International Trans Fund announces the 5th Grant Cycle

Deadline: 4-Dec-20

The International Trans Fund (ITF) is pleased to announce the 5th grant cycle. ITF warmly welcomes applications from trans-led organizations with budgets below $150,000 USD based in any region of the world.

This year the ITF is introducing two grant types:

SEED Grant (1-year) The SEED grant is 1-year general support and/or project grant for trans-led organizations that have never been funded by the ITF, or that prefer to apply for this grant instead of the THRIVE Grant. Grants range from $10,000 to $30,000 USD/year.
THRIVE Grant (2-year) The THRIVE grant is a 2-year general support grant ONLY for trans-led organizations that have been previously funded by the ITF and are in good standing. Grants range from $20,000 to $40,000 USD/year (for a total of $40,000-$80,000 USD).

Purpose

The ITF was created to mobilize sustainable resources to help build strong, trans-led movements and support collective action, and to address and eliminate funding gaps impacting Trans organizations across the globe. The purpose of the ITF is to:

Build & Sustain the Fund | Build and sustain a mechanism to support trans-led organizations of different sizes working on a range of issues at the international, regional, country and local levels, with a particular emphasis on organizations with access to fewer resources.
Resource Trans Movements | Increase resources and enhance access to resources to support trans movements, including:
- Access to financial resources dedicated to trans-led organizations through grantmaking.
- Access to non-financial resources for Trans organizations, such as skills building, organizational strengthening, leadership development and activist support.
- Access to other and new donors for Trans organizations, beyond the ITF’s direct support.
Educate Philanthropic Community | Educate peers in the philanthropic community on Trans issues and influence other funders and strategic allies in trans-related commitments and strategies.

Priorities

The ITF has priorities for grantmaking:

Fund a diversity of organizations, including different regions, languages, gender identities, strategies, and issues.
Prioritize Trans communities facing greater levels of marginalization (e.g. racism, classism, ageism, ableism, misogyny and so on).
Support a trans-led organization whose work is intersectional and contributes to social justice, movement building, and the liberation of Tran’s people.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for funding organizations must meet the following criteria:

Be trans-led:
- Trans people must be in decision-making roles, including setting the organization’s strategic and financial priorities and makeup 75% of the staff, spokespeople, and Board or decision-making body.
- If this is not the case, organizations must demonstrate how Trans people make a budget, organizational and strategic decisions.
Have an operating budget under $150,000 USD.
Be a group of people (i.e. not an individual).
Main focus of work is to benefit the Trans community.
Contribute to movement building, not just providing direct service.

Application Tips

Make sure you are applying for the right grant. SEED grants are 1-year grants for organizations that have never been funded by the ITF. THRIVE grants are 2-year grants for organizations that have been funded by the ITF and are in good standing.

Make sure your application is complete. Fill in all fields of the application form and include the requested details. Respond with N/A (not applicable) to questions that are not relevant to your organization. Do not leave a question blank. The ITF will not follow-up on incomplete applications and if it is not complete your application may be considered ineligible.
Be clear and concise. They follow a strict page limit as this will help them fairly evaluate applications. Font size should be no smaller than 11pt. Please note that to be fair, they will not review materials after the page limit. Additional materials (reports, strategic plans, etc.) will not be reviewed.
Remember your reviewer. Your application will be reviewed by ITF’s Grant Making Panel, composed of trans activists from different parts of the world. This means you should write to your peers but know they may be peers who know very little about your working context. Trans activists know the importance of your work, just remember to describe its specifics well.
Make your application stand out. Be clear about what you will do with the funding and make sure you tell them what impact it will have on your community and the trans movement. The competition for funding is very high and you need to make a case for why your work is important to trans movement building in your region.
Be realistic. You are the experts of what needs to be done in your context so tell them what your organization wants to do and not what you think they want to hear. The best applications are ambitious but realistic. This also includes the budget – ask for the funding that your organization needs to do the work.
Check your contact details. Make sure you check that your contact details, especially your email address, are spelled correctly. If they cannot get in touch with you, it will delay the process.
Choose relevant referees. When you select referees, choose 2 people that know your organization and that will give an honest and thoughtful reference. These cannot be members of your organization but should be colleagues, funders, or representatives of civil society. Please do not list ITF Grant Making Panel or Steering Committee members as referees. Remember to inform your referees about your application and the need to respond to their request.
Present your budget. The ITF has adopted a simplified budget reporting table within the application form. This table is as simple as possible to reflect the ITF’s belief that grantee partners and the Grant Making Panel should focus on the work itself versus budget lines. You must fully complete the table.