' monthly income, in addition to payment processing fees.

• Pepettes, a donation form - A small open source form to donate money to a project. Support one-time or recuring payment.

• PeerFounder - A people-powered crowdfunding platform for one-person businesses and emerging founders. Founders launch clear, terms-based campaigns and funders back them with optional, negotiated funder cash returns. Beyond access to capital, it hosts a welcoming monthly hybrid meetup, tactic-first workshops, live AMAs, roundtables, and occasional demo days.

• Pledge - A fundraising and donation platform designed to help non-profits, companies and individuals raise online donations. It offers tools like fundraiser pages, donation forms, mobile giving options, event hosting capabilities, etc. It's free to start fundraising with a platform fee applicable conditionally.

• Snowdrift - A nonprofit cooperative with the goal to improve the ability of people to fund public goods like software, music, journalism, and research via crowdmatching i.e. each patron's donation grows with the number of other patrons participating. The funded projects receive their donations monthly.

• Thanks.dev - A funding platform that helps companies financially support the open-source projects they depend on by automatically scanning their codebase and distributing funds. It promotes sustainability in the open-source ecosystem by closing the gap between usage and funding.

• Wefunder - An American equity crowdfunding platform that allows individual investors to crowdfund startup companies, using a provision in the 2012 JOBS Act that allows unaccredited investors to purchase equity in early stage private companies.

Early stage or under development

• FediPay - An open-source, user-owned, federated tool for supporting creators and FOSS contributors based on what's actually read, watched, and used. People set a monthly budget, FediPay privately tracks consumption and suggests a fair split so the money follows user's attention, not an algorithm. People can host their own FediPay server or join a community-run instance. Currently, FediPay is early-stage and being built in public as Free Open Source Software.

Self-hosted platforms

• fosspay - An open source, self-hosted donation collection for FOSS groups and individuals. Supports one-time and monthly donations, processing of cards with Stripe, and is flexible and customizable.

Unmaintained or archived platforms

• Flattr (archived) - A Sweden-based microdonation subscription service where subscribers opted in to pay a monthly patronage to help fund their favourite websites and creators, where subscribers installed an open-source browser extension that recorded which websites they frequented and shared this data with Flattr, which then processed and paid out shares of user's subscription to each registered creator based on which websites the user consumed. It shut down in November 2023. Their code, now archived, is available on GitHub here.

• Flossbank (unmaintained) - An open source funding platform that uses a combination of enterprise funds, developer donations, and developer ad revenue to support all of the packages used, all the way down the dependency tree. Their platform (link here) has decommissioned but they've kept their repos available on GitHub in case it's helpful to someone in the future. For more info, please see this article.

• Gitcom (unmaintained) - A Community-Driven open source marketplace.

• Gratipay (archived) - An open source tool that helps companies pay for open source, in order to cultivate an economy of gratitude, generosity, and love.

• Only Sponsors (unmaintained) - It's an open source platform created in an attempt to make open source work more sustainable.

Grants

Grant: Non-repayable funds or products disbursed or given by one party (grant makers), often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual.

Active grants and sponsorships

• Arcadia Fund (List of projects | Apply for funding) - Arcadia helps people to record cultural heritage, to conserve and restore nature, and to promote open access to knowledge. We want future generations to enjoy the diversity of human culture and the natural world.

• Culture of Solidarity (Focus areas) - European Cultural Foundation's programme designed to provide flexible, cross-border support so organisations and cultural actors can continue working together and maintain shared public spaces when challenges arise. Instead of a single fixed funding model, Culture of Solidarity uses a range of tools that enable both quick responses and longer-term cooperation. This enables us to support real work as situations change.

• Digital Freedom Fund (Apply for funding | Support case studies) - A non-profit organisation that exists to enable the Digital Rights Community to advance human rights in digital spaces through strategic litigation.

• Error 406 Not Acceptable - Supports open processes and risky art projects through an annual open call. Each edition highlights a different urgent topic, setting the focus on a condition that is Not Acceptable. Call for projects is aimed at artists worldwide, collectives, curators, arts initiatives, exhibition spaces, online platforms, and developers of software and hardware, basically anyone exploring the possibilities of contemporary, networked technologies as art and their significance for society.

• European AI & Society Fund (List of projects) - Their goal is to reclaim the direction of AI so that it benefits everyone, not just the powerful few.

