I started a program called Helium Grants, which provides $1K no-strings-attached grants to encourage people do the things they want to do. In the process, I've come across a bunch of other microgrant programs, which are documented below. All amounts are listed in USD unless otherwise specified.
http://5x5night.com/
5x5 Night takes place once a month. The community votes on the ideas that will be presented at the event. The selected creators explain a $5,000 step that will move the idea forward, and will meet people who can help.
https://www.mechaelephant.com//microgrant
A monthly $100 grant to create CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA or GPL (compatible) art, code, hardware designs, etc.
https://aigrant.org/
$2,500 for your open source AI project.
http://www.awesomefoundation.org/
The Awesome Foundation is a global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time. Each fully autonomous chapter supports awesome projects through micro-grants, usually given out monthly.
http://www.youshouldapply.org/
A collection of community microgrant opportunities (<$1,000, $1-$10,000, and $10,000+) for the Cincinnati, Ohio, USA region.
http://indie-fund.com/
Indie Fund aims to support the growth of games as a medium by helping indie developers get financially independent and stay financially independent.
https://www.macktez.com/stipend/
The Macktez Summer Stipend is a $1,000 development grant to encourage creative people to pursue and complete their personal projects.
https://www.mitzvoters.org/
Mitzvoters is a group that leverages $50/month collective giving to award $500 grants to "cast a vote about what we want to thrive."
https://thejeshgn.com/projects/nagarathna-memorial-grant/
Up to INR 80,000 (~ $1,100) to people. No questions asked.
https://www.hafoundation.org/Grantseekers/Native-Cultures-Fund
$1,000-$10,000 for projects that support California native culture, arts, knowledge systems and lifeways.
https://www.openhumans.org/grants/
$5,000 for human data projects (ex. genetic, activity or social media data) that help grow the Open Humans ecosystem.
https://www.opportunityfund.org/
Opportunity Fund is California's leading microfinance provider. Opportunity Fund believes that everyone should have the chance to build a dignified life, regardless of their economic background. Our role is to help working families realize their dreams and move beyond worrying about how to live day to day.
https://pioneer.app/
Pioneer is building a community of creative young people working on interesting projects around the globe. Pioneers receive $5,000 with the possibility for a $100,000 follow-on, a round-trip ticket to San Francisco and access to a private online forum with other Pioneers.
https://thepollinationproject.org/
The Pollination Project awards seed grants daily to social change leaders seeking to benefit the world (both individuals, and community groups that do not have paid staff). Up to $1,000 per initial grant. Successful grantees become eligible for additional grants up to $5,000.
http://projectcover.org/
Cover is a non-profit that gifts small ($500) grants to driven people. Their mission is to extend access to knowledge, networks, and opportunities to those who are working hard to achieve great things.
https://prototypefund.de
The Prototype Fund is a collaboration between the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. You can get up to 30.000€ for your open source project. This grant is only available for people living in Germany.
http://www.puffinfoundation.org/grants-info.html
Up to $2,500 for emerging artists whose works might have difficulty being aired due to their genre and/or social philosophy.
https://unchartedjournalism.org/
Up to $5,000 for your experimental journalism project.
http://unitary.fund/
Get $2,000 for your open source quantum computing project.
Open a pull request or issue and add it here! The list is sorted alphabetically. I'll add more programs as I hear about them.
If you don't use GitHub, tweet your suggestion @nayafia or drop me a line and I'll add it to this list.
This list, humble as it may be, is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 License, meaning you are free to use it for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without any attribution back to me (public domain). If you do use it, I'd love to hear about it! (Find me here: @nayafia) But you are in no way required to do so.