10 Grant-making Foundations offering Small Grants to NGOs

In this article, we take a look at those grant-making foundations currently accepting new applications from NGOs around the world

Small Grants from the UK-based Grant-making Foundation

Deadline: 12 September 2019

The Hilden Charitable Fund is seeking applications to award grants to projects both in the UK and in developing countries with an aim to address disadvantages, notably by supporting causes which are less likely to raise funds from public subscriptions.

Both the UK and overseas fund policy is directed largely at supporting work at the community level.

After a major review of Fund activities in 1992, the following grant-making priorities were established: homelessness, minorities, penal affairs, and overseas countries. These priorities are reviewed on a three-year cycle.

While Trustees’ policy is to address needs by considering and funding specific projects’ costs, Trustees are most sympathetic to funding general running, or core costs. In awarding these types of ‘unrestricted’ grants, Trustees believe that great value can be added, as most charities find fundraising for core costs most difficult. Trustees look to the Hilden staff team to advise applicants on funding alternatives if grant applications cannot be considered or awarded.

Priority Areas

• In the UK: Hilden’s grant-making priorities are Homelessness, Penal Affairs, Asylum Seekers and Refugees, and Community Based initiatives for Disadvantaged Young People Aged 16 to 25.
• Overseas: Hilden’s grant-making priorities overseas are for projects in developing countries working on community development, education, and health. Trustees will particularly welcome projects that address the needs and potential of girls and women.

Funding Information

• Average grants are £5,000.
• Hilden will consider funding for more than one year.

 

Weeden Foundation Grants Program to Protect Biodiversity

Deadline: 9 August 2019

The Weeden Foundation is currently accepting a letter of Inquiry from organizations for its various funding programs in order to protect biodiversity.

The Foundation works to protect old-growth forests, expand habitats for endangered species on public and private lands, and link key wildlife corridors.

The Weeden Foundation has supported International and Domestic Population Stabilization projects based on the rationale that an increasing population causes a greater impact on the environment and loss of biodiversity.

Funding Areas

• Domestic Biodiversity Program
• International Biodiversity Program
• Land Acquisition Program
• Population Program
• Consumption Program

Funding Information

The average grant size is between $15,000 and $20,000, and only under exceptional circumstances do grants exceed $20,000.

Eligible Projects

The Foundation funds projects that:

• advocate for increased federal funding of family planning services
• promote the reduction of immigration levels (immigration currently accounts for the majority of U.S. population growth);
• investigate the impacts of population-driven sprawl on adjacent wild areas

Documentation

• financial statements (preferably audited)
• list of Board of Directors and their affiliations
• IRS tax exemption 501(c)(3) certification letter or an equivalency document for non-U.S. based organizations (obtained in-country)
• project budget
• organizational budget
• other sources and amounts of institutional support (past, present, and anticipated future); and
• qualifications of key personnel

How to Apply

• The Foundation requires that new applicants (not current grantees) submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) via email.
• Returning applicants (who received a grant the previous year) do not need to submit a LOI.

 

 

Rising Tide Foundation (RTF) launches Empowering for Freedom

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.

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.

 

The Leakey Foundation seeking applications for Research Grants Program

Deadline: 15 July 2019

The Leakey Foundation is seeking applications for its research grants with an aim to promote the sharing of data in an appropriate manner consistent with the needs of their grantees, but with the recognition that different fields of study require different approaches to data sharing.

It is recommended that each applicant provide a statement (no more than one page) of how they intend to make the data resulting from their Leakey Foundation grant available to others. The data sharing statement must include a more detailed plan than an intention to publish or present at a conference.

Funding Information

• The majority of The Leakey Foundation’s Research Grants awarded to doctoral students are in the $3,000-$15,000 range.
• Larger grants given to senior scientists and post-doctoral students may be funded up to $25,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Advanced doctoral students (advanced to candidacy – all but dissertation) and established scientists are eligible for Leakey Foundation Research Grants.
• There are no citizenship restrictions; however, all applications must be in English.