• FLOSS/fund (Apply for funding | List of projects) - Dedicated to support critical, impactful, and valuable Free/Libre and Open Source projects globally. They give up to $1 million per year to support developers and communities that create and maintain projects, big and small.

• FOSS Funders - A group of companies working together to make it weird not to fund Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). They can be contacted via Slack, Zoom, or Google Forms, currently there's no way to contact them by privacy-friendly means.

• FUTO (List of projects) - An organization dedicated to giving people back control over their technology. Through in-house engineering, investments, grants, and public education efforts, they build and fund software that challenges the dominance of Big Tech. Founded in 2021 by Silicon Valley veteran Eron Wolf, it operates without reliance on existing tech companies or venture capital firms. They focus entirely on the mission to recreate the spirit of freedom, innovation, and self-reliance that defined the early American tech industry.

• Gandi Supports - A sponsorship programme (by Gandi) that is committed to being the ethical choice for creating a web presence. They support companies, whether Internet-based or not, that have also embarked on this adventure despite the presence of well-established monopolies.

• Grant for the Web - Funds publishers, platforms, and developers exploring Web Monetization as a viable alternative to advertising and subscription models. The programme is currently closed and expected to reopen in 2027. Sign up to be notified when applications open.

• ICANN Grant Program - Opportunity for eligible organizations across the globe to apply for funding for projects that are consistent with ICANN's mission and aligned with the objectives of the ICANN Grant Program. This program aims to make a difference in the Internet ecosystem, while also positively impacting people all over the world by investing in creative and innovative solutions that further ICANN's vision of a single, open, and globally interoperable Internet.

• Internet Freedom Fund (Apply for funding) - Supports innovative internet freedom projects, including technology development, research, digital security projects, and convenings.

• Internet Society Foundation (Information for Applicants | Support case studies) - Supports the vision of the Internet Society and its work for an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet for everyone.

• Invest in Open Infrastructure (List of projects | Support case studies) - IOI's work spans across funders, researchers, institutions, libraries, open infrastructures, and publishers to help them make the right decisions.

• Libre Endowment Fund (List of projects) - FDL sponsorship fits in the gap between public R&D funding and private system integration funding, by supporting long term maintenance of essential and mature Free Software as well as short term development of any generic Free Software. To apply, the software must be Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), with all source code and documentation available online, along with some more evaluation criteria as given here.

• Next Generation Internet (List of projects) - A European Commission (EC) initiative that aims to shape the development and evolution of the Internet into an Internet of Trust. An Internet that responds to people's fundamental needs, including trust, security, and inclusion, while reflecting the values and the norms all citizens enjoy in Europe.

• NLnet Foundation (Apply for funding | List of projects | Presentations) - Stimulates network research and development in IT to promote exchange of electronic information and all that is related or beneficial to that purpose. Prefers microgrants for small, independent projects supporting independent researchers and developers. Also provides active support by a global network of potential partners, projects, and experts. Provides themed funds for specific areas of interest. They provide grants between 5,000 and 50,000 euro with the possibility to scale them up if there is proven potential.

• Open Source Endowment (Apply for funding) - A community endowment dedicated to sustaining the critical open source projects the world relies on. Their aim is to solve the open source maintenance crisis with a new funding solution that is truly sustainable, systemic, and efficient. Founded in 2025 by a diverse group of tech founders, executives, investors, and engineers, OSE is a lean next-gen nonprofit.

• Open Technology Fund (List of projects | Impacts & Outcomes) - Support technical solutions that ensure secure access to the free and open internet for people facing repressive censorship & surveillance.

• Prototype Fund Germany (Apply for funding | List of projects) - Supports ideas in civic tech, data literacy, data security and software infrastructure for software developers, hackers, and creatives in Germany. Only self-employed developers and small teams who live in Germany can apply for funding. It grants up to 47,500 euro to code and develop innovative prototypes during a period of six months. Results must be made publicly available under an open source license.

• Prototype Fund Switzerland (Fediverse | List of projects) - Supports individuals and small teams working on open source projects that reduce resource use, energy consumption, or emissions, and strengthen accountability, transparency and governance while contributing to resilient and trustworthy digital systems. Up to CHF 50,000 in funding over a 4-month prototyping phase with coaching, mentoring, workshops and access to a strong network across tech, policy, and society.

