Center for the Public Domain

The Center for the Public Domain strives to raise awareness, fund research and educational programs, promote collaboration and build partnerships that strengthen the public community of shared information, culture, and ideas that is so vital to the benefit of society.

Grant Making

Funding Guidelines

The Center is a non-profit foundation founded to support the growth of a healthy and robust public domain.

Garrett Hardin's well-known essay, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (Science, 1968) shows a relationship between people and their environment wherein individuals have the right to freely consume shared resources and return their wastes. This "logic of the commons" ultimately produces its ruin, as well as the demise of those who depend upon it for survival.

The Center believes that the information commons is dramatically different. The value of the information commons grows not only with the breadth and depth of its holdings, but also with the number of citizens who use it. Information is not an exclusive commodity - it can be used by many and maintain, or even increase, its value to the whole. The Center is committed to supporting the growth of a healthy and robust public domain and to supporting projects that advance the value of the information commons.

The Center encourages collaborative projects between different organizations, and as such, is particularly interested in funding projects that foster on-going partnerships.

The Center will consider grant applications from all tax-exempt, charitable organizations whose projects fall within the funding guidelines. Please note that the Center does not give grants to individuals, nor can it support lobbying activities. The Center will not fund the purchase of equipment or overhead expenses. Any additional materials (i.e., videos, brochures, etc.) beyond those requested will be discarded. Although the Center has not set a maximum amount for its grants, most grants will not exceed $100,000. The Center will review grants on a rolling basis and therefore has no set deadlines.