RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund Discontinued

The RIPE NCC Executive Board decided to discontinue the Community Projects Fund at its 183rd meeting on 20-21 March.

In 2024, we paused the funding cycle for the RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund (CPF) to review our processes and overall effectiveness of the programme. Our initial plan, explained in a RIPE Labs article last year, was to hold further discussions with the community on possible future formats for the CPF. However, our review found that to continue delivering the CPF in a meaningful way would require more resources while the direct benefit to members was unclear.

We shared these considerations with the RIPE NCC Executive Board at its recent meeting in March and provided a few options with their associated costs. This included the option of restructuring the Community Projects Fund at a smaller scale. Given that challenges would still remain in this approach, the Executive Board agreed with our proposal to discontinue the Fund entirely.

The Community Projects Fund was launched in 2016 to support projects that work for ‘the Good of the Internet’ by enhancing the operations, resilience and sustainability of the Internet. Nearly 50 projects received funding over nine years, with a total of EUR 1.6 million euros distributed, and we are proud of the work that the fund has enabled. It is also important to note that the people who received grants in 2024 and are delivering on their work will not be affected by this.

We would also like to thank everyone who has worked with us on the RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund, particularly volunteers from the RIPE community who served on the Selection Committee, and our funding recipients for their efforts to make the Internet better for all.