This week CIVICUS’ Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah gave “Five reasons donors give for not funding local NGOs directly” on the Guardian Global Development Professionals Network. In response, I offered “Five reasons funding should go directly to local NGOs.”
Luckily I see a growing number of small NGOs and foundations (though still not enough) that are specializing in direct funding to grassroots leaders, locally-led organizations, and small, often “informal” movements. I’m sharing a list of those that I know below.
These funders create broad guidelines, focus areas, and selection criteria to respond to what local leaders and stakeholders view as important. The funding mechanisms they create often consist of small grants, long-term grants, and general operating support, otherwise known flexible funding that an organization can determine for itself how to use – whether it be keeping the lights on or piloting a new project.
As the role of grassroots leadership and initiatives as key drivers of social change enters the development discourse in a more profound and imperative way, international small grantmakers’ experience and wisdom are an untapped resource that has increasing relevance for the sector as a whole. When compared with “old-school” donor-controlled, large-scale, risk-averse project-based international aid funding, small and direct grants mechanisms exhibit a profound shift in attitude and practice in working with impoverished and marginalized communities – from being passive recipients to active leaders of their own development.
Here are three questions for anyone working in any kind of global development organization:
- Are donors and INGOs really interested in supporting local civil society to become more mature, autonomous, networked, and able to manage funds without their permanent presence?
- What’s needed to incentivize the “risk-taking” needed on the part of donors of all sorts to get more money to the ground, quicker than ever before?
- What are the best kinds of funding mechanisms that will increase grassroots organizations’ responsiveness and resourcefulness, rather than distract them from their constituencies with undue administrative and reporting burdens?
International Small Grantmakers in the Development Sector
(Small grants are defined as approximately <US$25,000 that are given directly to locally- and community-based NGOs.)
Click on each for a link to their website and please add other funders you know in the comments section!
African Women’s Development Fund
Association for the Development of Pakistan
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Commonwealth Foundation’s civil society responsive grants
Fondo Accion Solidaria (FASOL), Mexico
Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises
The Foundation for Civil Society, Tanzania
Foundation for Sustainable Development
FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund
Global Fund for Community Foundations
Global Health through Education, Training and Service (GHETS)
Grassroots Global Development Foundation
IDEX – International Development Exchange
Independent Development Fund, Uganda
The International Community Foundation
Kenya Community Development Foundation
KIOS – Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights
New England Biolabs Foundation
The Norwegian Human Rights Fund
Rainforest Information Centre Small Grants Fund
Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation
UNDP Small Grants Programme, The Global Environment Facility
USAID Office of Transition Initiatives
The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust
The Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund
…and hopefully more to come!
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Related Posts (there’s a lot of them!)
When an international NGO plans its obsolescence
Small is Beautiful…Grants, That Is (Part 1)
Sorry but it’s not YOUR project
The Marginalization of CBOs by Development Actors: A Perspective from Zimbabwe
Overlooking the Capacity of Local Organizations
Briefcase NGOs: How widespread is this, really?
How to reframe the #globaldev message: Local organizations telling their own story
Is there a better way for indigenous and international NGOs to work together?
Do grassroots organizations in poor countries have an image problem?
Building a Fire: An organizational capacity self-assessment tool for grassroots organizations
“Create” nothing, a new social good mantra
Thank you for updating this post and for including World Connect! It’s a great resource that I link to often when communicating with various partners.
Hi there, UNICEF also provides small scale funding to local civil society organizations and NGOs … If yuo need more info on this, you can email..
BTW, Very good reminder of the importance to fund small NGOs… !!
Love your message!