How to Give Away Money to Support Greater Event Participation: Learnings from an Asynchronous Conversation Amongst Event Fund Grantees

Providing financial support to event participants can significantly enhance accessibility and inclusion. Many Event Fund grantees integrate micro-grants into their budgets for expenses such as mobile data, childcare, or equipment. However, managing these funds can be challenging, particularly for organizers balancing numerous logistical demands.

To address these challenges, Event Fund facilitated an asynchronous discussion among grantees to share strategies for effectively administering micro-grants. The discussion revealed valuable lessons and practical tips from grantees’ diverse experiences.

Key Learnings

• Advertising and Communication: Ensuring participants know about available funding is crucial. Many grantees experienced low utilization of scholarship funds and noted that participants were often unaware of these opportunities.

• Navigating International Payments: Cross-border payments often involve hidden fees, exchange rate fluctuations, and logistical hurdles. Planning for these challenges in advance is critical.

• Balancing Flexibility and Accountability: Receipts are helpful but can be hard to obtain for expenses like mobile data or childcare. Many grantees implemented alternative approaches, such as simplified documentation or pre-paid services.

Insights from Grantees

Neal Haddaway, ESMARConf

“We offered bursaries of up to $100 for equipment (e.g., microphones, headphones), quiet spaces, or caregiving. Applications were simple, and we accepted requests that seemed legitimate. However, we learned $100 was often too much for equipment, so we’ll lower it to $50 next year, while increasing caregiving support.

Reimbursing through OpenCollective proved painful—PayPal and bank transfers didn’t work for many participants from the Global South. We’ll clarify these processes upfront next year.

Despite promoting bursaries on our website and in emails, we received only 27 applications from 814 registrants. We’re unsure if awareness was low or the need wasn’t as high.

Our most impactful investment was accessibility: verified subtitling and automatic translation on YouTube. Around 50% of participants used subtitles, made possible by pre-recording talks for manual verification.”

Angelique Trusler, CarpentryConnect South Africa

“For our 2021 event, we provided mobile data bundles through Flickswitch, covering multiple countries and networks across Africa. Since many participants couldn’t prepay for data, we delivered support upfront.

To manage this, we asked attendees to confirm attendance daily via a Google form. This reduced no-shows and ensured support reached those who needed it. However, we faced challenges when mobile networks had issues or participants provided incorrect details.

Translating our opening and closing events into isiZulu and isiXhosa added accessibility but required careful budgeting. Costs depend on word counts, so working closely with translators to estimate fees was essential. Our Operations Manager’s guidance and Event Fund’s budget template were invaluable.”

Reina Camacho, LA-CoNGA Physics Hackathon

“Financial aid was awarded to university students in Latin America based on need. We provided $60 for internet access and transportation to stable internet locations, and $100 for childcare.

Aid was granted a week before the event but disbursed afterward, tied to participation and challenge submissions. Of 14 applications, 13 participants met the requirements and received funds.

We encountered complications with inflation and bank transfers in some countries. While PayPal and Zelle were alternatives, challenges persisted. We didn’t require receipts this time, but we’re considering it for future events.”

Marcela Alfaro-Córdova, CODATA-RDA Research Data Science Schools

“Applicants requested financial assistance during their applications, and a committee graded and allocated funds based on need. We also provided small stipends to helpers and instructors—usually early-career researchers or students—for their significant time commitments.

Leveraging ICTP’s payment infrastructure streamlined international bank transfers, which would have been challenging otherwise. This system was a lifesaver for managing global reimbursements efficiently.”

Tariq Zaman, GIADT Malaysia

“Our projects involve close collaboration with indigenous rural communities, who determine compensation rates for their contributions. For example, a half-day session is compensated at RM 45 per person. This approach respects community autonomy and ensures fair remuneration.

However, scaling such practices remains a challenge. In one scenario, additional community members joined a scheduled session, contributing valuable input. Deciding fair compensation in such cases required flexibility and mutual agreement.”

Prompts for Other Event Organizers

1. Should financial aid be distributed before events to encourage participation, or is post-event reimbursement more practical?

2. How can organizers better communicate funding opportunities to increase awareness and applications?

3. What processes can simplify fund distribution while maintaining accountability and minimizing administrative burdens?

In Closing

Supporting participants through micro-grants makes events more inclusive and accessible, but implementing these systems requires careful planning and adaptability. There is no one-size-fits-all to making events equitable and welcoming but rather, a flexible and context-specific approach seems to best set you up for success.

Photo by: Natalia Blauth on Unsplashed

Thank you to grantees for their input and Lucia Ward for editing.