General Criteria of the Project

The Project must demonstrate consistency with Internet Society Mission and Vision.  

Preference will be given to projects that fall within the Board-approved Internet Society major strategic objectives, specifically;

1. Fostering an open, innovative, and trusted Internet worldwide.
2. Advancing policies and strategies that strengthen the Internet’s growth and evolution.
3. Enabling a vibrant organisation and vital global community to advance the Internet’s future.
4. Empowering people to achieve human potential through unencumbered Internet use.

Project Evaluation Criteria

• Not all criteria will be applicable to all project methodologies.
• Applicants should be prepared to provide clarification on their proposed submissions, if necessary, immediately after the cycle closes.

Demonstrated Capacity

• The application sufficiently describes and demonstrates why the Chapter or individual member, along with additional key individuals, are the most capable to successfully conduct the proposed project. The description includes relevant qualifications and experiences of the principal players.
• Similarly, the implementing Chapter or individual member has the capacity (or it will develop the capacity through this project) to undertake its responsibilities within this project.

Collaboration

• To promote collaborative relationships in the Internet Society member community, preference will be given to multi-chapter projects, then to chapter projects and then to individual member projects. If two or more Chapters submit strongly similar project ideas, the Committee will favor the historically less-awarded Chapter.

Telecentres/Internet Cafes

• Detailed information on who will receive training at the centre;
• Who will be creating and implementing the training materials;
• How the centre will be used after the Project period is over; how the centre will financially sustain its activities after Internet Society funds are used;
• and if any governmental support will be used as 25% matching funds for the Project, what the government's policy is on the use of those funds (for instance, government funds may only be used for centre electricity, or hardware, etc).

Methodology

• Preference will be given to projects and research over events, unless the proposed event leads to a higher-level goal/outcome or clearly contributes to a Major Strategic Initiative (see above). An example of an outcome-focused event would be a meeting of technologists within a specific community with the goal of reaching a consensus for regional technology standards, including a plan for dissemination.

Coherence and Consistency

• The application includes a complete project schedule.
• Methodology, budget and deliverables are consistent and related to the project’s objectives.

Capacity Building

• The project provides substantial capacity building in the development of the Internet in the fields of technical, educational or policy capacity building.
• Projects that provide capacity building for the Chapter as a result of benefiting the greater community are more preferable than projects whose sole aim is furthering the Chapter's capacity building efforts.

Outputs

• The project has clear outputs, such as reports relating to the primary project objectives, or useful new technologies, techniques, information or educational benefits.
• The project’s benefits to the Internet community are cleared stated.
• Key project phases are identified with metrics to review progress/success.

Dissemination

• The project includes a clear description of how the results will be disseminated, or the outputs are produced in a form which can be readily disseminated.
• Dissemination plans are verifiable for Project reporting requirements.

Replicability

• As a result of the project, the outcomes are replicable in other situations or environments.
• Outputs are formulated in such a way as to be useful elsewhere to other Internet Society members or Chapters.

Access

• The project improves access to the Internet (technologies and/or information) and it develops or defends the principles of an open and accessible Internet.

Technical Soundness

• For those projects that are technical, the project is technically sound, in terms of its research and/or development methodologies.
• The technical scope and objectives are realistic within the requested funding.

Sustainability

• For projects which involve ongoing activities, it is clear that the proposed activities will continue after the grant is expended.
• For other projects, the project outputs will assist the sustainability of those who use them.
• Internet Society funds will not support sustainability of a previously awarded project; continued funding for a previous award will only support demonstrated new activities that build on prior work.

Local Contribution

• Internet Society will not fund the entire cost of the project. At least 25% of the total budget for the project must be contributed from other sources. This contribution can include cash contributions or in-kind donations. In general, in-kind donations demonstrate a strong collaboration with partner organizations and are preferred over cash contributions. In-kind sources of funding are accepted, provided they are from other sources, rather than from the applicants themselves.
• Wherever possible, applicants should provide documentation to substantiate the contributions from other sources.

Budget & Financials

• The project budget is complete & reasonable, including details of co-funding and local/partner contributions (Funding for any one project can be a maximum of US$10,000,  However, at least 25% of the total budget must come from other sources)
• Sources of support are clearly identified, including contact information.
• Documentation to verify sources of support are included in the submission.
• Read more about our Financial Reporting Guidelines