# About Google Season of Docs

![Google Season of Docs 2023 icon](https://developers.google.com/static/season-of-docs/images/SeasonOfDocs_Icon.png)

## Supporting open source documentation

Google Season of Docs (2019-2024) supported documentation in open source by:

- Providing funds to open source organizations to use for documentation projects
- Providing guides and support for open source organizations to help them understand their documentation needs
- Collecting data from open source organizations to better understand documentation impact
- Publishing case studies from open source organizations to share best practices

Google Season of Docs sought to empower open source organizations to understand their
documentation needs, to create documentation to fill those needs, to measure the
effect and impact of their documentation, and, in the spirit of open source,
share what they've learned to help guide other projects. Google Season of Docs
encouraged more technical writers to participate in open source through funding
their work with open source projects and organizations.

## Google Season of Docs history

From 2021-2024 Google Season of Docs operated as a grant program. Accepted
organizations received between US$5,000 and US$15,000 to use for a documentation
project.

- Open source organizations submitted project proposals. Project proposals
  included a proposed budget, timeline, and metrics.

- Accepted organizations hired technical writers directly. The Google Season of Docs
  grants were disbursed in two payments; 40% upon hiring a technical
  writer, and 60% after receiving the final evaluation and case study.

- Interested technical writers could signal their willingness to participate
  by contacting organizations through their project pages and by adding
  themselves to the [Google Season of Docs technical writer
  directory](https://github.com/google/season-of-docs). We encouraged
  interested technical writers to work with organizations to create project
  proposals.

- At the end of the program, organizations submitted their final evaluations
  and case studies. Final evaluations and case studies outlined what the
  organization and technical writer learned during the project. Google program administrators [published the final evaluations and case studies](https://developers.google.com/participants).

- Organizations answered three followup surveys about the project metrics.

From 2019-2020, Google Season of Docs operated as a mentorship program.