This presentation from the June 2026 DataCite Open Hours explores how open funding metadata can improve the visibility of research activities, support transparent reporting, and strengthen understanding of the relationships between funders, awards, researchers, organizations, and research outputs. The presentation introduces the funding-related information supported by the DataCite Metadata Schema and explains how organizations can connect outputs to funders and awards, register DOIs for grants and other awards, and link awards to the research outputs they support. It provides practical metadata guidance and examples illustrating the use of persistent identifiers, including DOIs, ROR IDs, and ORCID iDs, to create reliable and machine-readable connections across the research ecosystem. It also demonstrates how funding information can be explored through DataCite Commons and queried through the DataCite REST API. Contributions from GREI (Dryad) and the Michael J. Fox Foundation illustrate how organizations are applying open funding metadata in practice. The presentation concludes with an overview of recent DataCite service developments and planned improvements to the representation and linking of awards and research outputs. A recording of the presentation is available on the DataCite YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAN2FIf1tdE&t=190s