Curators
Declare what you want more of. Launch a Call, set the criteria, and select the people to fund. Bring your own money or find Backers who trust your judgment.
You see the possibility.
SMALL GRANTS. OUTSIZED POSSIBILITY.
A NEW KIND OF PATRONAGEThe world gets more interesting
when someone says “I’ll back that.”
Start a grant program around what you believe the world needs. Find people who trust your judgment. Give extraordinary people a chance.
Good judgment deserves more backing.
01 / 05
A FEW THINGS THE WORLD COULD USE MORE OFEXAMPLE CALLS
A Call is a grant program with a point of view.
Backers choose whose judgment to trust.
Curators choose who gets the grant.
01 / A SIMPLE RELATIONSHIP
Start a Call.
Back a Call.
Answer a Call.
Think AngelList for microgrants. Backers fund a Curator’s judgment. The Curator decides which Applicants become Grantees. See the full process ↗
Backers
Support a Call because you believe in the Curator behind it. They choose the recipients. You follow what your backing makes possible.
You make room for it.
Applicants → Grantees
Bring your ambition to a relevant Call. Applicants selected by the Curator become Grantees, with funding to take the next step.
You bring it to life.
A Curator can also be a Backer. A Call can have one Curator or several. Backers do not vote on individual applicants.
02 / ALREADY HAPPENING
This isn’t hypothetical.
People already do it.
Independent grantmaking has real precedents. The opportunity is to make it easier for more people to do it.
TALENT & AMBITIOUS IDEAS
Emergent Ventures
Grants and fellowships supporting people with ideas to improve the world.
OPEN-SOURCE AI · 2017
AI Grant
Started with an offer of five $5,000 grants for people pursuing open-source AI projects.
ART & CULTURE
New Aesthetics
A call to develop new aesthetic visions, backed by grants to artists and creators.
Helium Grants ↗Nadia Asparouhova’s experiment in funding people at the edge of mainstream thinking. Now on hiatus.ACX Grants ↗Scott Alexander’s grant rounds supporting an eclectic range of projects.Manifund ↗Donors back independent regrantors, with grant review and payments handled by Manifund.
Independent programs that inspire us. No affiliation or endorsement implied.
03 / WHY NOW
Potential is everywhere.
Attention isn’t.
We need more people making grants. Not more work for the few who already do.
Grantmaking can become a second job: reading applications, chasing details, handling payments, and writing updates. Even a small fund needs serious care.
AI makes polished applications easier to produce. It can also help organize the review work. But finding an unconventional person still takes curiosity, context, and human judgment.
The ambition is more Curators: people who can make thoughtful grants without making grantmaking their whole life.
04 / A HOME FOR YOUR CALL
Conviction,
with a home of its own.
A natural name for what you want to make possible. A public home for who you’re backing, how you choose, and why it matters.
A Call For / EXAMPLE CALL
A CALL FOR
Brilliant Economists.
Supporting original thinkers challenging conventional economic wisdom.
Curated byAn economist with an independent outlook
Example grant range$1,000 to $5,000
What we’d look for
An original economic question, a fresh approach, and a practical way to test it. Insight matters more than institutional pedigree.
05 / LESS ADMIN. MORE ATTENTION.
Your judgment.
More room to use it.
Our focus: less administration at every step, from putting out a Call to sharing what it makes possible.
Put out your Call.
Name what you want more of. Define a budget and selection process. Run solo or with co-Curators, and invite Backers to support your Call.
Find the signal.
Collect structured applications. Use AI to summarize and flag questions, with source material one click away. Set intake limits that fit your time.
Make the call.
Choose recipients yourself. Payment and compliance support is part of what we’re building, so a good decision can become a grant.
Close the loop.
Gather lightweight progress notes, tell Backers what happened, and carry what you learned into the next round.
Keep the unusual in the running.
AI should assist, never automatically reject. Our principle: Curators retain access to every application, review beyond the shortlist, and record their own decisions. Clear criteria and conflict disclosures keep judgment accountable.
PUT YOUR CONVICTION TO WORK
What’s your
Call for?
We’re looking for people with a point of view: researchers, builders, artists, community leaders, and experienced grantmakers.
Want to start a Call, back someone you trust, or share what you’ve learned? Tell us what you have in mind.