[hackerspaces] Grant Funding Experiences

[James Carlson]

Many spaces have had success applying for grants this past year. According
to our tax filing for the spaces participating in the Space Federation in
2012, collectively we received:

Main sources:
$440,824 from membership fees and rentals

Outside sources:
$28,100 from foundation grants
$42,862 from corporations
$33,723 from individual gifts
-----------
$104,684 total received from outside sources

Most of the foundation money was 'restricted' meaning you have to use it
for the specified purpose. Whereas, most of the individual and corporate
money was 'unrestricted.'

Note this is across 23 spaces in the US.



On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 2:41 PM, Edward L Platt <ed at elplatt.com> wrote:

> Many companies offer grants to nonprofits that their employees volunteer
> at.  I know i3 Detroit got such a grant from Eaton Corporation.
>
> As for project-based grants, I have a related question: if a member wants
> to use the group's 501c3 status to apply for a project grant, what happens
> if the member doesn't finish the project? Have any groups successfully
> applied for project-based grants?  Have any groups had to deal with
> unfinished, grant-funded projects?
>
> -Ed
>
> On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 1:41 PM, Alan Fay <emptyset at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Greetings from Freeside Atlanta!
>>
>> This topic is very US-centric, so apologies in advance to our
>> international friends.
>>
>> I'm interested to learn more about what other US hackerspaces have
>> experienced with obtaining US government or foundation grants and other
>> sources of funding.  My research into the subject has turned up very little.
>>
>> I see a lot of controversy over hackerspaces accepting DARPA funding, but
>> I don't see any articles about individuals or hackerspaces demonstrating or
>> blogging about the products of such work.  I can't tell if this is because
>> the hackerspaces or individuals are under NDA, or if this implies that
>> DARPA funding just isn't happening.
>>
>> There's only been a handful of discussions about DARPA on grants on this
>> mailing list, in the archives - which don't give me much to go on.
>>
>> I've also read that some hackerspaces have gotten grants or equipment
>> donations from businesses like Adafruit, but information about such a
>> program or how to qualify/apply is nowhere to be found on the Adafruit
>> website.
>>
>> - What kind of grants has your hackerspace applied for?
>> - Any success stories?
>> - Did you have to hire or work with a grant writer or other organization
>> for assistance?
>> - More importantly, was the effort ultimately worth it, or is time better
>> spent seeking out local sources of funding (generous members or local
>> businesses?)
>>
>> I'm not so much interested in a debate about the merits of accepting
>> money from certain sources - I'm at this juncture only interested to find
>> out if anyone has actual experience in funding their hackerspace from
>> outside sources like these.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Edward L. Platt
> http://elplatt.com
> http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
> http://i3detroit.com
> @EdwardLPlatt <http://twitter.com/EdwardLPlatt>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>
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