The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is a worldwide network of people devoted to forwarding the interest of “awesomeness in the universe.” Established in 2009, the foundation distributes $1,000 grants on a monthly basis to projects and their creators. The money is pooled from ten or more self-organizing “micro-trustees.” The chapters are autonomous and organized by the trustees around geographic areas or topics of interest.

Awesome projects have ranged from public artwork to mobile applications to scientific experiments. Projects are not strictly defined but tend to challenge and expand our understanding of our individual and collective potential, bringing communities together and casting aside social inhibitions/boundaries for a moment. Grants are provided with no strings attached, and the foundation claims no ownership over the projects it supports.

Chapters are divided by geography, and more recently by topic of interest. While specifying a chapter to apply to is not necessary (all chapters can view the applications received by all other chapters), many chapters show a preference for local projects.

The Awesome Foundation application process is open to all people and organizations.