NGIZero

NGIZero, 15 hours ago

Hi @olea this will probably be around the end of June.

NGIZero, 17 hours ago

@chfkch That is great to hear! And happy to learn that the application process did not take you a lot of time. That is precisely what we hope: not to waste anyone's time.

NGIZero, 17 hours ago

Hi @newhinton. That is a quite common situation in the NGI programmes: people/communities who have done a project on a voluntary basis. One of the aims of the NGI Zero grants is to give them well-deserved support. So your situation applies well to the NGI programmes.

NGIZero, 17 hours ago

@newhinton I like your idea of asking someone who has applied for a grant to tell about their experience for the benefit of others. Will look into arranging that.
And yes, the money is free for you to allocate. It takes the form of a donation: you get the money, it is yours and you decide what to do with it.
So it's up to you including your example of working a day less to have more time for your project.

NGIZero, 17 hours ago

@newhinton The grant is not paid in full. Instead you divide your project in milestones and allocate an amount to it. Once you reach the milestone you send in an request for payment. So for instance: You divide your project in milestones A, B, C and D. And you allocate amount € X to milestone A. Once you have milestone A finished, you request the payment for it and move on to milestone B.

NGIZero, 17 hours ago

@newhinton To decide what amount to allocate to milestone A a much used method is: number of hours you think it will take times an hourly rate. You can write it down like that in the application.
And about your hesitation to apply for a grant for something you have done for free, don't hesitate. FLOS is free as in libre not gratis. One of the points of the Next Generation Internet is to support the enormous efforts of those dedicated to Free Libre Open Source.

NGIZero, 17 hours ago

@newhinton Here is an example of the Memorandum of Understanding that would be drawn up if your application is selected. It gives you an idea of how to think about formulating milestones. https://nlnet.nl/foundation/request/sample_MoU.pdf
Hope you will apply! The proposal form is deliberately simple so you don't have to waste much time on it. I recommend just giving it a shot and apply for June 1. There will be more open calls but there's no time like the present :).
https://nlnet.nl/propose/

NGIZero, 15 hours ago

@newhinton that's great! Good luck :)