Guidelines

Human Rights

Application Guidelines

Application Procedure

Prior to sending a full proposal, potential applicants should submit a brief concept paper of no more than 2-3 pages to determine whether projects meet the Human Rights and Governance Grants Program’s current funding priorities and guidelines. The concept paper should include:

• a brief description of the project, planned activities, methodology, and goals;
• information about the applicant organization;
• estimated overall budget and timeframe for the project.

Once the program has reviewed concept papers, grant seekers may be invited to submit a full application. Proposals for funding should be submitted in an electronic format and sent via email. The narrative part of the proposal should not exceed 10-15 pages. Other relevant information may be sent as appendices. While there are no application forms, the program expects all proposals to contain the following information:

• Executive summary: a maximum 1-2 page summary on the project and desired outcomes.
• Information about the applicant organization(s): brief history of the organization, its major achievements and the kinds of projects it has implemented to date. This section should provide the program with an understanding the organization’s mission and broad strategy.
• Description of the context in which activities will take place: relevant background information, such as the situation in the area where the organization will be working, problems and difficulties, potential opportunities, etc.
• Project goal and rationale: an explanation of not only broad goals, but also very specific benchmarks.
• Description of activities: a detailed outline of activities planned, how and when they will be carried out, and by whom.
• Advocacy and communications strategy: details on who is the audience that will be targeted and how the proposed activities will seek to influence stakeholders to implement the desired reforms.
• Organizational capacity: the names of all persons involved in the project and their responsibilities.
• Partners: a list of all the organizations and institutions with which the applicant organization will be cooperating.
• Expected outcomes/sustainability: please identify the specific expected outcomes of the project you will be implementing. Please include qualitative as well as quantitative indicators that will enable the organization to measure its success. As for sustainability, the program would like to get an understanding of what impact the project hopes to achieve and whether that impact will be sustainable.
• List of current and pending grants: a list of the names of all projects, their duration, grant amounts, and donor organizations.

Budget

Along with the proposal, applicants should submit a budget and a budget justification. The program encourages applicants to use the budget form in the attached Excel sheet, which is comprised of four separate worksheets. The attached Budget Instructions document will assist applicants in completing the budget form.

Please make sure that the budget includes the following information:

• duration of the project;
• legal name of the applicant organization in English;
• full contact information (address, tel/fax, email, website);
• bank information (name, full address, account holder, account number, SWIFT code, correspondent bank information, other information);
• name and position of the person responsible for signing documents on behalf of the organization.

Decision-Making Process

The Human Rights and Governance Grants Program accepts proposals on an ongoing basis. The program does not have specific deadlines for submitting applications; however, applicants should contact the program in order to determine the best time for submission.

While the program does not preset funding ceilings, it expects applicant organizations to demonstrate funding from other donors. Both single- and multi-year proposals are acceptable.

Once a complete application has been received, it typically takes about three months to complete the application review process and deliver the decision. Final grant decisions are made by the OSI Sub-Board for Law and Human Rights.

Grant-Monitoring Process

The grant monitoring process takes place throughout the grant period. It includes periodic reporting by the grantee as well as visits by a program officer to review activities more closely. In certain cases, the program may request an external evaluation or audit of grantee organizations.

View Human Rights and Governance Grants Program contact information.