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Frequently Asked Questions About the Information Program

What countries or regions does the Information Program support?

The Information Program focuses on projects based in the following regions:

  • Africa
  • Central Asia and Caucasus
  • Central/Eastern Europe
  • Middle East
  • Southeast Asia
  • South-East Europe
  • Western CIS
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Does the Information Program support project staff salaries?

The program generally does not provide core support for an organization's staff costs. But a grant may help to cover staff costs associated with a particular project.

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What is the minimum and maximum budget I can apply for?

Generally speaking, the Information Program rarely gives grants over $200,000, and the most common amount is less than $50,000.

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How do I apply to the Information Program?

As the Information Program rarely issues public calls for proposals, we have a process for receiving unsolicited proposal outlines. More details are provided at
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/information/news/cfp_20070122

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How do I write a proposal? What should I include in my application?

There is no application form to fill out. Proposal outlines should be in English and no more than two pages long. Each proposal outline should include:

  • Name of the project
  • Name of the applicant organization
  • Contact person and full contact information
  • An executive summary of the project (What do you plan to do and how? What is the problem your project seeks to address?)
  • Project objectives (What would the project accomplish?)
  • A draft budget
  • Background information about the organization or individual applying

The proposal outlines should be sent as attachments with any of the following file extensions: .pdf, .doc, .swx, .odt, .rtf

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Is there a particular format that the draft budget or financial report should follow?

There is no compulsory budget format, but we recommend using the financial forms and resources developed by Management Accounting for Non-Profit Organisations (Mango). Their website provides downloadable examples of financial spreadsheets and forms for nonprofit projects and organizations at www.mango.org.uk/guide/resources/financialsystem.aspx.

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How many proposals outlines can my organization submit? Can I apply to more than one OSI program at the same time?

The Information Program does not restrict the number of proposals you can submit. If you are applying to more than one OSI program/initiative, your proposal should clearly indicate which other programs/initiatives you are applying to.

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What if my English isn’t fluent?

Please make every effort to produce a clear and coherent proposal outline. Clarity is more important than flawless grammar.

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How long before I know whether our proposal outline is accepted or declined?

Our program staff will respond to proposals within a month of the closest deadline. For example, if you send your unsolicited proposal outline by the September 30 deadline, you will hear back from the Information Program by October 31.

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Is it OK if I send in a fully developed proposal?

We strongly recommend that you submit just the proposal outline initially. We will let you know whether you should submit a full proposal once the outline has been reviewed.

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Does the Information Program give out scholarships?

No, the Information Program does not provide scholarships. Please refer to OSI’s Scholarship Programs webpage at www.soros.org/initiatives/scholarship for more information on scholarships.

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Does the Information Program award travel grants?

The Information Program does not award individual travel grants. However, the program occasionally awards grants to event organizers who in turn may offer travel grants to interested participants on a competitive basis. The sponsored events are announced on the program's website.

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Where can I find information about the previous grants that the Information Program has given within a specific focus area in the past?

Under the grants section of the focus areas you will find a list of previous grantees and projects that were funded. Due to privacy and data protection policies we are unable to provide a complete list of grantees.

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Can you give grants to organizations based in the United States?

The Information Program can support organizations based in the United States in cases where the beneficiary is outside the United States. We do not support projects where the beneficiary is solely in the United States.

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How do I look for employment opportunities at OSI?

Information on employment opportunities at OSI is available at www.soros.org/about/careers.

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If there is a regional or national OSI organization for the country I'm applying from, should I get in touch with them first?

Yes. We recommend that your first point of contact be the national or regional OSI foundation for your country/region. A list of these foundations can be found at www.soros.org/about/foundations.

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Does the Information Program support multi-year projects?

The Information Program does not have a restriction on the number of years a project can run for.

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Do you give grants to purchase equipment?

The Information Program occasionally supports the purchase of equipment, but only when it is necessary to achieve the goals of a funded project. We do not support the purchase of equipment alone.

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Do you give research grants?

The Information Program does occasionally support research when it directly informs the work of the nonprofit organizations in the Open Society Institute's network.

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What kinds of projects do you usually support?

Funded activities in the past have included information and knowledge capacity-building events, technology and policy analysis, advocacy campaigns, and innovative projects that test new ground or demonstrate new models.

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Where can I find additional information about the Information Program's priorities in assessing the types of projects to which they will grant? For example, are there particular substantive areas that OSI is interested in funding, e.g. organizations that improve communications in order to alleviate poverty?

The Information Project generally works with other OSI programs or Soros foundations. This means that we work in content areas that are central to OSI: for example, public health, rule of law, and human rights. Please refer to the "issue areas" dropdown box on the homepage of this website.

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How long does it take for OSI to process a new grant?

It takes about 4–6 weeks to process a grant contract.

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How long do grantees have to hold on to their receipts and paperwork related to a grant?

Grantees are required to retain receipts and invoices for all matters pertaining to a grant, and must have these available for inspection or audit by OSI or its designee for five years following the termination date of the grant.

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Does the Information Program require grant reports to be in a certain format?

All final reports should have both a narrative report and a financial report. For examples of formats to use for the financial report please go to www.mango.org.uk/guide/resources/financialsystem.aspx, which has downloadable examples of financial spreadsheets and forms for nonprofit projects and organizations.

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What happens if I do not submit a report in time?

Any likely delays have to be reported to the responsible grant manager in advance. Overdue reports can prevent grantees from receiving any further funding from OSI.

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Can I submit proposals for either the eIFL Consortium or for East-East/South-South Translation Support?

The Information Program does not review proposals sent for the eIFL Consortium or East-East/South-South Translation Support (the Next Page Foundation). More information on funding from the eIFL Consortium can be found on their website www.eifl.net and on translation support from the Next Page Foundation website at www.npage.org.

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