FFDW
Awards and Programs
The Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW) is launching a request for proposals (RFP) to identify the most compelling initiatives to partner with in four key areas:
- Creator and Developer Training — We are interested in proposals for two aspects of creator and developer training. First, empower and inform the next generation of creators and developers, currently in education or in junior roles, so that they can understand, and adopt decentralized technology into their work and lives. Second, give existing Internet developers the tools they need to incorporate decentralized technology into their work. (Up to $1.75M per year)
- Public education — Introduce the public to the decentralized web. These programs should inform diverse global audiences about the values, benefits, and compelling use cases of decentralized technologies. (Up to $100,000 per year)
- Universities and GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) Institutions — Drive the development and use of technologies to enable a global decentralized library for all. Projects in this area might pursue efforts such as industry-specific platforms that make uploading information to decentralized storage user-friendly and accessible. (Up to $800,000 per year)
If your project or initiative would be a good fit for any of these areas, submit a completed proposal template by the dates listed below. Please submit your full proposal (including attachments) in word document(s) if possible. Let us know if you have any questions! Both questions and proposals should be sent to proposals@ffdweb.org.
- RFP Launch Date: April 18th, 2022
- RFP Questions Due: April 29th, 2022
- RFP Answers Posted: May 6th, 2022
- RFP Submissions Due and Review Begins: May 30th, 2022
- RFP Review Closes: June 20th, 2022
FFDW’s Mission
FFDW’s mission is to ensure the permanent preservation of humanity’s most important information by stewarding the development of open-source software and open protocols. In short, we foster and accelerate the growth of the decentralized web.
FFDW’s Operating Approach
Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web is the charitable sister organization to the Filecoin Foundation.
As the non-profitable sister to Filecoin Foundation, FFDW focuses its collaborations on charitable activities. Along with our core work providing awards and working alongside our collaborators, FFDW also funds other initiatives through donations and sponsorships.
As a private operating foundation, FFDW takes collaboration seriously. We work together closely with our project partners to drive the development of ideas and projects and ensure success, and love to roll up our sleeves and work alongside you. Where useful, we assist our collaborators with program design, technical support, hiring, external communications, and other issues.
Project Areas
FFDW’s Project Focuses
FFDW collaborates with organizations that accelerate the adoption of open, decentralized technologies, help build communities that support and sustain open, decentralized technologies, and communicate to wider audiences the benefits of adopting open, decentralized technologies. Our projects all focus on one or more of the below lines of effort (LOEs).
Education
These projects educate the public about how the internet works and how a decentralized web is a better web for businesses, citizens, and governments. A vital part of this effort is informing existing developers of the possibilities of the decentralized web and educating the next generation of developers in alternatives to centralized solutions. Projects may seek to educate users directly of the benefits of greater autonomy, expressiveness, and political freedom of a decentralized digital environment; especially those who suffer the most from our current digital environment.
Research
These projects support efforts to store research data using decentralized web storage and make that data easily shared and accessed. Additionally, projects may explore research into methods to improve and expand decentralized web data retrieval and storage with outputs that are freely and publicly accessible. We are biased toward initiatives that demonstrate that decentralized solutions can be privacy-protecting, secure, and sustainable.
Development
These projects drive the creation and development of technologies that will enable decentralized file storage of humanity’s most important information. More broadly, these projects encourage and fund the essential interoperability “glue” connecting elements of the decentralized web. For instance, funding decentralized-storage integration for existing FLOSS flagship projects; funding security and privacy-enhancing additions to existing decentralized web projects; helping to shepherd decentralized solutions through established Internet standards bodies.
Application Process
FFDW currently reviews project applications monthly.
We may change this cadence in the future. Proposals should be submitted to proposals@ffdweb.org as attachments to an email.
FFDW Proposal Template
Application Requirements
We seek to support a wide range of diverse projects that will include education, research, community building, advocacy, as well as building, maintaining, and securing tools that advance our charitable mission.
About your organization
- Name of your organization*:
- EIN:
- Organizational mission and who benefits from your work: (max 200 words)
- What type of entity is your organization (individual, 501c3, LLC, university, DAO, etc.):
- Describe any key partnerships with other entities such as non-profit, government, and private sector organizations: (max 400 words)
- Organizational website*: (if applicable)
Project proposal
- Title of project*:
- Short summary of project*: (max 300 words)
- Project website* (if applicable):
- Time period: Please specify your preferred award period, with a desired start and end date
- Amount requested
- What are the annual and total amounts requested for this award? (Example: “$300,000 per year over three years. Total cost over the life of the award will be $900,000.”)
- Attach a budget for this project using the attached sample budget.
- Project roadmap
- Identify what specific activities you will undertake to achieve the project objectives
- Provide a table of key deliverables for those objectives and activities; an estimated timeline for each; and metrics (quantitative or qualitative) that may be used to evaluate whether the deliverables were successful. Targets for those metrics will be identified in consultation with FFDW. You can use this template below, or a different format if preferred.
Example:
Milestone/Deliverable Success Metrics Completion Target Hire a developer Developer hired September 2023 Complete archive uploaded to the decentralized web X amount of data uploaded to IPFS December 2023
- Project software licensing details: If your project includes software, how is it licensed? If your project is on Github, please provide a link to the project.
- Communications: How will you communicate your success to key audiences?
- Sustainability plan, if applicable: How will this initiative be maintained and/or supported in the long-term?
- What other funding or in-kind support is the project receiving?
Fit with FFDW’s objectives
- FFDW’s Mission is to “ensure the permanent preservation of humanity’s most important information by stewarding the development of open source software and open protocols for decentralized data storage and retrieval networks.” How will your proposed project further this mission? (max 400 words)
- How does this project connect to one of our larger objectives for the current year, including, for example, education about the importance of data storage, community engagement with the decentralized web, and innovative technical projects to further humanity’s access to knowledge? (Max 400 words)
- Describe ways in which FFDW can collaborate with you in a meaningful way toward achieving your project goals? (Max 400 words)
Describe your team
- Brief bios for your senior leadership and your project’s key team members. What will be their roles and responsibilities for this project? (max four sentences per individual)
- Do you anticipate any changes at the senior leadership level? If yes, please describe.
- How many full-time staff members do you currently have? How many part-time staff members?
- Please describe how your board of directors and staff reflect the people and communities this project serves in terms of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and/or lived experiences. If the board and/or staff currently do not reflect the people and communities this project serves, please share the policies and procedures you have in place to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in your organization. (max 300 words)
- Additionally, how have you included the same kinds of people in the planning of your initiatives as those this proposed project is serving? (max 300 words)
Past work
- Please share some of your relevant prior work. (max 500 words)
Finances
- Attach your organizational operating budget for the current year.
Primary contact information (to be listed in contract)
- Name
- Title
- Phone
- Mailing address
- If you are sponsored by another organization, please list that org’s name and contact information
Supporting documentation
- If you are a nonprofit, please provide your most recent tax return and a copy of your tax determination letter.
* denotes data that will be made public on our website if your project is funded. If your organization is sponsored by a nonprofit organization, please provide proof of fiscal sponsorship.