 

 

Russell Sage Foundation inviting LOIs for Behavioral Economics

Deadline: 19 August 2019

The Russell Sage Foundation is inviting letter of inquiries (LOIs) for its program entitled “Behavioral Economics” that support novel research that uses insights and methods from psychology, economics, sociology, political science and other social sciences to examine and improve social and living conditions in the United States.

The program seeks investigator-initiated research proposals that will broaden their understanding of the social, economic and political consequences of actual behaviors and decisions.

Priority Areas

• Choice architecture: Choice architecture describes the ways in which options can be presented to consumers, and their impacts on decision-making.
• Time Preferences: Individuals tend to prefer present rewards over future ones. Shapiro (2005) finds high impatience among food-stamp recipients, implying a preference for immediate consumption.
• Poverty, Inequality and Mobility: Recent studies find that poverty and other forms of resource scarcity burden people’s mental capacities and leave less ‘mind’ for other concerns.
• Labor Markets: Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler (1986) provided survey evidence on notions of fairness which could justify the observed wage compression in several industries.
• Racial and Ethnic Bias: While social and legal changes have reduced many institutionalized forms of racial discrimination, the same policy tools may have less leverage against implicit racial stereotypes.
• Public Finance: A better understanding of human behavior may provide a more useful framework for analyzing public finance issues, such as social insurance, income support and redistribution, and taxation.

Eligibility Criteria

• All applicants (both PIs and Co-PIs) must have a doctorate. In rare circumstances, RSF may consider applications from scholars who do not hold a doctorate but can demonstrate a strong career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Students may not be applicants.
• RSF particularly encourages early career scholars to apply for Presidential grants. All nationalities are eligible to apply and applicants do not have to reside in the U.S., but the focus of the proposed research project must be on the U.S. as per their mission.

 

Fonds SUEZ Grant Program to improve the Living Conditions of Persons in Developing Countries

Deadline: 31 October 2019

Fonds SUEZ is seeking applications for its grant program to combat exclusion by favouring inclusion and consequently sustainably improving the living conditions and autonomy of persons via access to essential services, social insertion and social harmony.

The Fondation SUEZ supports concrete actions in favour of:

• Access to essential services (water, sanitation and waste) for disadvantaged populations in developing countries;
• The insertion of vulnerable populations thanks to employment and training in France;
• Social harmony through education, culture and sport, in France.

Priorities

The Fondation SUEZ has set itself several priorities:

• To support and accompany development projects via financial and skills-based sponsorship partnerships developed with international solidarity organizations, non-profit making specialized institutions.
• To accompany humanitarian and emergency operations in the field of access to essential services.
• To support and accompany insertion projects encouraging employment and training in France. The Fondation is making a long-term commitment in this sense and is looking to contribute towards the social and economic revitalisation of territories.
• To support and accompany social cohesion projects via education, culture and sport. The Fondation hopes to contribute towards preventing the exclusion of young people, limiting their marginalisation thanks to educational support projects and access to cultural and sporting practices.
• To reinforce the expertise of local players and circulate expertise by supporting actions to professionalize services, put in place specific training programmes and foster networking between players.
• To boost innovation and research applied to the realities of the field in developing countries, namely via the organisation of a Prize to reward and promote innovative projects having proven their worth and which can be replicated.

