Grant Guidelines

National Security and Human Rights

Grantee List

Funding Priorities

The Open Society Institute’s National Security and Human Rights Campaign provides grants to U.S.-based organizations working to promote progressive national security policies that respect human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law. The campaign’s grantmaking supports efforts to advance the following five policy goals:

• End arbitrary detention and the use of secret prisons, restore due process, eliminate the use of torture and extraordinary rendition of terror suspects, and close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
• Reform surveillance laws and policies to restrict warrantless and unchecked surveillance and restore broad privacy protections at the federal, state, and local levels.
• Ensure that anti-terrorism laws and law enforcement activities do not target freedom of speech, association, or religious expression.
• Reduce the practice of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling of Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Middle Eastern (MASA) individuals and communities, and build the capacity of MASA organizations to fight abusive national security policies disproportionately directed at them and promote the acceptance of MASA communities in American society. 
• Decrease government secrecy, restore strong oversight of executive action taken in the name of national security, and expose and hold U.S. government officials and private actors accountable for abuses and violations of the law.

An overarching goal of the campaign is to promote new thinking, engage new voices and constituencies, and strengthen capacity and collaboration within the field of organizations engaged in these issues.

For more information on the National Security and Human Rights Campaign's 2008 activities, please see our December 2008 open letter.

The campaign's grantee list is available for download below.

Eligibility

The National Security and Human Rights Campaign will consider letters of inquiry from 501(c)(3) organizations such as advocacy groups, community groups, and scholarly or research institutions.

The campaign provides funding for projects that address one or more of the above policy goals through at least one of the following strategies:

• Policy advocacy
• Grassroots organizing and field building
• Mobilization of new voices and constituencies
• Scholarship and research
• Communications
• Litigation

The campaign does NOT provide funding for:

• Programs or direct services
• Lobbying activities
• Start-up costs or seed monies
• Annual fundraising drives
• Projects undertaken by individuals
• General support (for first-time grantees)
• Capital costs, including equipment or real estate purchases/renovations

Letters of Inquiry

To be considered for funding, applicants who meet the above criteria should email a complete letter of inquiry to hkwon@sorosny.org.

Letters of inquiry should be 1–3 pages in length (not including project and organizational budgets). Please do not submit supporting materials, such as brochures, press clips, newsletters, or annual reports. Incomplete inquiries and inquiries by telephone, mail, or fax will not be considered.

All letters of inquiry must include:

• Full contact information for the principal project contact, including mailing address, phone, fax, and email address
• Description of the organization that will undertake the proposed project
• Description of the project for which funds are sought, including a specific description of how the project’s goals will be achieved
• Preliminary project budget and amount requested (there is no minimum or maximum request)
• Current organizational budget
• Most recent IRS determination letter

There is no deadline; letters are accepted on a rolling basis.