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Grantee FAQ

At OpenSats, we allocate funds from our generous donors to developers and educators working on free and open-source projects in the Bitcoin and Nostr ecosystems. Supporting our grantees is foundational to what we do. The OpenSats operations team is available to address any concerns, questions, and unforeseen circumstances that may arise. We have an open communication channel via support@opensats.org. Please use this email for any inquiries.

Don’t hesitate to contact us anytime. Whenever possible, please let us know in advance of any change of circumstances that may affect your work under your OpenSats grant. Within reason, we will do our best to adjust and respond to any changes so that you can continue building under sustainable conditions.

I have a question; whom should I email?

All inquiries should be sent to support@opensats.org. Do not email or DM individuals, or else our response may be delayed.1

When will I receive my first grant payment?

Grant payments are made on the 15th of the month, give or take a day or two.

Can I receive [insert fiat currency]?

No. All grants are paid in sats, i.e. bitcoin. We will request on-chain addresses as part of the grant process.

Can the grant be received as a company, trust, LLC, or similar?

Yes. We suggest working with your accountant or a similar professional if you need help with setting up an entity and/or filling out the appropriate tax forms. You can also receive the grant as an individual. The congratulations email we sent you contains information on what tax form we need from you in each case.

Why do you require tax information from your grantees?

We are a 501(c)(3) public charity registered in the state of Texas. We are required by law to collect this information.

We have hundreds of grantees across the globe and do not have the capacity or the liberty to provide accounting or legal advice across so many different jurisdictions. We recommend asking a local accountant or lawyer in your jurisdiction.

Do you have guidance for border crossings?

We can't provide legal advice, but several resources offer practical tips for traveling with devices and data: the EFF Border Search Pocket Guide as well as these articles might be helpful. Note that various security researchers and developers encourage the use of Lockdown Mode or a hardened system like GrapheneOS.

Can OpenSats help me to set up an organization or foundation for my open-source project?

We can't offer help directly, but the Foundation Formation Kit (FFK) was specifically created for that purpose. If you need additional guidance when it comes to establishing a tax-exempt foundation for your open-source project, please reach out to info@opensourcejustice.org

What are the requirements of my grant?

The general requirements are as follows:

  • Work produced must be published under a free and open-source license.
  • Submit a progress report every 90 days for the duration of the grant.

That’s basically it!2

What does it mean to produce work under a free and open-source license?

We expect both code and educational materials to be published under a free and open-source license and produced in the open. That means frequent, public commits to GitHub (or equivalent).

Writing all your code/educational materials in private, even if you plan to publish them later, is not compliant with our grant agreement.

How does OpenSats evaluate the work done by a grantee?

All grantees must submit a progress report every 90 days at https://opensats.org/reports/submit

First-time OpenSats grantees must also submit 30-day progress reports during the first three months of their grant period. For example, if a grant starts in March:

  • 30-day reports are due at the end of April, May, and June.
  • After that, 90-day reports are due every three months (e.g., September covering June–August, December covering September–November, etc.).

Returning grantees (second or later grant) submit only 90-day progress reports. For example, if a grant starts in March:

  • Reports are due in June (covering March–May), September (covering June–August), December (covering September–November), and every 90 days thereafter until the end of the grant.

If a report is not received by the last day of the due month, the grant will be paused until it is submitted. Progress reports are a required condition of every OpenSats grant and are necessary for compliance with 501(c)(3) nonprofit regulations. OpenSats must demonstrate to donors and auditors how grant funds are used.

Reports are evaluated by:

  • The technical committee
  • One or more board members
  • At least one member of the operations team

In addition to reports, OpenSats monitors public repositories to evaluate grantee performance.

What does an ideal progress report look like?

An ideal progress report is:

  • Written in Markdown format
  • Between 1 and 3 pages
  • Enriched with the most relevant links to pull requests, commits, and other work produced

In the best case, each progress report:

  • Has a brief summary in each section before providing additional details
  • Tells us if you are on track
  • Describes challenges, and how you overcame them
  • Includes if you are pleased or displeased with the progress you made

Every progress report should show clearly the connection between what was planned in the application or previous report(s) and the work done since.

