{
  "id": 1954942,
  "title": "Forget big donors — Tor Project proved a crowd of small givers can bankroll internet freedom and raise over $200K",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/forget-big-donors-tor-project-proved-a-crowd-of-small-givers-can",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-19T14:32:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechRadar",
    "slug": "techradar",
    "url": "https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/forget-big-donors-tor-project-proved-a-crowd-of-small-givers-can-bankroll-internet-freedom-and-raise-over-usd200k"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}