Introducing our new community sponsorship program

Qt Development Frameworks has sponsored community projects since Trolltech was founded 15 years ago. The biggest contribution we make to the community is Qt itself -  with open source access - starting with version 0.9 in 1995. Much has happened since that humble start.

Now we sponsor a lot of different community projects, from code sprints to community websites and more. The increase in Qt downloads from 400,000 in 2008 to 1.5 million in 2010 shows a steady growth of developers.

A result of this growth is there are now more communities than ever contacting us to talk about sponsorship opportunities. To handle this increase, we have re-engineered the sponsorship process, making it more transparent and a bit more formal.

Who can apply

If you're participating in a community project which uses Qt, we may be able to co-organize community activities and projects with you, and you should apply for sponsorship for the project you're participating in. Examples of projects we sponsor are code sprints, conferences, community websites, re-distribution of Qt (Linux distros ++), application projects, translations, documentation, language bindings, porting efforts etc.

We have a requirement that community projects applying for sponsorship must have one contact person who handles the administrative tasks of the sponsorship. It's a contact person who follows the application through. This "admin role" involves being the point of contact - answering e-mails, voice calls, getting the sponsorship agreement signed, and invoicing us after the project is done etc. Yes, these administrative tasks might be a bit boring compared to other community activities, but it has to be done, and it has to be done properly. That way, we are able to help more community projects.

The sponsorship approval is closely tied to execution of your own project, making your own plan come to life. It's about getting community members involved, sharing results with the community at large.

The amount of financial support we give to sponsored projects varies. Every application will be assessed individually and compared against our current available budget. A review meeting will be held once a month to assess applications.

In terms of repeat sponsorship, yes, you can apply for sponsorship again, even if you've already got a sponsorship. Many communities organise code sprints or conferences periodically. Knowing that you can apply for sponsorship again is a nice thing.

How to apply

The process begins when you add your sponsorship application at the Qt Dev.Net wiki. You will find a community sponsorship guide there that will get your started. Please follow the guide, submit your application, and your community project will be on its way to potentially getting a sponsorship.