Alternative Sources of Support

Funding for Internet freedom, journalism, software development, and human rights projects from sources other than OTF.

The following table contains alternate funding sources which support efforts relevant to the fields of Internet freedom, software development, journalism, and human rights, broadly speaking. Sources are organized by general subject matter. All funds listed below have annual solicitation periods, we do not include one-time funds.

We're always seeking to grow this resource and make it as useful and inclusive as possible, so if you know of a funding source that should be on here, please let us know by contacting us at [email protected].

Note: This list is shared for information purposes only. OTF cannot assist with fundraising efforts of individual projects or refer projects to specific funders. Inclusion of a funding entity on this list does not represent an endorsement by OTF.

This list was last updated in May 2025.

You can stay up to date on all OTF submission deadlines and open submissions windows for other alternative funders by joining the OTF-announce mailing list, where we announce upcoming application deadlines. Click here to join the OTF-announce mailing list.

Categories

• Corporate Philanthropy

• Decentralized Web

• Digital Rights

• ICT4D

• Internet Infrastructure

• Fellowships and Scholarships

• Funding Directories

• Privacy and Security

• Rapid Response

  • Global Support

  • Journalist & Scholar Support

  • In-Kind Digital Infrastructure

• Rapid Response: Region-Specific

  • Africa

  • Americas

  • Europe

• Startup Incubators and Entrepreneurship

• US Government Internet Freedom and Security

Corporate Philanthropy

Organization	Fund
Amazon	AWS Imagine Grant Program
Cisco	Global Impact Cash Grant Program
	Research Funding
CloudFlare	Project Galileo
Comcast	Innovation Fund
Microsoft	Nonprofit grants and credits
Motorola	Grants
Google	Project Shield
	Impact Challenge
	Summer of Code
Python Software Foundation	PSF Grants Program
Twilio	Impact Fund

Decentralized Web

Organization	Fund
Coinbase	Venture Funds
Ethereum Foundation	Ecosystem Support Program
Filecoin Foundation	Filecoin Grants

Digital Rights

Organization	Fund
Access Now	Grants
American Council of Learned Societies	Digital Justice Grants
Data Empowerment Fund	Initiatives
Digital Freedom Fund	Grants
Digital Defenders Partnership	Various Programs
Disability Rights Fund	Grants
Ford Foundation	Grants
International Women's Media Foundation	Grants
Lacuna Fund	About
Mama Cash	Grants
OAK Foundation	Grants
Sigrid Rausing Trust	Grants
Third Wave Fund	Mobilize Power Fund
Youth Power Fund	Grant

Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) including Deploying Internet Connectivity

Organization	Fund
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation	Global Grand Challenges
Catholic Relief Services	ICT4D
CRDF Global	Grants
International Development Research Center (IDRC)	Funding
Internet Society Foundation	Research Program
	Resiliency Program
	SCILLs Program

Internet Infrastructure

Organization	Fund
Internet Society Foundation	Connecting the Unconnected Program
	Sustainable Peering and Infrastructure Program
National Telecommunications and Information Administration	Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program
	Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program
US Department of Agriculture	ReConnect Loan and Grant Program

Fellowships and Scholarships

Organization	Fund
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)	Science & Technology Policy Fellowships
American Council of Learned Societies	Fellowship Program
Al Jazeera Media Institute	Al Jazeera Fellowship
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation	Sloan Research Fellowships
Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society	Fellowship Program
The British Academy	Researchers at Risk Fellowships
Cara	Academics at Risk Fellowship
Coding it Forward	Civic Digital Fellowship
CrossCulture Programme	Strengthening Civil Societies
Echoing Green	Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship and Leadership Development Programs
Eisenhower Fellowships	International and USA Fellowships
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)	EPIC Law Fellowship
Ethereum Foundation	Team Next Billion Fellowship
Google	Public Policy Fellowship
The Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy	Grants for current PhD candidates
ICANN	Fellowship Program
	NextGen@ICANN Program
International Cities of Refuge Network	The ICORN Programme
Internet Archive	DWeb Camp Fellowship
Internet Society Foundation	African Peering and Interconnection Forum Fellowship
	Early Career Fellowship
	Mid Career Fellowship
	Pulse Research Fellowship
	Youth Ambassador Fellowship
Kairos Fellowship	Fellowship
Mozilla	Fellowships
National Endowment for Democracy (NED)	Fellowships
National Science Foundation (NSF)	Graduate Research Fellowship Program
Open Society Foundations	Open Society Fellowships
Outreachy	Mentorships and internships
Princeton University	Siegel Public Interest Technology Summer Fellowship
PrivacyCo/Top10VPN.com	Digital Rights Research Grant
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP)	Fellowships
Reporters Without Borders Germany	Berlin Scholarship
	Deyda Hydara Scholarship
	Rest & Resilience
Shuttleworth Foundation	Fellowship
Siegel Family Endowment	Siegel Research Fellowship
The Social Science Research Council	Fellowships
Stanford PACS Digital Civil Society Lab	Fellowships
TechCongress	Congressional Innovation Fellowship
	Senior Congressional Innovation Fellowship
University of York	Protective Fellowship Scheme
Voqal	Fellowship

