How to apply
Please note that, as with all articles within the handbooks project, this is community-written guidance. It may be inaccurate or incomplete, and is NOT the GraphQL Foundations actual policies or rules.
For the canonical information, please see the https://graphql.org website.
To apply, please complete the GraphQL Community Grant Program application.
The GraphQL Community Grant Program accepts applications at any time. Applicants can only have one active grant at a time, but may re-apply at any time.
GraphQL Foundation projects only
At this time the grants program can only support work on the GraphQL Foundation
projects - typically that means that it's limited to the GitHub repositories you
will find under https://github.com/graphql/ (which includes the graphql.org
website).
The community grant has a limited budget, and there are so many worthy projects in the ecosystem that if we tried to fund them all they'd each come out with only a few dollars. Instead, by focussing our resources on the foundations core projects such as the specifications, reference implementations, and documentation websites, we can best utilise these funds to benefit the GraphQL ecosystem as a whole.
If you're looking for funding for local meetups, events, attending conferences, producing content (physical or digital; textual, audio or video), swag, or other ecosystem-expanding activities, please look into the Ambassador Program.
International challenges
GraphQL Foundation is based in the USA, which may introduce extra steps depending on where you live.
Preparing a proposal
Ask for help!
You don't have to submit your application on your own. Reach out to working
group members (particularly the TSC) for help and guidance! Consider pinging our
community gardener, @Benjie, via the
GraphQL Discord's #wg channel.
Clarity and full details
Your proposal will be analysed as submitted, so please be sure it is clear and contains all of the details necessary to analyse it.
The description is limited; if you need to provide more information, whether that be longer form content or images such as diagrams, please link out to a Google Doc with additional details.
No AI slop
Please do not use AI/LLMs to generate your submission for you, such submissions will likely be declined without full review. You can of course use AI to help you to refine your submission, but keep the AI's changes minimal - you are submitting the proposal, so it should use your voice.
Previous experience
Be sure to include details of where you have contributed to the GraphQL ecosystem in the past, if at all. Have you attended working groups? Submitted PRs? Do you maintain a key GraphQL project in the wider ecosystem? Have you spoken on GraphQL at a conference? Organized a local event? Published content about GraphQL? Helped others on issues on the GraphQL GitHub, or our community Discord?
It's not necessary to have any of these, but they do help us to identify why you are the right person to take on this work.
Timeline
We aim to acknowledge your application within two weeks except during the holiday periods (particularly the summer and winter holidays). When we do so, we might ask for more details or changes. Once our initial reviewer is happy your submission is in a good state, it will be submitted to the TSC for review.
It will take a while for the TSC to review your proposal, and there may be longer discussions around exactly what the work entails, and the cost for the work. After that, there are legal matters surrounding creating the contract and setting you up to receive the payment. As such, you should anticipate that it may be a number of weeks before the funding period can start. If you're planning to do the work during a particular window (a gap between contracts, a holiday period, or similar) then be sure to surface this clearly in the application and submit well in advance of this date.
Further, your work will require review, and the people reviewing it are volunteers. It can often be 2-3 weeks before your PRs are reviewed, and following review further changes or extra details may be requested. Stay in touch with the contact you have for the work, typically over Discord or Slack DMs, and don't be afraid to ping via chat asking explicitly for a review for grant-funded work! Factor these review periods into the timeline of the work, and ensure that you will be able to complete them.
Once your work has been completed, reviewed, merged and so on, your grant will be complete. At this point you will submit a request for payment following the instructions provided to you upon successful application. Once the request is approved, it may take up to a further 4 weeks to be paid.
Do not submit multiple concurrent proposals
Each awardee may only take on one proposal at a time. Please submit a single proposal to be reviewed, and do not submit another until the previous one is either rejected or completed.
Applying again
Had a successful grant before? I'm sure we'd love to fund you doing more excellent work! Please ensure you completed all tasks (including the required blog post!) and reference the work in your next submission.
The GraphQL Community Grant can be used to fund ongoing work such as maintenance of graphql-js, but doing so may follow slightly different rules than the above. Start by applying for funding for the first period, and we can advise you on the best way forward for further grants.