Oak Foundation, Annual Program Grants, Request for Information, Due: Feb 01, 2025

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Oak Foundation, Annual Program Grants

• Date Posted: N/A
• Deadline: February 1, 2025 (rolling deadline)
• Funding Institution(s): Oak Foundation
• Brief Description: The Oak Foundation provides grants to not-for-profit organizations globally, focusing on creating systemic change to make the world safer, fairer, and more sustainable. Grants are available for multi-year core support or project-specific initiatives that align with the foundation’s mission and program strategies. Funding priorities include innovation, social justice, environmental sustainability, and addressing root causes of systemic challenges. Grant amounts range from USD 25,000 to USD 10 million, with an average size of USD 600,000.
• Link: https://oakfnd.org/grant-making/

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Assessment of Strategic Fit with NumFOCUS Projects

The Oak Foundation provides significant grant opportunities focused on fostering systemic change in areas aligned with social justice, sustainability, and innovation. While the foundation’s broad mission is not directly aligned with NumFOCUS’s core focus on open-source tools for scientific computing, there are areas of potential alignment that could be strategically leveraged.

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Relevance to NumFOCUS Mission

1. Support for Innovation and Systemic Change

• Alignment: NumFOCUS supports projects that promote transparency, reproducibility, and data-driven solutions, aligning with Oak’s commitment to innovation and addressing root causes of systemic problems.
• Potential Fit: Proposals centered around tools that enable evidence-based policymaking, environmental monitoring, or social justice research could align with Oak’s mission.

2. Rights-Based and Social Justice Approaches

• Alignment: NumFOCUS's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equitable access to STEM education aligns with Oak’s focus on social justice and participation of marginalized communities.
• Potential Fit: Initiatives that leverage NumFOCUS tools to empower underrepresented groups in scientific research or education could resonate with Oak’s values.

3. Global Scope

• Alignment: NumFOCUS’s global reach through its open-source tools and international community aligns with Oak’s focus on funding organizations across the globe.

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Funding Value

• Average Grant Size: USD 600,000.
• Range: Grants vary from USD 25,000 to USD 10 million.
• Multi-Year Support: The foundation prefers multi-year funding and offers both core (unrestricted) and project-specific support, with a growing focus on flexible funding.

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Opportunities for Strategic Alignment

1. Data-Driven Approaches to Social Impact

• Potential Contribution: NumFOCUS tools could support organizations in analyzing and visualizing data for social justice, environmental sustainability, or educational access.
• Example Use Cases:
  • Using scikit-learn to model the impact of interventions targeting systemic inequities.
  • Employing matplotlib or bokeh to visualize data for advocacy and decision-making.

2. Sustainability and Environmental Applications

• Potential Contribution: Tools supported by NumFOCUS could be applied to projects addressing sustainability, such as:
  • Developing reproducible workflows for monitoring environmental data.
  • Using data science to model the impact of policies on climate resilience.

3. Educational and Community Engagement

• Potential Contribution: Initiatives leveraging NumFOCUS tools for STEM education and citizen science could align with Oak’s focus on inclusive participation.
• Example: Providing under-resourced communities with access to tools for analyzing environmental or social justice data.

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Challenges

1. Invitation-Only Process

• Limitation: Oak Foundation’s application process is primarily invitation-only, making it challenging to initiate engagement without prior connections.
• Mitigation: Submitting a well-crafted letter of enquiry could open the door if strong alignment with Oak’s mission is demonstrated.

2. Broad Program Goals

• Limitation: Oak’s funding priorities are diverse, which may dilute focus on specific NumFOCUS project objectives.
• Mitigation: Proposals should emphasize NumFOCUS’s unique contributions to systemic change and innovation within Oak’s areas of interest.

3. Focus on Multi-Year, Core Support

• Limitation: While Oak offers core support, NumFOCUS would need to frame its role as a long-term partner addressing root causes of systemic challenges to secure this type of funding.
• Mitigation: Proposals should highlight NumFOCUS’s capacity for sustained impact through its tools and global community.

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Recommendations

1. Submit a Letter of Enquiry

• Identify specific program areas where NumFOCUS’s tools and mission align with Oak’s priorities (e.g., social justice, environmental sustainability, or innovation).
• Craft a targeted letter of enquiry emphasizing NumFOCUS’s role in fostering systemic change through open-source innovation.

2. Focus on Environmental or Social Justice Applications

• Highlight the role of NumFOCUS tools in supporting data-driven approaches to environmental monitoring, social justice research, or educational equity.

3. Leverage Collaborative Opportunities

• Explore partnerships with organizations already funded by Oak to demonstrate NumFOCUS’s value as a technical partner in achieving systemic change.

4. Emphasize NumFOCUS’s Unique Strengths

• Showcase how NumFOCUS’s tools enable transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility, aligning with Oak’s commitment to long-term sustainability and innovation.

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Conclusion

The Oak Foundation represents a potential strategic fit for NumFOCUS if proposals are framed around leveraging open-source tools to address systemic challenges in social justice, environmental sustainability, or innovation. The significant funding range, averaging USD 600,000, offers opportunities for impactful projects. While the invitation-only process may pose a barrier, submitting a compelling letter of enquiry or partnering with current grantees could position NumFOCUS as a valuable contributor to Oak’s mission. Strategic framing around measurable outcomes and long-term impact will be essential.