ICANN Grant Program

About | Key Documents | Grant Cycle Timeline | FAQs

We are happy to announce that the ICANN Board has officially approved the final slate of applications to proceed to contract negotiations in the first cycle of the ICANN Grant Program. Congratulations to our future grantees and thank you to everyone who participated by applying.

The funded projects are listed below.

This marks an exciting milestone, and we look forward to seeing the impact these grants will have!

First Cycle of Funded Projects

Project Title	Organization	Country	Region	Project Duration (months)	Grant Amount
Deployment of IPv6 In African Countries	African Telecommunications Union	Kenya	AF	24	$398,040.50
Passive DNSSEC Data Collection Platform (GUPPY)	Ajman University	United Arab Emirates	AP	16	$410,300.00
Enhancing Digital Inclusivity and Universal Acceptance through Educational Outreach	Asociación A Favor De Lo Mejor, A.C.	Mexico	LAC	24	$500,000.00
African Internet Observatory for Assessing Resilience of Critical Cyber Infrastructure	Carnegie Mellon University	United States	NA	24	$450,389.00
Closing the DNSSEC Maturity Gap Through Automation	deSEC e.V.	Germany	EUR	24	$399,912.00
Empowering Māori in Internet Governance and DNS Management: A Culturally Tailored Educational Programme for Enhancing Equitable & Indigenous Participation in Aotearoa New Zealand's Digital Landscape	Digital Natives Academy Charitable Trust	New Zealand	AP	17	$350,000.00
Assessing GeoTLD's Performance for Enhanced Internet Accessibility: An Open Source Methodological Approach	Fundació privada puntCAT	Spain	EUR	23	$346,655.27
Shaping the WSIS+20 Review for a Unified Internet Through Multistakeholderism (SWUIM)	Global Network Initiative, Inc.	United States	NA	12	$500,000.00
Consumer-Focused Transformation of the Official Publication Site for the RFC Series	IETF Administration, LLC	United States	NA	13	$455,487.00
Improving DNS Security with a Focus on PKI	Internet Security Research Group	United States	NA	24	$375,000.00
Strengthening Open Source Tools for Managing IP Address Assignments via DHCP	Internet Systems Consortium, Inc	United States	NA	20	$495,000.00
Strengthening Kenya's Cybersecurity Posture: Inclusive Capacity Building across Five Regions	Kenya Education Network Registered Trustees	Kenya	AF	24	$500,000.00
Capacity Building And Community Engagement in ccTLDs and gTLDs Management Across Africa	Kenya Network Information Centre	Kenya	AF	17	$500,000.00
Investigating the Impact of DNS Centralization and Regional Discrepancies on the Security, Stability, Performance, and Resilience of DNS-dependent Applications	Ruhr-Universität Bochum	Germany	EUR	24	$499,912.38
Safeguarding Cyberspace Stability: Understanding and Mitigating the Impacts of Internet Fragmentation in the Black Sea Region	Scientific Cyber Security Association	Georgia	AP	24	$138,860.00
Universal Acceptance to the IDNs - Bottom-up Approach - Push 2.0	Seva Sahayog Foundation	India	AP	24	$387,487.50
Carbon.txt: Use DNS to Discover Sustainability and Energy Data and Reduce the Internet’s Emissions	Stichting The Green Web Foundation	Netherlands	EUR	16	$495,000.00
Secure Time for a Safe Internet	Stichting Trifecta Tech Foundation	Netherlands	EUR	24	$437,121.00
Assistance for Domain Name Holders in ICANN's Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy Procedures	Universidad Católica del Norte	Chile	LAC	24	$500,000.00
Addressing DNS Abuse in Southern Africa	University of Cape Town (Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa - C3SA)	South Africa	AF	24	$499,237.68
Deployability of ILNP at Global Scale	University of St Andrews	United Kingdom	EUR	24	$496,318.06
The DNS Atlas: Assessing Internet Dependency at Scale	Universiteit Twente	Netherlands	EUR	24	$500,000.00
Digital Sovereigns and the Non-Sovereign Internet: A Cautionary Tale (DSNS-ACT)	Vrije Universiteit Brussel	Belgium	EUR	24	$333,653.00
				TOTAL	$9,968,373.39

About the ICANN Grant Program

The ICANN Grant Program is an exciting opportunity for eligible organizations across the globe to apply for funding for projects that are consistent with ICANN's mission and aligned with the objectives of the ICANN Grant Program.

This program will make a difference in the Internet ecosystem, while also positively impacting people all over the world by investing in creative and innovative solutions that further ICANN's vision of a single, open, and globally interoperable Internet.

The types of initiatives that the ICANN Grant Program will fund include those that support ICANN's mission by:

• Benefitting the development, distribution, and evolution of the services and systems that support the Internet's unique identifier systems.
• Providing capacity development.
• Advancing developments, innovation, and open standards for the benefit of the Internet community.
• Contributing to diversity, participation, and inclusion across stakeholder communities and geographic regions.

