Deadline: 28-Feb-21
The Eurasia Foundation (EF) announces a call for applications for Innovative Solutions Grants, an open, competitive competition for grant funding under the Civil Society Support Program in Central Asia (CSSP) which is a five-year program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by EF. The goal of the program is to cultivate a vibrant and responsive civil society in Central Asia.
Innovative Solutions Grants are designed for civil society representatives proposing new solutions to social problems and civic initiatives that can lead to demonstrable positive change.
Priority Areas
ISGs are flexible and will support project ideas in the following areas:
- New approaches for creating dialogue and results through cross-sectoral partnerships.
- Leveraging new technologies to solve pressing social or community problems.
- Creative or experimental approaches to fundraising in the social sphere.
- Creating mechanisms for citizen engagement in solving community problems.
Funding Information
- Award activities may last for any period of time up to 12 months.
- Funding amounts for Innovative Solutions Grants will range from 2,000 to 10,000 USD.
Use of Funds
- Funding may not be used for expenses such as construction, the purchase of the real estate, the purchase of alcoholic beverages, entertainment costs, business or first-class travel, or the repayment of debts. Salary and office expenses (rent, public utilities, etc.) not directly linked to the project implementation will not be covered.
- Project budgets must be submitted in dollars (USD), but project costs will be paid to the grant recipient according to the agreed payment schedule in Kazakhstani tenge (KZT), at the official exchange rate on the date of signing the grant agreement.
Examples
Illustrative examples of projects for ISG funding include:
- Campaigns using electronic petitions, social media, and mobile apps to raise awareness of pressing social problems and propose solutions to address the needs and interests of the public;
- Collaboration with government agencies to address the issue of personal data protection;
- Public campaigns that unite civic activists, businesses, and CSO experts to protect a shared public asset such as green spaces and playgrounds;
- Negotiated deals with local businesses to provide discounts to vulnerable groups, a volunteer working time, and offer material support during pandemic lockdowns;
- Crowdfunding campaigns to raise financial support for charitable causes.
Eligibility Criteria
- Registered CSOs and initiative groups from Kazakhstan are eligible to apply.
Application Process
All interested applicants must submit an application through EF’s Grant Management Platform. Applications will be accepted in Kazakh or Russian. Applications from CSOs must include the following information:
- Key demographic and contact information.
- Description and justification of the project proposal (MS Word, Maximum 5 pages).
- Resumes of key implementers.
- Description of applicant experience (MS Word, template downloaded from EF’s Grant Management Platform, maximum 1 page).
- (Optional) Video summary of the project (Maximum duration 2 min.).
- Timeline of project activities or Gantt chart (MS Excel, template downloaded from EF’s Grant Management Platform).
- Detailed budget (MS Excel, template downloaded from EF’s Grant Management Platform) CSO applicants will need to upload a scanned copy of the organization’s legal entity certificate of registration. If selected, organizations will need to provide the following additional documentation:
- Scanned copy of the Charter (only for organizations in .pdf or .jpeg or .png)
- Scanned copy of Certification of Absence of Tax Debt.
- Proof of a bank account.
- Copy of the passport or ID of the key implementors of the project.
- Note: The above requirements are not applicable for initiative groups. However, EF reserves the right to request additional documentation from such groups.
For more information, visit https://www.eurasia.org/sites/default/files/NOFO_ISG_KAZ_EN.pdf