Code for San Francisco Project Investment Fund Program

Overview

Microsoft has generously made up to $2000 available as grants to individual brigade projects to help them bridge development gaps, increase impact, reach sustainability and to design projects beyond what can be built for free.

Project Guidelines

Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate how their project meets all of the following guidelines:

• Be an active project organized through Code for San Francisco, either in person as regular hack night attendees, or online through the brigade’s GitHub repository.
• Be committed to working as an open source project.
• Be committed to the Code for San Francisco Code of Conduct.

Policy on Use of Funds

Grantees may spend awarded funds on any resource directly related to project development. All expenditures must be tracked.

Examples (by no means exhaustive) of valid usages:

• Events planning
  • Space
  • Food
• Software licensing
• Application hosting
  • Cloud hosting, server space, API calls
• Promotion / advertising
  • Google Adwords
• Office supplies
• Training
• Travel for conferences

If you are unsure about possible grant usage, please email core-team@codeforsanfrancisco.org.

Program Process

• March 7th: Application window opens
• April 4th: Application window closes
• April 25th: Selections completed & projects notified
• August 1st: Grant term ends; final check-in

Accountability

There will be a final check-in at the end of the grant period to report on how well the team met their stated goals.

Evaluation Guidelines

Applications will be reviewed by a panel consisting of one representative from Microsoft, one representative from the San Francisco civic tech community, and one representative from the City of San Francisco. The panel will award grants to applications that best incorporate the following characteristics:

• Scalability to other cities
• Ability to address identified civic needs and how those needs have been identified
• Clear plan for sustainability
• Incorporation of open data
• User research has been conducted
• Roadmap includes accessibility or inclusivity, community / user engagement or a clear plan to do so

Ready to Apply?

• Read This to Prepare
• Then Apply Here

Questions?

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Code for San Francisco core team at core-team@codeforsanfrancisco.org with any questions about the program.

FAQ

Projects awarded a grant may apply again in later rounds