Grants

Mozilla Foundation Grants

Mozilla Foundation grants are a way to get paid as a contributor, for important work that benefits the Mozilla project. Unlike Google Summer of Code grants, the amount of time and money involved are flexible. And unlike many grants from very large governments and organizations, the grant process is designed to be lightweight, and focus everyone's energies on what's important -- actually getting good work done.

You'll have to prove that you have a good idea and that you're the right person to do it.

Grant Topics

There are many possible subject for grants. Some possible areas for grant-related work include:

• Accessibility - key contact Aaron Leventhal
• Security -- key contact ?
• XUL as a platform -- key contacts Zak Greant and Mark Finkle

Grant Process

Here are the basic steps for getting a Mozilla grant.

1. Think of a good, self-contained project that isn't just "fixing bugs". It should be exploring or implementing some new area. Alternatively, ask around for good ideas.
2. Discuss it with key contacts or module owners for that area until you agree that the basic idea makes for a good grant.
3. If this is the first grant, decide how much work can be done for less than $10k, because that's how much a typical first grant will provide. You may decide to make the first grant a small exploratory grant, where the main deliverable is a plan and proposal for the second grant.

Follow-up Grants

There may be several follow-up grants.

Grant Proposals

Here's the basics of what the Mozilla Foundation likes to get in a grant proposal. The total length of the proposal should not need to exceed 4 pages.

• Header
  • Title for grant
  • Name of grantee (organization or individual).
  • Who the other participants (e.g. other mentors, and the manager of the grant)
  • Estimated project start and end dates. This is only to give everyone an idea, but in reality the dates are flexible
  • Amount of funding requested, and the estimated amount of the project budget

overall (if different)

• • Whether the grantee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or has a fiscal sponsor that is a 501(c)(3).
  • A list of other current or pending funders for this project (if

applicable)

• • Proposed license (if this is completely new work then Mozilla will the copyright holder and will have the final decision).
  • Other relevant details on plans to share work, if any.
• Body
  • Introduction
  • Problem: a description of the problem the project solves
  • Proposal: a description of the solution
  • How the project is aligned with the [Mozilla Foundation's mission]
  • Expected outcomes (what will be the end result?)
  • Other work in this area, how it ties in or relates
  • A work plan (methods, milestones, participants, plans to share

results)

• • Success criteria (how will the grantee measure what did or didn't work?)
  • Possible areas for future work on this topic