We encourage you to openly discuss any obstacles that may have prevented you from reaching previously established milestones, and/or why your previously outlined plans changed. Remember that we're here to help, not to judge.

What does a poor progress report look like?

A poor progress report is:

  • Hard to read
  • Hard to understand
  • An incredibly long wall of text
  • Not showing any of the actual work done
  • Missing links to pull requests and commits
  • Missing context, summaries, and explanations, i.e. is only a long list of links to pull requests and commits without anything else

Refer to the question above for what a good progress report looks like.

Does OpenSats provide feedback on every progress report submitted?

Not necessarily. Every report is reviewed but we do not provide feedback on every report as we review hundreds each quarter. If you are looking for specific feedback, please call it out as part of the report.

We will contact you if we have any questions or concerns about your report.

What happens if the deliverables, milestones, or timelines proposed in the application are changed or not delivered?

Software development is inherently unpredictable. If you make changes to your project, explain the reasoning clearly in your progress reports and keep on building!

Is it okay to work on something that isn’t part of the grant agreement or even pivot to another project?

The short answer is yes, within reason. Your work must be aligned with our mission and meet our criteria of being free and open-source within the Bitcoin and/or Nostr ecosystems.

Reach out to us if you'd like to explore this option further.

I wasn’t able to work on my project as much as I expected, what should I do?

Reach out to us to discuss the best path forward as soon as possible.

What should I do if I feel overwhelmed while working on my projects?

If you're feeling overwhelmed, reach out to us and let us know.

In addition, please know that Waye offers structured support to help developers manage stress and avoid burnout through programs with group discussions, coaching, and reflection tools. You can reach them at hello@waye.dev

Can I pause my grant?

Yes. Let us know the duration of the pause before taking a break.

Do I need to track hours?

No. Our expectation is that grantees will work on deliverables and milestones listed in their grant agreement in an honest manner and on a best-effort basis. Grantees have the flexibility to manage their workload as they see fit.

Work done should be reflected in each progress report. Just be honest.

Taking a few days, weekends, and evenings off is perfectly fine and encouraged. We shouldn’t have to write this, but past experience forces us to be explicit about it: Please do not sacrifice your health and well-being. We encourage our grantees to do good work that is aligned with our mission, but we also encourage you to live a balanced life. Do not burn yourself to a crisp.

As mentioned above, if you need to pause a grant to take extended time off, let us know as soon as possible and we’ll do our best to find a solution that works for you and us.

How can I best ensure that OpenSats is getting a good return on investment?

Some grantees feel pressure to provide ROI to OpenSats. Do not think about it this way - we are not a VC fund; we are not making investments. We expect you to do good, honest work.

We select people who are aligned with our mission and values, and we trust that the rest will fall into place. Our expectation is that you're acting in good faith.

Does my grant renew automatically?

No, each grant has a set end date listed in the grant agreement. If you would like to apply for another grant, consider applying 60-90 days before the end of your current grant in order to give us enough time to evaluate and process your application.

Is it possible to renew or extend my grant?

Yes. However, we consider it a new grant, not an extension. All grants must go through the same evaluation process - start by applying again at opensats.org/apply.

As mentioned above, consider applying for a new grant 60-90 days before the end of your current grant in order to give us enough time to evaluate and process your application.

Can grants be part-time or only full-time?

Grants can be full-time or part-time. We can accommodate many different levels of commitment with corresponding levels of financial support.

Can a full-time grant be turned into a part-time grant?

If you are partway through a full-time grant and want to reduce your time commitment, reach out to us. We can discuss adjusting your grant based on a smaller time commitment.

What should I do at the end of my grant?

Send in your final progress report.

We hope the above is helpful. Make sure to have a look at our General FAQ too, as well as our application and selection criteria.

If you have something good to say about us, feel free to say it publicly and tag us on nostr.

If you have constructive criticism or suggestions for improvements, please let us know via support@opensats.org. We are learning as we go, so any feedback is highly appreciated.

Thank you!

Footnotes

  1. Seriously. Depending on the individual, said delay might be weeks or months. Please only use the official channels as per opensats.org/contact ↩

  2. As a public charity, we have to check various boxes on our side. Please refer to our grant agreement for any other details, linked at opensats.org/transparency ↩