How to ask for funding for Rust contributions

There are many people contributing to Rust purely on a volunteer basis. Many of them would like to be funded for their contributions, so that they could dedicate more time and focus to Rust or simply to avoid burning out from all that unpaid work.

While getting funded for open source contributions in general can be quite difficult, there are some available options for Rust contributors, which are documented on this page. If you would like to ask about funding in general, post on the #funding Rust Zulip stream or reach out to the Rust Funding team.

Funding maintenance

If you are a member of the Rust Project and you want to be funded for maintaining Rust projects (e.g. the compiler, standard library, Cargo, Rust Analyzer, Clippy, etc.), then you can get supported by the Rust Foundation Maintainers Fund (RFMF), either by becoming a Maintainer in Residence or by receiving a smaller maintainer grant.

To apply for being funded by RFMF, please fill out this form. The Funding team is continuously looking out for Rust teams that need more maintenance support, and matching them with Rust Project maintainers who ask to be funded. If your situation changes over time, you can fill out the form again to provide up-to-date information.

It should be noted that the funds available for supporting maintainers are limited, and at the same time there are always many applicants. Applying for this funding thus unfortunately does not guarantee that you will receive funding.

Applying for maintenance funding is currently only available to members of the Rust Project.

Funding feature work

The Rust Project tracks various concrete initiatives for implementing new features and making improvements to the Rust language and its toolchain through Rust Project Goals. If you would like to get funding for implementing such a feature or improvement to Rust, consider proposing a Project Goal and including a funding ask with it.

If accepted, your Goal will then appear on this page, which lists Goals looking for funding. If you want to help companies find out about the possibility of funding your Goal, consider discussing it in the #funding or #rcn (Rust Commercial Network) Zulip streams.

Goals are usually funded by companies that want to help move a specific initiative forward. You do not have to be a member of the Rust Project to work on a Project Goal or be funded for driving it.