Location / Implementation Zone

• For access to essential service projects, the Fondation supports projects implemented in developing countries. It does not intervene in so-called developed countries within the context of the domain considered. The Fondation is looking to focus its actions on problems encountered in urban and peri-urban areas: projects meeting this criterion will be studied as a matter of priority. However, projects in rural settings will not be disregarded if they permit the management of the services provided to be structured on a long-term basis.
• The Fondation supports projects at a global level, including in zones where for safety reasons, it will not be able to send personnel for project evaluation missions.
• For projects dedicated to social insertion and cohesion, the Fondation focuses solely on France.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Fondation supports projects proposed by project initiators with an associative legal status and which have been legally established for at least one year prior to the date of the submission of the project application.
• The Fondation does not support projects developed by individuals.
• The Fondation attaches a great deal of importance to how actions are relayed on the site of intervention and gives priority to applicants which possess local divisions or which report a very close partnership with a local structure.
• Similarly, particular attention will be paid to:
  • The clearly identified demand and the determination of the populations concerned to contribute towards maintaining the service or activity to be created, – Whether or not the project is of general interest,
  • The commitment and support shown towards the project by local stakeholders: user associations, local resident communities, local authorities etc.
  • The correspondence of the project with the national or regional policies adopted in the domain considered, – Coherency with the other projects implemented on the same theme in the same geographical zone; for access to essential service projects: resource preservation, integrated management of the receiving environment, collection and treatment management…
  • The search for efficiency and the sustainable improvement in the living conditions of populations as part of a development process which respects the environment,
  • The search for the sustainability of actions thanks to the relevance of the prior assessment designed to measure the impacts of the project’s achievements
  • Impact measuring thanks to indicators and assessment mechanisms based on transparency, in conjunction – where possible – with the authorities in the countries concerned,
  • The introduction of post-project monitoring,
  • And, particularly for projects relating to access to essential services, the existence of training to improve and manage services, personnel training and awareness-raising actions among local populations with respect to health and hygiene.

 

The Jana Robeyst Trust Fund in the Sub-Saharan Africa

Deadline: 31 August 2019

The Jana Robeyst Trust Fund (JRTF) is seeking applications for its “Small Conservation Grants” to provide financial resources to early career scientists/conservationists and non-profit organizations to carry out vital field conservation and research work in Africa.

The JRTF aims to provide relatively small levels of funding for ongoing projects or pilot programmes with a clear conservation value.

Funding Information

Small grants will be awarded up to a maximum of 1,500 euro.

Eligibility Criteria

• This funding program is open to individuals or organizations for projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Applicants can be based anywhere in the world.
• Both successful and unsuccessful applicants are welcome to apply again 12 months after the submission.
• Eligible project will have a clear conservation value and be based in a country in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Preference will go to projects in relation with elephants.
• Education projects will also be considered.

How to Apply

• Interested applicants should submit the grant form in English or French. Additional information may be provided in separate attachments.
• They will request:
  • The grant form fully completed
  • CV with the contact details of two references (if one letter of reference is send with the application, the referees will not be contacted, the referees need to have professional email addresses).
  • The application must be send through a professional email address (not Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). If not possible, please send a proof of affiliation with a university, research institution or non-profit organization.
• Applications must be submitted via email at the address given on the website.

Eligible Countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo DR, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe

 

 

Women’s Fund Asia announces Call for Applications 2019–20 under the “Environmental Justice”

Deadline: 5 June 2019

Women’s Fund Asia (WFA) has opened its first call for applications for the 2019 – 2020 year. This call is limited to applications for the theme of Environmental Justice and is open to women and trans rights groups based in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and Mongolia.

Under this thematic, WFA will provide grants to activists, organisations and networks working at the intersection of environmental justice and women’s and trans human rights. WFA will support work which centres the voices and leadership of women and trans people in the decision-making processes which govern access to and distribution of resources such as land, water, food, and other natural resources, as well as in policies that govern disaster management, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development. WFA will prioritise interventions which promote a rights-based perspective and feminist principles; those which are self-led; and/or those which look to strengthen national and regional movements for women and trans environment and climate justice.

