Reddit puts up $1 million for users’ wildest ideas

Future. Reddit is replenishing its Community Funds program with an additional $1 million. As Reddit approaches a potential $15 billion IPO, it may be trying to show what sets the platform apart from all of its competitors — a prioritization of groups over individuals.

Delight grants
Reddit is expanding its own version of creator funds.

• The company is pumping an additional $1 million into Community Funds.
• Community Funds is a grant program for funding “ideas for projects, events, contests, giving, almost anything you can think of to bring people together for inspiration and delight.”
• Proposed projects can receive anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000 starting in June.

During the last round of Community Funds last fall, different groups have asked for grants in order to give away Costco memberships, develop cat calendars, and provide funds for horses in Ukraine.

As The Verge’s David Pierce notes, Reddit isn’t really a creator-focused platform but a group platform via its subreddits. So the Community Funds are meant to “help groups do stuff without over-involving itself in the process.” And that let’s-see-what-happens ethos may be what Reddit is best at as evidenced by the beautiful chaos of the recently-completed r/Place canvas.