Free and Open Source Software Sustainability Fund

The Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Sustainability Fund is Open Technology Fund’s mechanism to support the maintenance, interoperability, reproducibility, and resilience of the internet freedom technology ecosystem.

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Overview

Open Technology Fund (OTF) is soliciting Concept Notes to OTF’s FOSS Sustainability Fund. OTF is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation registered in the District of Columbia.

OTF’s mission is to advance internet freedom in repressive environments by supporting the research, development, implementation, and maintenance of technologies that provide secure and uncensored access to the internet to enable all citizens to exercise their fundamental human rights online.

About the FOSS Sustainability Fund

Ensuring a sustainable FOSS ecosystem is critical to the development, maintenance, and reliability of the anti-censorship and privacy-preserving technologies that millions of users in repressive contexts around the world rely upon. However, these internet freedom technologies should not be created in isolation; they are most impactful if other developers can easily and securely fork, improve, update, and integrate code into solutions addressing regionally-specific and ever-evolving censorship contexts and user needs. For the continued iteration and innovation of the open source internet freedom tech stack, there are foundational requirements around maintenance, quality documentation, interoperability, and reproducibility that must be met by projects committed to long-term sustainability and resilience.

The FOSS Sustainability Fund makes targeted investments in the long-term maintainability, interoperability, reproducibility, security, and resilience of the internet freedom technology ecosystem. This ecosystem includes amongst other technologies, circumvention tools (like VPNs), secure messaging apps, shutdown-resilient tools, anti-censorship and privacy-preserving technologies, as well as these tools’ foundational software infrastructure.

Competitive applications will:

improve the sustainability, security, or resiliency of multiple internet freedom technologies on an infrastructural level through investment in shared upstream dependencies such as libraries, packages, modules, or protocols;
enhance the interoperability and/or open source integrity of an existing, impactful internet freedom technology;
and/or allow for more secure, alternative methods of internet freedom tool distribution in high-risk contexts through ensuring reproducible builds.

OTF is grateful to GitHub for contributing to this round of the FOSS Sustainability Fund!

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must meet the following qualifying conditions:

Demonstrated Dependency/Userbase: The project demonstrates it is a core dependency of internet freedom technologies; or — if the project is an app or other user-facing tool — has a substantial base of active users or beneficiaries in repressive contexts.
Active development: Active coding toward the software has occurred in the last two years and updates are pushed regularly. OTF will consider flexibility on this requirement if an applicant aims to revive a dormant project, provided it is demonstrated that the project is still used/core to internet freedom tools or apps; or, the applicant proposes a new library or component that improves interoperability and/or increased long-term sustainability of actively developed, effective internet freedom tools and apps.

Individuals or organizations* (for-profit or nonprofit) of all ages — irrespective of nationality, creed, or sex — are encouraged to apply.

*OTF is not able to support applicants within countries that the United States has trade restrictions or export sanctions as determined by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control .

Funding

We recognize potential applicants are diverse in size, scale, maturity, and scope of objectives. Applicants are welcome to apply in a funding range broad enough to encompass single maintainer software projects (e.g. 7,000 USD a month for 6-24 months) on the low end, and larger internet freedom multi-technology ecosystem resiliency impact initiatives (up to 400,000 USD for up to 24 months) on the high end.

Complementary Support

In addition to financial support, successful projects are eligible to receive in-kind coaching and direct support from OTF’s resource Labs depending on project needs at OTF’s discretion:

All OTF-supported technology projects may receive free security audits from our Security Lab and/or may be required to undergo such security audits by OTF or a designated third-party. The funded project should include remediation time for any found vulnerabilities.

The Impact & Engagement Lab can help FOSS Sustainability projects with documentation writing and editing, and other visual/editorial services for public-facing resources.

The User Experience & Discovery Lab provides usability and accessibility audits, can support user/contributor engagement models, and in some cases, support user/contributor-centered strategic planning.

How to Apply, Process, and Award Information

Applications to the FOSS Sustainability Fund go through a two-stage application process and are accepted during an open solicitation period ending May 7, 2026.

Application Process

Stage 1: Submit a Concept Note through OTF’s online application system by May 7, 2026 in which you tell us about your project idea through a short form.

Stage 2: If your Concept Note is deemed to be highly competitive, we will invite you to submit a Proposal in which you expand upon your project idea.

The FOSS Sustainability Fund Advisory Council, comprising subject matter experts who understand the fields and issues related to FOSS ecosystem sustainability, will conduct a final review of competitive Proposals.

Timeline

March 26, 2026: Request for applications opens.