Grant Types

Applicants can apply for the following types of grants:

• General Operating grants: This includes institutional and administrative costs including salaries, rent and other operational costs of groups/organisations/ networks. General Operating grants can also be used to fill funding gaps of ongoing/new programmes and collaborations, or institutional strengthening and capacity building, as per the need of the organisation. Applicants for this type of grant should be organisations working at the intersection of environmental justice, and women and/or trans rights.
• Programme/project grants: This includes (but is not limited to) support for new or ongoing programmes; research; cross-regional or cross-movement collaborations; and learning and exchange visits.
• Individual grants: individual activists may apply for support to build their capacity or conduct research related to this thematic. Applicants should clearly demonstrate how their learnings or research will feed back into the work of women and/or trans rights movements. Individual grant requests should not exceed USD 5000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Any woman’s/trans rights organisation/group/network whose annual budget is under USD 50,000 located in the above mentioned eligible countries can apply.
• Both the governing body and staff of the organisation should be lead by women or trans people.
• The entity should have at least 60% women, trans people or a combination of both, in its decision-making body and staff.
• Groups, networks and organisations for whom advancement of women and/or trans rights is a key component of its vision and mission.
• The organisation should be committed to feminist principles and rights-based approaches.

 

Apply for PlanetRomeo Foundation’s Grants for Emerging LGBTI Projects & Initiatives

Deadline: 1 July 2019

PlanetRomeo Foundation is seeking applications for its grants program to provide funding up to € 5,000 to grassroots emerging LGBTI projects and initiatives.

The Foundation support focuses on achieving societal change in order to improve the position of LGBTI people throughout the world, with an emphasis on the most disadvantaged regions and communities.

The Foundation gives high priority to small-scale projects which are initiated and implemented by the LGBTI community itself and/or by emerging LGBTI groups and initiatives. The projects must aim to involve, empower and mobilize the community. Projects may target sub-communities, e.g. lesbian and/or gay and/or bisexual and/or trans and/or intersex communities.

Funding Themes

• Community Organizing
• Shelter
• Sports & Culture

Funding Information

• The minimum amount that can be requested is € 500.
• The maximum amount that can be requested is € 5,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• Projects which align with PlanetRomeo Foundation’s funding policy.
• The Foundation funds two categories of emerging initiatives:
  • Initiatives of (relatively) new informal LGBTI groups or organizations with little or no access to other sources of funding;
  • More experienced LGBTI organizations that develop new initiatives for which they have not yet previously received funding and are difficult to fund elsewhere.
• Although all geographical regions are eligible, the Foundation gives priority to countries outside the Global North. Within a country, all geographical areas are eligible, but where they can, give priority to rural and/or more remote areas.
• Community Organizing projects focusing on community gatherings, as a starting point of LGBTI community/movement building, community workshops, etc.
• Community Organizing projects that focus on means through which LGBTI community members can share, exchange, find information, receive counseling online, especially in regions and countries where ‘offline’ community gatherings are impossible or dangerous.
• Community Organizing projects and initiatives for and with LGBTI people and their (chosen) families.
• Shelter projects that provide around the clock support (including sleeping facilities) and/or offer shelter and support during the day or specific time slots. Activities taking place in or attached to the shelter, that further support LGBTI people making use of the shelter, can be eligible too.
• Sports & Culture projects which also aim at empowerment, workshops, training, public awareness and/or other activities.

 

Muste Institute: Seeking Applications for Social Justice Fund

Deadline: 8 July 2019

The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute is seeking applications for its Social Justice Fund to support grassroots activist projects in the US and around the world, giving priority to those with small budgets and little access to more mainstream funding sources.

Priority Areas

The Social Justice fund’s priority is to support:

• direct grassroots activism and organizing
• groups with diverse, representative and democratic leadership structures
• groups that have or can obtain sufficient economic and in-kind support to carry out their regular work, but need additional support to carry out a project or build capacity

Eligibility Criteria

The Muste Institute’s Social Justice fund considers proposals:

• for new and ongoing projects or campaigns, or efforts to expand existing work
• for capacity building, leadership development, and resource sustainability
• for projects with expense budgets under $50,000
• from grassroots organizatons with annual expenses of less than $500,000
• from groups with limited access to more mainstream funding sources
• from groups with or without 501(c)3 status or a fiscal sponsor
• from groups which have not received Social Justice fund grants in at least two years