The Zcash Community Grants program funds independent teams entering the Zcash ecosystem, to perform major ongoing development (or other work) for the public good of the Zcash ecosystem.
The Zcash Community Grants is managed by a committee, which currently consists of five people. This community reviews and approves grant applications from third party teams who want to build on the Zcash protocol.
The Zcash Community Grants is an independent organization from the Electric Coin Company and the Zcash Foundation.
The Electric Coin Company receives 8% of the Zcash development fund. They use these funds to support third party development teams and also for internal operations.