FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COLLABORATIVE FUNDING PROJECT

Q: Who designed the Collaborative Funding Project?

A:	Omidyar Network staff designed the project, inspired a lot by the community's input in the Money Spending Scenario and subsequent discussion threads.

Q: Who made the decision to fund it?

A:	Omidyar Network, LLC is funding the project.

Q: Is this related to the Money Spending Scenario?

A:	Both the Money Spending Scenario and related discussions/collaborations helped create the structure for this Collaborative Funding Project.

Q: Within this framework is it possible to seed an o/net community trust?

A:	Yes. If it meets the criteria for funded organizations.

Q: Does this mean that the Collaborative Funding Project is only open to US based nonprofit organization(s)?

A:	Only nonprofits that conform to the 501(c)(3) guidelines are eligible for funding however, a US-based nonprofit could act as a fiscal agent for non-US-based projects. It's up to the 501(c)(3) to decide.

Q: Can people on a team submit proposals for non-profits that they run, are on the board of, or are affiliated with?

A:	Teams can submit proposals for any nonprofit that meets the funding organization guidelines. Per the template, full disclosure should be made for any potential conflicts of interest.

Q: Is it required for people to be upfront with this information if this is the case?

A:	Given our collective experience with folks who are reluctant to share any kind of information about their proposals, we imagine the community would not look/vote favorably on those proposals that either withheld or misrepresented their rationale for funding.

Q: Are there other ethical guidelines like the above that you expect people to follow, or is it up to the community to look more deeply into such matters?

A:	Regarding ethical guidelines, we don't have any published.

Q: Is there a single fund of $50,000 to be distributed across both cycles? Can one team submit to both cycles for $5,000 per submission?

A:	Yes there's one fund for both cycles, and yes, a team can submit a proposal in both cycles.

Q: Is the $50,000 allocated after the 2nd round, or do 1st round approved proposals come first? Does this mean the money might be gone by the end of the 1st round and the 2nd round cancelled?

A:

The second cycle (August) will be funded with whatever remains leftover from the first cycle (June). So: If only $20,000 worth of proposals are approved for funding in the first cycle (June), there'll be $30,000 left to distribute in the second cycle (August). If there are approved proposals that total up to $50,000 at the end of the first cycle, we will cancel the second round as they'll be no money left to distribute. If there's any money remaining unallocated after both cycles are complete, the money remains with Omidyar Network.

Q: As this has been put forward as a team-based project can there be collaboration between teams per round?

A:	Yes. Collaboration is encouraged.

Q: Do they have to be stand alone proposals? Or can they be connected in such a way that if one doesn't fly the other is grounded as well?

A:

If teams wish to have a clause in their proposal saying, "only vote to fund our proposal if you also vote to fund this other team's proposal," the decision is up to whomever is making the proposal. The risk in "knitting" proposals is that you're asking the voters to make more and more complex decisions which might not work out in your favor. Or they might work out in your favor. Again, the choice is up to you as to how sophisticated you want your proposal to be.