How to Apply

The mission of Alpha-Omega is to protect society by improving the security of critical open source software through direct maintainer engagement and expert analysis. Through “Alpha”, we provide funding to maintainers intended to improve the project’s overall security quality.

The Seasonal Grant Framework

To provide open source maintainers with predictable decision windows and faster turnaround times, Alpha-Omega operates on a structured, four-quarter seasonal cadence. Instead of applications sitting in a rolling queue, every season features a highly efficient, time-bound 12-week progression:

Month 1: Submission Phase – A streamlined intake window for Grant Submission Forms.
Month 2: Review & Co-Design – Eligible projects are fast-tracked into collaborative workshops with Alpha-Omega security experts to co-author the Statement of Work (SOW).
Month 3: Decision & Disbursement – Fast, transparent final approvals and immediate capital deployment.

Seasonal Calendar

Pick the season that aligns best with your project’s roadmap. Applications open on the 1st of the initial month and close on the final day.

Season	1. Submission Phase	2. Review & Co-Design	3. Decision & Funding
Q1 Cycle	Jan 1 – Jan 31	Feb 1 – Feb 28	March 1 – March 31
Q2 Cycle	April 1 – April 30	May 1 – May 31	June 1 – June 30
Q3 Cycle	July 1 – July 31	August 1 – August 31	September 1 – September 30
Q4 Cycle	October 1 – October 31	November 1 – November 30	December 1 – December 31

Eligibility & Impact

Eligible projects include standalone projects, foundations that cover many projects, and core ecosystem services. All projects must utilize an OSI-approved open source license.

To maximize impact, our evaluation is heavily informed by the explicit degree of security impact the funding will inject into the ecosystem, and the direct collaborative alignment demonstrated during the Month 2 co-design phase.

SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR GRANT

The application process is split into two manageable phases to reduce upfront bureaucratic burden.

Phase 1: The Initial Submission Form

During Month 1 of your chosen cycle, complete our lightweight intake form to ensure your project aligns with our baseline security mission.

Phase 2: Security Consultation & Co-Design

If your project aligns with our focus and criteria, you will receive a Security Consultation Invitation. During Month 2, you will be paired with an Alpha-Omega team member to co-develop your formal Proposal and Statement of Work (SOW).

GRANT SUBMISSION FORM

GRANT OVERVIEW

The Proposal

During the co-design phase, your formal proposal will need to address the following:

Identity & Licensing: Identify the project or organization to which the grant will go. Please include information proving the use of an OSI-approved open source license.
Current Posture & Criticality: Assume we know very little about your project. How is your project critical infrastructure, and what is its current security posture and challenges? (Please don’t disclose unpatched or sensitive vulnerabilities).
Desired Outcomes: Describe the specific security transformations you expect the grant to lead to. Why are those the right outcomes and how will you measure success? What will be the direct benefit to end-users?
Execution Strategy: Describe how you intend to achieve those outcomes. You don’t need to go into immense detail here, just enough to give us an idea of what activities are expected. Will you be hiring staff? How quickly can this work start once funding is disbursed in Month 3?

The Agreement

Our seasonal model builds a community of practice, allowing grantees to move together as a peer cohort.

Grant agreements will not be heavy with timelines and specific outcomes. Grant recipients are expected to understand that future funding depends on meaningful progress, even as Alpha-Omega understands that not all progress will look the same for every engineering team.

Reporting & Accountability

Funded projects commit to clear, public accountability to amplify the impact of their work. Grant recipients are expected to provide public monthly reports, and will be strongly encouraged to participate in grant community efforts organized by Alpha-Omega. Grantees will attend monthly strategy roundtables with other AO-funded projects to share insights and tackle shared vulnerabilities. Grantees will also provide a beginning, middle, and end of funding blog reporting on their work, tracking your journey across:

Beginning: Kickoff & Baseline
Middle: Challenges & Pivots
End: Final Security Posture & Future Roadmap