Opening Applications for the Second Round of ZF Minor Grants

Back in February, we tried out something new: a Minor Grants program for smaller grants, selected by ZCAP. The response and feedback was overwhelmingly positive, so we’re doing it again!

As before, the maximum grant size is $25,000, and the total budget is $75,000. Applications are now open at the Zcash Grants Hub so if you, or someone you know, (or even someone you don’t know!) have an idea for how to make Zcash - or the general cause of financial privacy - better, tell them to apply.

The deadline for applications is 20:00 UTC on Monday 18th September.

The goal of Minor Grants is to lower the barrier to entry to participation in the Zcash ecosystem by funding smaller and/or riskier projects (or work by individuals as opposed to teams) that are unsuitable for the ZCG Major Grants program. Ideally, it will attract new talent and potentially act as an “on-ramp” for teams - or for individuals to join or form teams - to demonstrate what they can do before applying for a Major Grant.

We’ve made the application process as simple as possible. The most significant change we’ve made is that we’re explicitly encouraging non-English speakers to submit an application in their native language, and we’ll take care of (Google) translating it to English!

For full details, please read the blog post:

If you have any questions, post them here! :point_down:

28 Likes

Do you know the expected frequency of open application periods? It would help to scope a particular grant proposal if I knew how many months’ worth of work would fit into this grant period before the next period.

While I believe a grant proposal could describe work that extends beyond a single grant period, I can reduce risk for the ZCG grant review board by proposing smaller units of work with smaller payouts, giving them a renewed opportunity at each grant period to commit additional funds if they are pleased with the work thus far.
Contrast this to pay-per-milestone, which while the payouts are broken up, the total amount is still committed at the beginning, making it unavailable for other proposals.

2 Likes

Hopefully, we’ll do another round early next year but it’s entirely dependent on our financial situation.

FYI, Minor Grants are entirely separate from ZCG.

The Zcash Community Grants committee (commonly known as ZCG) is responsible for reviewing grant applications under the Major Grants program, as specified in ZIP 1014. These grants are funded from the Major Grants slice of the Dev Fund.

Minor Grants is an entirely separate program, funded from the Zcash Foundation’s slice of the Dev Fund. The ZCG committee has no role in approving Minor Grants. Instead, grant applications are reviewed for suitability by the Zcash Foundation, and suitable applications are then submitted to a poll of ZCAP to determine which should be funded.

10 Likes

A post was split to a new topic: Why don’t we decentralize development and funding?

This round of ZF Minor Grants Program is :fire:.

Here is a brief summary of the entries for the second round of ZF minor grants.
Excerpts are quoted from the original forum posts, please read the full application for proper context.

Zcash Mempool Visualizer (Proposal for Minor Grants)

Asking for: $18,400 USD


Proposal: Brazilian Privacy Alliance

Asking for: $24,600 USD


Proposal: Creation of “Radio Z” an online Zcash radio station

Asking for: $6,200


Proposal: New stage of Zcast, the Spanish Zcash podcast

Asking for: $24,000


Proposal: In-person classes for entrepreneurs on Zcash as a payment method

Asking for: $7,550 USD


Proposal: Extend ZecHub Bounty program into 2024

Asking for: $7,000 USD


Proposal: Zcash Africa

Asking for: $9,850 USD


Proposal: Zecweb.com - Trade Show Booth

Asking for: $13,962 USD (537 ZEC x $26 USD)


Zecwallet Lightwalletd server continuation

Asking for: $6,000 USD


Proposal: Zcash HCI Guidelines & Design System

Asking for: $24,000 USD


Zcash Metrics and Analytics Dashboard

Asking for: $25,000 USD


Proposal: Art for Privacy Awards (Premios Arte para la Privacidad)

Asking for: $9,000 USD


Grand total of applications: $175,562

The total budget for the ZF Minor Grants Program is $75,000.

Since not everyone can be accepted, I wish all the participants the best of luck. And may the ZCAP members vote for the best!

8 Likes

Disclaimer

I don’t know if it’s unethical for me, as a participant in the minor grants program, to compile this list. But my intention is just to make easier for people to find all the applications.

The order of applications is the order I found in the forum, I’m not favoring any particular application.

4 Likes