Key Documents

Applicant Guide

The ICANN Grant Program Applicant Guide provides instructions on how eligible organizations can apply to the program.

Access Version 3.0 of the Applicant Guide below:

English | العربية | Español | Français | Pусский | 中文 (15 March 2024)

Archive

Version 2.0 of the Applicant Guide:

English (26 February 2024)

Version 1.0 of the Applicant Guide:

English | العربية | Español | Français | Pусский | 中文 (8 January 2024)

Additional Documents

Privacy Policy List of Third Party Providers

Grant Program Data Retention Policy

Grant Program Application Terms and Conditions

Grant Cycle Tentative Timeline

Grant platform opens for application submission	25 March 2024 at 15:00 UTC
Grant platform closes for application submission	24 May 2024 at 20:00 UTC
Admissibility and eligibility checks	June-July 2024
Independent Application Assessment Panel review	August-October 2024
Expected ICANN Board decision on final slate of successful applications	January 2025
Grant agreement negotiations	February 2025

For questions, please email [email protected].

FAQs

What is the ICANN Grant Program?

It is a global grant-making program funded by the proceeds received from last-resort auctions in the 2012 New gTLD Program. The ICANN community convened a working group that developed a Final Report with recommendations on how these proceeds should be allocated. On 12 June 2022 the ICANN Board adopted the recommendations. As a result, ICANN org developed a Grant Program.

How much funding is available?

The total net auction proceeds fund amounts to $217 million as of 30 June 2023 and are segregated from ICANN's general Operations. This may not be the final amount of proceeds available for distribution, as a portion of the auction proceeds funds under management are still subject to disputes. Additionally, costs to run the program will be covered by the auction proceeds fund.

The Grant Program will operate in a series of cycles. During each cycle, a portion of the total fund will be available for distribution for successful applications.

How much funding is available for the first cycle?

The total amount available for grants in this first cycle is $10 million.

What are the minimum and maximum grant amounts?

Applications can be submitted for grant awards between $50,000 and $500,000. These award thresholds are for the first cycle only and will be reassessed for future cycles.

What is the maximum project duration?

The maximum project duration is 24 months.

What types of projects and activities will be eligible?

Applications must be for projects consistent with ICANN's mission to help ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifier systems and align with the objectives of the Grant Program.

The types of initiatives that the program will fund include those that support the ICANN mission by:

• Benefitting the development, distribution, and evolution of the services and systems that support the Internet's unique identifier systems.
• Providing capacity development.
• Advancing developments, innovation, and open standards for the benefit of the Internet community.
• Contributing to diversity, participation, and inclusion across stakeholder communities and geographic regions.

All proposed activities also must not duplicate existing activities currently or previously funded by ICANN.

Please reference Sections 2(iii)-2(v) and Sections 4(v) in the Grant Program Applicant Guide for more information on what type of projects and funding themes are eligible.

What types of projects are not eligible?

Ineligible activities include:

• Any political or lobbying activity, including activities to influence legislation and/or the outcome of any specific public election, or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive.
• Any activity that may lead to private financial benefit of individuals beyond incidental items such as payment of reasonable employment salaries.
• Any unlawful activity according to the country where the applicant is based and/or where the project is developed.

Who will evaluate the applications?

ICANN staff will initially review applications to confirm consistency with ICANN's mission and the Grant Program's funding themes. Applications that are deemed admissible and meet preliminary eligibility criteria will be referred to the Independent Application Assessment Panel (the Panel).

A third-party vendor will manage the Panel including the recruitment and selection of Panel members as well as manage their assessments of applications. This third-party vendor will be used to maximize independence from the ICANN Board, organization, or community.

The Panel composition is expected to include a diverse collective of subject matter experts aligned to the themes and work areas of the Program. The Panel will use assessment criteria outlined in the Grant Program Applicant Guide Section 5(ii) to deliver a rank order list. ICANN staff will conduct final eligibility screening before a final slate is prepared. Grant Program Applicant Guide Section 5(iii) provides more information on how final decisions will be made.

How will the funds be disbursed to the grantees?

Disbursement of the grants will occur in installments. The first installment will be disbursed to the grantee in a timely manner after the signing of the grant agreement. Following installments will be disbursed after the submission and approval of regular reports that the grantee is expected to produce and submit.

What will be required from the grantees?

Grantees will be expected to complete interim reports throughout the duration of the grant to document the progress of the project and the use of the funds. A final report will also be due at the conclusion of the project and should detail achievement of goals and objectives and final expenditures for the project.

Projects may be subject to additional monitoring activities, such as site visits to verify and document project activities as reported. On the occasion of any such activity, ICANN will contact the grantee directly to make arrangements for the visit at no cost to the grantee.

Grantees may also be subject to periodic reviews and evaluations. This may include surveys, participation in virtual or in-person meetings and interviews with ICANN staff, or other activities that require data collection related to implementation of the project and use of grant funds.