Creating a New Source of Revenue for Open Source Software

It is difficult to get grants if you are not in a university. It turns out that a common theme is "fiduciary handling of funds". Grant money usually goes to the bursar who takes 50% or more as "overhead". But what they assure the granting organization is that the funds are being spent properly (receipts, taxes).

I approached IBM and asked that they set up and hire a couple accountants who would receive grant money, track accounts, pay taxes, etc for open source projects. The accounting payroll could be paid from "overhead charges" so it wouldn't cost IBM anything. That way an open source project could apply for a grant and assure the granting organization that the funds were being properly managed.