Apply to GitHub Sponsors by January 1, 2020

The "About GitHub Sponsors" help page states, "To be eligible for the GitHub Sponsors Matching Fund, you must apply to GitHub Sponsors by January 1, 2020." This is the first time I see a deadline for the matching funds during the developer's first year. I also see that the "zero fees" pledge extends only through May 2020 (https://github.com/sponsors).