Funding Directories

Organization	Fund
bond	Funding Opportunities
CIVIS	Donor Finder
Knight Foundation	Grants database
Renewable Freedom Foundation	Digital Rights Funding Sources
SOLVE MIT	Open Challenges
Team Community	Funding Opportunities
The Reva & David Logan Foundation	Grant Finder
UK Research and Innovation	Funding Finder
University of Illinois	Fellowship Finder

Privacy and Security

Organization	Fund
Mozilla Foundation	Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS)
	Mozilla Technology Fund
Next Generation Internet (NGI)	NGI Open Calls
NLNet Foundation	Open programs
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund (OSTIF)	Grants
Prototype Fund	Open programs

Rapid Response

Global Support

Organization	Fund
Access Now	Digital Security Helpline
Amnesty International	Security Lab Helpline
Civil Rights Defenders	Emergency Fund
Derechos Digitales -	Fondo de Respuesta Rápida
Digital Defenders Partnership	Incident Emergency Fund
Dignity For All	Rapid Response
	Security Training
Freedom House	Embattled CSOs (Emergency)
	LGBTI Assistance Program
Frontline Defenders	Emergency Contact
	Protection Grants
Global Fund for Women	Crisis Fund
International Media Support	Safety Fund
	Global Safety
International Federation for Human Rights	Grants for HRDs at Risk
Lifeline	Emergency Assistance
	Resiliency Grants
ProtectDefenders.eu	Emergency Support
SOS-Torture Network	Emergency material support to human rights defenders at risk
Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights	Opportunity Grant
	Security Grant

Journalist & Scholar Support

Organization	Fund
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)	Journalists in Distress Fund
Free Press Unlimited	Reporters Respond
Institute of International Education	Scholar Rescue Fund
International Federation of Journalists	IFJ Safety Fund
International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF)	IWMF Emergency Fund
Media Legal Defence Initiative	Legal Assistance
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)	Individual Support
Rory Peck Trust	Crisis Fund
	Therapy Fund
Scholars at Risk Network	Support for Scholars Under Threat

In-Kind Digital Infrastructure

Organization	Fund
eQualit.ie	Deflect

Rapid Response: Region-Specific

Africa

Organization	Fund
Defend Defenders	Digital Security Helpdesk
SMEX	Helpdesk

Americas

Organization	Fund
Fondo Accion Urgente	Rapid Response Grants
Maria d'Ajuda	Feminist Helpline
Navegando Libres	Feminist Helpline
Vita Activa	Feminist Helpline

Europe

Organization	Fund
European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism	Helpdesk
Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF)	Urgent Grants

Startup Incubators and Entrepreneurship

Organization	Fund
Code for Science and Society	Digital Infrastructure Incubator
Comcast NBCUniversal	LIFT Labs
Global Innovation Fund	Funds
Google	Google for Startups
HiiL	Justice Accelerator
iHUB	Funding
Mach37	Funding
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)	Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR)
National Science Foundation (NSF)	Seed Fund
Unicef	Innovation Fund

US Government Internet Freedom and Security

Organization	Fund
Department of State	Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL)
National Science Foundation (NSF)	Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC)
	Computer Systems Research (CSR)