April 17, 2026: Open question-period closes, FAQ published to this page.

* OTF did not receive any questions about the solicitation that we were able to answer.

May 7, 2026: Request for applications closes, Concept Notes due. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal on a rolling basis after this date.

Late Summer / Early Fall 2026: Expected Contracts for successful applicants.

Award Information

Funding awards are performance-based contracts signed directly with you. Funding is dispersed upon completion of stated objectives, activities, and deliverables as outlined in the contract. All payments are made in U.S. dollars and will comply with local laws, regulations, and ethics rules.

If awarded a contract, we will pair you with an OTF program manager who will oversee all project monitoring and evaluation for the duration of the contract. Monitoring and evaluation assessments are based on predetermined and agreed-upon metrics, deliverables, and goals as laid out in the project proposal.

Individuals can contact [email protected] with general questions regarding this open solicitation. Please note that OTF cannot answer project-specific questions during open solicitation. As OTF practices full and open competition, all questions, and the answers to those questions, will be consolidated into a section posted publicly on this web page. This FAQ will not include any personally identifiable information.

Application Review Process

How OTF evaluates FOSS Sustainability Fund applications:

Does the applicant establish how the proposed activities will impact internet freedom FOSS ecosystem resiliency, not just short-term maintenance or operational needs of an individual tool or technology project?
Does the applicant consider both technical and non-technical aspects of long-term sustainability and ecosystem resiliency?
Does this project have demonstrated downstream dependencies in the internet freedom technology ecosystem (censorship/surveillance circumvention and secure communication tools)? Or, if a user-facing app or tool, is it relied upon by many users in repressive contexts and does the project contribute back to their core dependencies/demonstrate internet freedom ecosystem impact?
Is it cost effective?
Is it complementary to existing efforts?

Eligibility & Certification

The following applicants are ineligible to receive awards under this solicitation:

Applicants (and/or their subsidiaries, affiliates, parent organizations, etc.) engaged in the development, production, sale, and/or marketing of any surveillance software, hardware, or associated technology.
Applicants listed as debarred, sanctioned, or otherwise excluded from receiving federal funds in the System of Award Management (sam.gov), the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), or any other government sanction/debarment system.
Applicants certify the project put forth by way of this solicitation falls within section 2(b) of OTF’s remit.
By submitting your proposal, you are certifying that you are eligible to perform the work described in this RFP and that none of the above exclusions apply to you, your subsidiaries, affiliates, or parent organization(s) as applicable. Furthermore, you certify that no relationship exists between you and any third party that impedes your ability to conduct fair, impartial, and independent audits.

Disclaimers and Protection Clauses

OTF will not compensate or reimburse applicants for their preparation or responses to this solicitation. All Concept Notes and/or Proposals become property of OTF upon submission.
A request for a Proposal following a Concept Note review by OTF in no way is an assurance, promise, or guarantee the applicant will receive funding from OTF under this solicitation.
Applicants shall not issue, or permit to be issued, during the period covered by this solicitation, or under a contract (if offered) or at any time thereafter, publicity in any form respecting the work hereunder or the fact of its participation herein, unless such publicity is first approved in writing by OTF.
In the event any portion of the cost of the services provided by the awarded contract includes travel cost reimbursement, the applicant shall obtain advance approval of OTF and all travel expenditures must conform to the Standard Government Travel Regulations.
Applicant hereby agrees that all Work Product produced under the contract, if awarded, will be the sole property of OTF and the fees to be paid to the applicant are full, fair, and adequate compensation for the conveyance to OTF of deliverables and/or Work Product.
The awarded contract, if any, will be based on OTF’s standard contract terms, including a termination for convenience provision, and will also include relevant U.S. Government provisions and/or other applicable standard contracting clauses.
Restrictions on the use of data contained within a Concept Note and/or Proposal must be clearly stated. Due to OTF’s evaluation process for solicitations, it cannot sign non-disclosure agreements with any applicant.
OTF reserves the right to accept or reject any or all Concept Notes and/or Proposals in response to this solicitation, to take exceptions to the solicitation specifications, and to waive any requirements stated herein. Additionally, OTF reserves the right to waive minor application deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition.
OTF may choose to award only part of the activities in this solicitation, or issue multiple awards based on the solicitation activities.
OTF reserves the right to make an award based solely on submitted Proposals or to negotiate with one or more applicants. Issuance of this solicitation, preparation, submission, and/or evaluation of applicant responses does not commit OTF to award a contract to any applicant.
OTF reserves the right to cancel or modify this solicitation at any time for any reason within its sole discretion without liability.