The Bad Idea Desk

Small Grants · Poor Judgment

We give tiny amounts of money to ideas that should not survive a group chat.

Grants run twenty-five to fifty dollars. Awards are gifts. The fiscal year has not ended.

The Bad Idea Desk reviews proposals nobody asked for.

Most are declined. A few are funded. The standard is not quality. The standard is that the idea should not exist, and that building it would harm no one.

Dale, Acting Deputy Director of Grant Review, reads every submission. Dale has held the position for some time. The word Acting has not been revisited.

Apply for a grant Fund the Desk
Dale
Acting Deputy Director

Received. Applications are reviewed weekly. Or not weekly. Reviewed.

How this works

  1. You submit an idea. Eighty words. Less is fine.
  2. The idea is scored on three axes. The scores are not published. The scores would not help you.
  3. If the idea is funded, you get twenty-five to fifty dollars and a letter. The letter is longer than it needs to be.
  4. If the idea is not funded, you may be told so. You may also not be told so. The Desk receives more mail than it sends.
  5. Funded ideas may be featured. Featuring is not a payment and is not a promise.

The Desk does not build anything. The Desk does not own anything you submit. The Desk sends a small amount of money and a letter. That is the whole arrangement.

Apply for a grant

Eighty words. One idea. The Desk is not accepting attachments and will not open them.

This can be a handle. It appears if the idea is featured.

Used to tell you yes. Nothing else.

0 / 80 words

Eighty words. The Desk stops reading at eighty words.

0 / 40 words

Do not attach Form 12-A. Form 12-A is not a form.

Fund the Desk

Tips pay for grants, hosting, and running the desk.

A tip is a gift. It buys nothing. It is not an investment, not a share, not a subscription, and not a donation to a charity, because the Desk is not one.

Tip jar coming online

The jar is not open yet.

Write to desk@badideadesk.com with the word JAR and the Desk will tell you when it opens. One message. The Desk does not operate a mailing list and has no plans to acquire one.

What the money does

  • Grants, twenty-five to fifty dollars each
  • The domain
  • The hosting
  • Nothing else. There is no staff. There is Dale.

The Desk does not offer refunds on gifts, because a gift is not a purchase. If you sent a tip by mistake, write to desk@badideadesk.com and the Desk will sort it out.

Rules

What gets funded Ideas that are useless, harmless, and specific. The Desk likes an object it can picture.
What does not Anything dangerous. Anything illegal. Anything medical. Financial advice. Anything aimed at a real person, a real company, or a real place. Anything involving anyone under eighteen. Anything cruel.
Too useful is a rejection If the Desk can imagine someone being glad they own it, the application fails. This is the most common reason for denial and it is not a compliment.
One idea per submission Two ideas is zero ideas.
The Desk does not do drawings There is no raffle, no ticket, no entry, no prize, no sweepstakes, and no chance to buy. Tipping does not enter you into anything and does not improve your odds. The two systems do not touch.
The Desk does not take equity There is no share, no royalty, no profit split, and no claim on anything you make later. You keep your idea. The Desk keeps the letter.
The Desk may say no The Desk may also say nothing. Both are answers.
Decisions are final Dale abstained.

Contact

desk@badideadesk.com

That is the only address. There is no phone. There is a phone, but it is not connected to anything.

Press, partnerships, and people who want to explain why their idea was actually good: same address.