Deadline: 15-Nov-22
The Arcus Foundation is inviting applications for Request for Concepts, International LGBTQ Social Justice that aims to bring additional grantees to complement our existing partnerships.
Priority will be given to concepts for work at the country level that
- Center people most affected by systemic violence and discrimination within LGBTIQ+ communities, and
- Are based on self-determination , and/or
- Include strategies for faith-related advocacy.
Priorities
- With Arcus’ strong commitment to racial, gender, and economic justice, their evaluation of concepts will prioritize those demonstrating:
- Clarity of intended impact at the country or sub-country level in the focus countries listed.
- Self-determination of groups most affected by systemic injustice and inequality3 : organizations/projects with leadership from within the society or community they seek to serve; and open consultation of and accountability to local LGBTIQ+ communities, particularly trans/gender-diverse people, intersex people, LBQ women, refugees/migrants, people with disabilities, and Indigenous people.
- Faith-related advocacy with specific outcomes advancing one or more of the goals.
Scope
- Arcus’ Social Justice Program seeks to support initiatives/organizations with the potential to achieve impact at the country or sub-country level within each of the following three goal areas:
- Increased safety of LGBTQ people: Reduction in violence against LGBTQ people and increased security of advocates and communities. Concepts can include the strategies or additional ones, identifying clear outcomes and their relation to the goal areas:
- Documentation: documenting, disaggregating, and analyzing data on violence directed at LGBTQ populations, from state-sponsored to private actors, and utilizing findings for advocacy at local, country, or regional levels for accountability and/or socio-cultural change.
- Advocacy: campaigning against violence, including through the media and in alliance with other movements, especially faith voices that promote narratives about faith as a rationale for inclusion (not violence and discrimination).
- Community Safety Initiatives: community-led strategies focused on empowering and improving conditions for people most affected by systemic violence and discrimination within LGBTQ communities, based on self-determination.
- Increased LGBTQ affirming protections that promote full inclusion and equal opportunity: Successful challenges to discriminatory provisions and practices, existing or proposed, and adoption and implementation of anti-discrimination and other protective measures at the local and/or country level. Concepts can include the strategies or additional ones, identifying clear outcomes and their relation to the goal areas:
- Advocacy: policy-focused campaigning, including through litigation and the media, based on data and in alliance and/or coordination with other movements, especially faith, women’s, children’s, and sexual reproductive health and rights movements.
- Base-building and Mobilization: initiatives to increase movement coordination for specific advocacy goals, to expand the size and democratic participation of local constituencies, with the recognition of power and leadership of LGBTQ people.
- Increased social inclusion of and public support for LGBTQ people: Increased acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ people, demonstrated by a positive shift in public opinion and/or community attitudes. Concepts can include the strategies or additional ones, identifying clear outcomes and their relation to the goal areas:
- Media Advocacy and Public Education: targeted media and education campaigns for acceptance and social inclusion of LGBTQ people, particularly of those most affected by injustice and inequality.
- Narrative Change: evidence-based message development and dissemination designed to positively impact public opinion.
- Training: outcome-based training for those who will advocate for specific changes in community and society, especially voices of faith, with a system to evaluate impact.
- Increased safety of LGBTQ people: Reduction in violence against LGBTQ people and increased security of advocates and communities. Concepts can include the strategies or additional ones, identifying clear outcomes and their relation to the goal areas:
Geographic Areas
- Their support is provided for work in the following focus countries:
- Eastern Africa – Kenya, Uganda
- Southern Africa – Botswana, Malawi, South Africa
- Caribbean – Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago
- Central America – El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras
- Mexico.
Funding Information
- Grant awards for applications focusing on a single country will range from a minimum of US$50,000 to a maximum of US$100,000 per year; those for applications focusing on multi-country partnerships may exceed US$100,000 per year.
Eligibility Criteria
- Every application will be evaluated by Arcus staff. Applicants should consider the following:
- Legal status: Applicants must be registered legal entities with a charitable purpose. Organizations registered outside the United States, applying for general operating support, must have in place or be willing to participate in an Equivalency Determination (ED) which requires having at least five years of financial statements; organizations unable to produce an ED can submit concepts focused only on a specific project or program (not general operating support).
- Location of applicants: Organizations must be based in Arcus’ focus countries.
- Experience: Applicants must demonstrate at least two years of experience in the proposed work.
- Nondiscrimination Employment Policy: Applicants must have a board-approved, internal Equal Employment Opportunity Policy that specifically includes sexual orientation and gender identity among the nondiscrimination grounds (i.e. protected categories).
- Institutional governance: Applicants’ institutional governance must include policies and procedures to protect against actual and apparent conflicts of interest, and to ensure transparency in decision-making and financial operations.
- Joint projects of two or more groups are eligible. Funding will be awarded to a single legal entity that will have complete financial discretion and control of the grant. They will consider concepts with pre-identified partners and budgets, and which present a rationale for the joint proposal and the distinct contribution of each partner. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between all partners is preferred (for selected concepts). Joint projects will be considered only for project support (v. general operating support) and can include a grantmaking component (i.e. granting of funds to organizations not identified in the proposal, based on an applicant’s own selection process), only if the recipient organization/s has an ED in place.
- Geographic focus: Proposed impact of the work can include one or more focus countries. Concepts relating to work in non-focus countries will not be considered.
For more information, visit https://www.arcusfoundation.org/apply-for-a-grant/request-for-concepts-international-lgbtq-social-justice/