Announcing our 2020 Spark Grantees

Grant for the Web announces 26 Spark level recipients from our inaugural call for proposals.

Projects from educational resources to tech builds to the creation of original content were included among the Spark awards, with grants ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 USD.

Projects were submitted through a public, global call for proposals launched in late April for three levels of funding: Spark, Mid-Level and Flagship. In less than two months, 286 applications were submitted and reviewed by a panel of independent judges recruited from across the technology, open standards, philanthropy, and arts/culture sectors. 

Read more about Grant for the Web’s Spark level recipients:

Hymn6 

Atif Ali, Canada

This project aims at creating a no-subscription, no-login, no-ads internet music station based on the micro-transactions streaming ability enabled by the Web Monetization API and the Interledger Protocol. 

Ladyspike Media 

Caitlin Arcand & team, USA

Using this new and innovative method of monetization – and its profits – to support the writing staff at Ladyspike, the only website of its kind focussing on amplifying voices of women and LGBTQ+ performers in comedy. 

Monetization for Dart 

Tomás Arias, Argentina

A Dart wrapper around the Web Monetization API, allowing Dart developers – especially beginners and developers with little to no experience with Web Monetization – to easily implement and control Web Monetization on web apps.

A case study on monetizing open-access content 

Arthur Attwell & team, South Africa

Collecting and sharing data on Web Monetization implemented in the same way across a range of open-content websites to compare results across content genres and territories. Team includes Christina Tromp, Klara Skinner, Lauren Ellwood, and Louise Steward.

Bandi 

Keith Brewster, Canada

Building a framework allowing content creators to design a customer loyalty/rewards program where users earn points by sending micropayments that can be redeemed for exclusive rewards.

Nonprofit Multitenancy Logistics Software: Viability of Integrating Web Monetization 

Food Rescue Alliance, USA

Assessing the viability of using Web Monetization as a fundraising tool integrated into Food Rescue Alliance's open source logistics web app, a collaboration of thirty-one nonprofits. Team includes Becks Boone, Hayden Dansky, and Blair Young.

Webpage for Baking, Photography,  Pet Care, Crypto, Web Monetization awareness

Patrícia Carapinha, Portugal 

Using the personal website www.pattyalexx.com to raise awareness on Web Monetization, crypto currencies, and the Interledger Protocol, by educating readers that arrive to see other content.

Independent News Aggregator 

Jason Chrysostomou & team, UK

Creating a prototype Web Monetized news aggregator website exclusively for content from independent not-for-profit media that displays content from multiple RSS feed sources. Team includes Ranjana Peiris and Christopher Chrysostomou.

Teddy Story 

Alan Dent, New Zealand

Using Web Monetization to provide access to children’s bedtime stories without advertisements and tracking getting in the way. 

Implement Web Monetization in PeerTube 

Miles DeWitt, USA

Implementing Web Monetization features in PeerTube, a federated video sharing platform, giving creators an alternative to YouTube where they can earn money and not worry about fluctuations in ad rates or demonetization.

Power Plays Podcast 

Ayden Férdeline, Germany

Producing a new season of Power Plays – a weekly podcast that charts how important decisions about the Internet have been made – with a focus on Web Monetization, including the technology itself, the legal and regulatory environment, and possibilities for innovation that it could bring. 

The Nordly 

Jonathan Gershberg & team, USA

Converting The Nordly – a Minneapolis-based humor site that satirizes the Upper Midwest – to a Web Monetized model to sustainably continue to create locally-focused comedy and support the diverse comedians who make it. Team includes Anna Larranaga, Aron Woldeslassie, and Nate Wong.

Design Club: Reboot 

Jemima Gibbons & Noam Sohachevsky, UK

Conducting experiments in the creation, distribution, and discoverability of new content for children’s workshops in Design Club’s free and open Resource Hub. The team will educate themselves, their design-led community, and others in the open learning content space about Web Monetization. 

Sustainable Funding Vlogcast, Case Studies, and Online Course for Media, Educators & Tech 

Erica Hargreave & team, Canada

Using experiments, interviews, and case studies to create open educational, online learning opportunities around the Web Monetization standard, and to inform sustainable funding models. Team includes Lori Yearwood and Kevin Ribble.

Immersive Payment 

Rabimba Karanjai, India

Providing digital artists and Web Mixed Reality content creators with a consolidated way to monetize their assets and creations using Web Monetization, which can be distributed in different platforms. 

A New Approach to Sharing Knowledge on Websites Enabled by Web Monetization 

Benedikt Kick, Germany

Building and experimenting with a new approach to sharing knowledge on the web, enabled by Web Monetization, that will allow users to have full access to a creator’s shared knowledge, paying them in a pay-as-you-use manner.

Getting started with Web Monetization & Interledger

Anson Lau, Hong Kong

Creating an educational course conducted in Mandarin for anyone who wants to learn more about the basics of Web Monetization and Interledger in order to grow adoption. 

Helping Minority Content Creators Monetize on the Web 

Rashon Massey, USA

Introducing, educating and engaging individuals to/with the tools of Web Monetization via Coil and Puma through the creation of original copyrightable content, with a focus on serving minority groups and women.

MHz Curationist Sustainable Contributor Payment Study 

MHz Foundation, USA

Exploring a sustainable web monetization model to pay contributors to the Curationist.org platform, an online space and free knowledge project for curating art and cultural heritage for all creative disciplines. Team includes Christian Dawson, Hilary Osborne, Virginia Poundstone,  Matt Kennedy, and Amy Sawyer.

Interledger Protocol and Web Monetization Educational Series 

Sam Miller, USA

Producing a series of professional whiteboard animation videos in both Spanish and English to demystify for Web Monetization and Interledger Protocol technology and explain the benefits.

Documento 

Arup Nath & team, Canada

Refining Documento, a platform enabling developers to Web Monetize their documentation, by adding features including a customizable preview for documentations, branch-specific pushes, and support for multiple payment pointers. Team includes Abhinav Chawla.

How to Fund your Human Resistance Cell after the Apocalypse 

John Rhea, USA

Writing two short books including one about implementing the JavasScript monetization API that fit into an existing series by the Undead Institute combining pedagogy with humor (and zombies) to make learning fun.

Live Streaming from Sweet Life Records 

Kyle Ricketts & team, USA

Using live streaming to broadcast full-length performances by the band Sweet Live, and experimenting with Web Monetization-based user engagement and strategic viability. Team includes Cody Fowler and Zach Johnson. 

Web Monetization for Independent Music 

Ampled, USA

Exploring the feasibility and implementation of Web Monetization in connection with Ampled – an artist/worker-owned cooperative platform allowing direct community support for musicians – along with research of how Web Monetization may be used as an alternative to streaming and advertising models in music. Team includes Austin Robey and Arkadiy Kukarkin.

Turn an archive into a library 

Patrick Tanguay, Canada

Transforming a static archive of old newsletter issues by breaking them in parts, interlinking them, and making each a part of an evolving corpus of Web Monetized notes, connections, and new insights. 

Central Pennsylvania Info Hub

Erika Kitzmiller, USA

Testing a new model for providing essential news to small towns through the development of a sustainable, monetized website that will incentivize local residents to produce original news coverage of their community. Team includes Steve Goss and Letrell Crittenden.

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