Important Dates

Phases of the Project

Phase 1. General Discussion and Preparation

• Use this thread to ask questions and discuss the overall funding project. You may start new discussions in this group - Q4 Funding Project - to suggest ideas for funding areas and get feedback to strengthen them. This process can also provide you with a sense of the level of support for your idea and help you find potential team members.

• You need to join this group to start or post to a discussion - click on the "join this group" button on the home page.

Phase 2. Create a Funding Proposal

• Workspace - Create a workspace in the Q4 Funding Project group to officially propose a funding area. Be sure to use the official template located here.

• Focus Area Definition - When you first post your workspace, fill out a statement defining the funding area. You can start with a narrow or broad definition. Indicate whether this statement is final or open to suggestions. Include links to sources of information about this funding area – websites, related online networks, blogs, tagclouds, etc. Answer other questions on the template including: "Why is it important to select this funding area?" and "How could the success of this funding area help the omidyar.net community connect with other groups, attract new members, and encourage the ongoing use of omidyar.net to collaborate?"

• Discussion - Create a discussion in the Q4 Funding Project group and link to it from your proposal. This will provide a place where other omidyar.net members can ask questions, make comments, and offer suggestions for nonprofits that fit the funding area. This discussion will also be useful for others to express their support for the proposal and indicate if they plan to have any ongoing involvement in the funding area.

• Team members - Some teams may form before October 30, and while waiting until the last minute is not a good idea, you have until Nov. 14 to publish the final list of team members in your proposal workspace. Each team must be sponsored by five team members who have a feedback score of 50 or more by the time the voting begins. An omidyar.net member can join/sponsor only one funding team. Team members should explain clearly their affiliation with any of the nominees and any financial benefit they might receive as a result of funding their proposal. They should also state any plans for ongoing involvement with the focus area if it's selected for funding.

• Nonprofit nominations - You may want to start with one or two ideas for nominations and solicit suggestions of other nonprofits for the team to review. As you list nominees, indicate if you are willing to consider alternatives. Before the voting starts on Nov. 14, you'll need to specify five nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations that fit the funding area. Include descriptions of each group, reasons why it should be funded, and links to relevant web pages to allow others to make good decisions. If you think it will help, feel free to rank groups on the strength of your endorsement. Conduct Patriot Act checks on each group that is nominated – Patriot Act instructions are listed here.

  Funding proposals that include more than or fewer than five organizations to be funded will be ineligible for funding and removed from the voting process.

• Please add your proposal's info to the Summary of Proposals - links to your official proposal workspace, discussion, and team member profiles.

Phase 3. Vote for Top Three Funding Area Proposals

• On November 14, the Omidyar Network Community Management Team will create one poll that will include all eligible funding area proposals.
• The poll will be configured so that members of the omidyar.net community may vote for up to three different funding area proposals. Participating in the poll will cost 5 points from your feedback bank no matter how many proposals you vote for.
• The poll will open at 11 A.M. PST on Nov. 14 and end at the same time on Nov. 17.
• In order to qualify for funding, a proposal must receive at least 20 votes. In case of a tie, the higher aggregate feedback score of the five team members sponsoring a proposal will determine the winner.
• The three funding area proposals that receive the most votes will advance to the next phase.

Phase 4. Vote for Specific Nonprofits in the Winning Funding Areas

• Based on the results of Phase 3, the Omidyar Network Community Management Team will create a poll for each of the three winning funding area proposals and list each set of five nominated nonprofits.
• It will cost 5 points to vote in each poll. Members may vote for up to three nonprofits per funding area. In case of a tie, the five team members of the corresponding proposal will decide the winner. The poll will open about 3 P.M. PST on Nov. 17 and ends at the same time on Nov. 22.
• You can vote here.

Phase 5. Funding the organizations

• Based on the results of voting in Phase 4, organizations will be funded in the following manner:

• Funding will go to four organizations with the most votes within the focus area that received the most votes in Phase 3.
• Funding will go to three organizations with the most votes within the focus area that received the second-most votes in Phase 3.
• Funding will go to two organizations with the most votes within the focus area that received the third-most votes in Phase 3.

• All winning organizations will be funded the amount of $5,000.
• No check will be split and paid to multiple recipients.
• Omidyar Network will send the funds directly to the 501(c)(3) organizations identified in the winning proposals.

These rules apply to both stages of voting

• Team members may vote on any proposal (even their own proposal.)
• To be eligible to vote, members must have a feedback score of at least 10 and must have been a member of omidyar.net before the poll begins.
• Votes can be changed until the poll closes.
• Results of each poll will be available for viewing by anyone in the omidyar.net community after the poll closes.
• The names of the members who voted in each poll will be visible although how they voted will not be revealed.

Still have questions? Check out these FAQs - for many answers.