Deadline: 12 August 2019
To further strengthen the impact of their funding, Rising Tide Foundation is exploring the concept of Empowering for Freedom and is looking to support best projects in this space. They are seeking projects that show entrepreneurial approaches to social issues that advance the freedom of individuals and society.
Rising Tide Foundation supports cancer research, social/ educational, and libertarian programs with a strong commitment to the empowerment and freedom of the individual.
The Foundation’s goal is to maximize individual potential, build competencies through education, create opportunities and advance the quality of life of cancer patients so that more people can flourish in life on their own terms.
Focus & Objective
To surface existing and planned initiatives that empower individual freedom in one of its dimensions and hence advance the wellbeing of individuals in the long-term. Application areas could be, for example, personal liberty, freedom of speech, improved property rights, economic independence, less regulated entrepreneurship, innovation in education, private sector solutions to public issues, etc. They are committed to identifying and funding the most innovative, disruptive and impactful projects worldwide.
Theory of Change
- They believe that Freedom is the most important explanatory factor driving and shaping human wellbeing around the world. Freedom of individuals can be advanced by:
- Reducing the constraints (e.g. governments, societal norms, prejudices) and promoting the freedom and autonomy of the individual (e.g. through market access, fair competition, etc.) or
- Empowering and inspiring individuals to seize opportunities freely (examples include but are not limited to enhancing economic independence, expanding networks of productivity)
- They believe that impact driven, bottom-up entrepreneurial initiatives (whether non-profit or for-profit) represent a largely untapped source of opportunitiy to advance the freedom of individuals and advance the general prosperity of society.
Funding Information
RTF welcomes grants from 50’000 USD up to 1 Million USD over no more than 5 years. RTF does not give unrestricted funding nor do they fund significant overhead.
Geographic Focus
Preference is given to regions where the political infrastructure is robust enough to allow free market principles to be promoted, and the rule of law can realistically be expanded and grow.
Project Eligibility
Approaches
- In order to qualify for selection, projects need to advance the freedom of the individual through one of the following two approaches:
- Directly enhance the freedom of individuals along at least one of its dimensions by:
- reducing obstacles, barriers, constraints or interference from others to the freedom of the individual through innovative approaches (not including general awareness, publication or policy work), or
- enabling individuals, that may otherwise not have the chance, to access transformational interventions (non-governmental) and programs that empower them to live an independent, sustainable and self-determined life (not including scholarships).
- Design, pilot or implement bottom-up alternatives to existing government solutions to societal issues organized as decentralized networks, private sector organizations, NGOs etc.
- Directly enhance the freedom of individuals along at least one of its dimensions by:
Types
- The projects should further fall into one of the following two types of projects:
- Funding of training & incubation in some form of entrepreneurship: Projects by incubators, accelerators or training institutions that provide skills, training and funding access to individuals, communities, non-/for-profit organizations.
- Direct project funding: Grant funding will be provided to non-profit or hybrid organizations for testing, implementation or scale up of their focus activities.
- The following types of projects are excluded from funding: projects run by individuals; projects run by organizations with a political or religious mission; infrastructure; humanitarian aid; conferences and travel.
How to Apply
Interested applicants must submit their Letters of Intent (LOIs) via the given website.
For more information, please visit https://www.risingtide-foundation.org/call-for-proposals