• SIDN Fund (List of projects) - Provides financial support to ideas and projects that aim to make the internet stronger or that use the internet in innovative ways with the goals: stronger internet, empowerment, tech for good. Its main focus is to help increase social impact of the internet in the Netherlands. Pioneer projects may receive a maximum contribution of up to 10,000 euro per project. Potentials projects upscale a prototype and may receive up to 75,000 euro per project.

• Software Sprint (Funding for Open Source Developers) - A Germany-focused funding programme for research projects on Software Sprint (Funding for Open Source Developers) provided by Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), with Research & Innovation as the primary funding area.

• Wellcome Research Funding (Focus areas | Support case studies) - They fund research to improve life, health and wellbeing through new knowledge and understanding.

Government grants

• Sovereign Tech Fund (List of projects) - Supports the development, improvement and maintenance of open digital infrastructure, with the goal to sustainably strengthen the open source ecosystem. They focus on security, resilience, technological diversity, and the people behind the code. The cost of work in the application must exceed 50,000 euro (current funding minimum) and the activities listed in the application must be related to developing or maintaining open digital base technologies. All code and documentation to be supported must be licensed such that it may be freely reusable, changeable and redistributable.

• US NSF Pathways to Enable Secure Open-Source Ecosystems (PESOSE) (List of projects) - A US-focused grant that supports planning, building and securing sustainable open-source ecosystems that translate research tools into widely used, resilient technologies. These efforts strengthen U.S. innovation, economic competitiveness and national security.

Grant aggregators

• FundPro - Acts as a centralized hub for collaboration on incoming applications, primarily for foundations and grant-making organizations. It's an established digital service used by foundations in Sweden and several other European countries.

• OnePass - Platform designed to streamline the process for startups seeking funding and investment opportunities, particularly within the European Union. It serves as a centralized hub where startups can manage their funding applications, collaborate with team members, and connect with investors.

Inactive grants

• Numun Fund (not accepting applications) - Dedicated fund for feminist tech in, and for the Larger World. Their aim is to seed and sustain feminist technology infrastructure for movement organising, and we understand digital technologies to be an important part of movement infrastructure. Currently not accepting applications, subscribe to their mailing list to get notified about future funding opportunities.

• RIPE NCC (discontinued) - A not-for-profit membership association, a Regional Internet Registry and the secretariat for the RIPE community supporting the Internet. Discontinued in March 2025, read the news announcement.

Open-source bounties

Open-source bounty: A monetary reward for completing a task in an open-source software project.

• Gitpay - Connects payments to real deliverables. Issues can be funded with bounties, pull requests can unlock rewards, and service providers can request payments for work delivered through repositories and tracked files. Supports receiving payments in local currency in several countries around the world, payment is based on specific goal completion and the platform is specifically aimed at GitHub and GitLab ecosystems. Gitpay is part of Work N' Enjoy, a remote-first company with registered office in the United States as per their contact page. It's on GitHub here.

• IssueHunt - Offers a service that pays freelance developers for contributing to the open-source code, through bounties granted to whoever solves a given problem. The funding for these bounties comes from anyone who is willing to donate to have any given bug fixed or feature added. IssueHunt is one of Japan's most prominent bug bounty platforms and they focus on Japanese companies. They have three kind of programs: Public, Application and Invite Only. Everyone can participate in the public programs, only hunters accepted by the company can participate in Application programs and only hunters invited by the company can participate in Invite Only programs. It's on GitHub here.

• Outreachy (Applicant Guide | Internship schedule) - Outreachy provides internships in open source. Outreachy provides internships to anyone from any background who faces underrepresentation, systemic bias, or discrimination in the technical industry where they are living.

Sustainable investment funds

• Seed Commons (Support case studies) - A US-focused, cooperatively-governed national CDFI and nonprofit financial organization, shifting power to workers and communities through their network infrastructure for non-extractive lending and investment.

• UNICEF Venture Fund - Growth Funding (Support case studies) - A new funding mechanism to accelerate the most promising open-source startup solutions. It's a $35M+2527ETH+8BTC pooled fund, the first financial vehicle of its kind in the United Nations, investing in early-stage, open-source, emerging technologies with the potential to impact children on a global scale. It makes equity-free investments exclusively in for-profit startups registered in emerging economies.

Related resources

• Awesome Sustainable Finance - A curated list of sustainable finance resources (software, data and more).

Maintainers

If you have questions or feedback regarding this list, then please create an Issue in our tracker, and optionally @mention one or more of our maintainers:

• @circlebuilder

Contributors

With delight we present you some of our delightful contributors (please add yourself if you are missing).

License