Forget big donors — Tor Project proved a crowd of small givers can bankroll internet freedom and raise over $200K
The Tor Project's first participatory funding campaign raised over $200,000 for internet freedom tools, using quadratic funding to let community support, not wallet size, decide where the money went.
In a bold experiment, the Tor Project successfully raised over $200,000 through an unconventional crowdfunding campaign. The fundraiser, dubbed "quadratic funding," prioritized the number of small donors over the size of individual contributions. This approach was a response to a significant drop in traditional funding for internet freedom projects.
During the campaign, which ran from May to June 2026, more than $200,000 was raised, with $174,536 distributed to various grantee projects. The Tor Project secured $27,000 in matching funds from organizations like Cake Wallet, the Ethereum Foundation, Logos, Octant, Xeovo, and Zcash Community Grants. Quadratic funding ensured that the $27,000 matched the community's donations, prioritizing projects that received the most support.
The campaign resulted in 580 unique donors contributing 662 times, averaging just $41 per donation. The funds were allocated to ten projects, with Onion Browser receiving the largest share. Smaller grantees benefitted from increased visibility and exposure, marking a valuable side effect of the campaign. Despite its promising results, the Tor Project acknowledges the operational complexity of this model, with 15% of the funds dedicated to managing the campaign.
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