General Support Grants
General Support awards to grantee partners are classified as Innovation, Strengthening, and Sustaining Grants.
Innovation Grants
Women’s movements are stronger when they are diverse and dynamic. Innovation grants fund new/emerging approaches, issues, and voices. With these grants Global Fund aims to raise visibility and leverage resources for women’s movements and to connect emerging groups to a wider network of women’s organizations. They address women’s rights agendas in rural and excluded areas/communities, sustain new approaches, and nurture young feminists involved in building the women’s movement. These grants can also support creative approaches to challenging issues and pilot projects that require some calculated risk.
Strengthening Grants
Women’s movements are stronger when women’s organizations have the capacity and resources to be effective and strategic. Strengthening grants fund infrastructure, enhance grantee’s programmatic impact, and strengthen capacity and connections. These medium-sized grants aim to support the professionalism of women’s groups. Strengthening Grants offer reliable support to groups who have a track record of cumulative change and have infused voices and issues into mainstream agendas.
Sustaining Grants
Women’s movements are most successful when women’s organizations are well networked, led and supported and have the funds to seize opportunities when they arise. Therefore Sustaining Grants are larger, fund strong national, regional, and global women’s rights organizations to build collective power, take coordinated actions, grow feminist leadership, and sustain lasting systemic change for gender equality. Groups identified by Global Fund as strong candidates for Sustaining Grants will be invited to propose an initiative, then partner with Global Fund to set clearly-outlined goals and outcomes, and evaluation processes for the grant sought. This may be for an activity or program that may include convenings, capacity-building, or research. To be eligible, groups must have significant capacity for growth, a longer history with Global Fund, and exemplify movement building in their activities, programs and/or structures. Groups are also required to have a track record for impact on their communities, countries, and/or regions via policy change, advocacy and documentation.
Apply for a General Support Grant
Potential applicants are invited to submit a Common Application to begin their review process with the Global Fund. Applications for Sustaining Grants are by invitation only.
Download Application for a General Support Grant in:
Travel and Event Grants
To help link women's rights groups outside the United States, Global Fund also funds a limited number of small, time-sensitive grants to participants and organizers of conferences that bring together and build the capacity of women's rights activists.
Travel Grants
These are small grants that allow members of an organization to attend conferences and events.
- Your group must meet ALL the basic criteria (listed under "application requirements" of the grant application form) to be eligible for a grant.
- A group may only have one proposal of any type under consideration at a given time.
- Amount granted may be less than the amount requested if and when an award is made.
- Applications for travel and event grants must be received at least 8 weeks before the beginning of the event. Funds for these kinds of grants are limited and priority will be given to former Global Fund for Women grantees that do not have access to other funding sources.
Please note: The Global Fund for Women is currently able to support an extremely limited number of requests in this category of grants due to funding constraints. We encourage you to explore alternative sources of funding to the fullest extent possible. We appreciate your understanding and hope to be able to increase our response to your requests in the months to come.
Organizing Meeting/Event Grants
These are small grants to support organizations planning a time-sensitive conference or event.
- Organizing Meeting/Event requests must be received no later than 8 weeks before the beginning of the event.
- Because our funding for events grants is so limited, priority will be given to former Global Fund for Women grantees that do not have access to other funding sources.
Please note: The Global Fund for Women is currently able to support an extremely limited number of requests in this category of grants due to funding constraints. We encourage you to explore alternative sources of funding to the fullest extent possible. We appreciate your understanding and hope to be able to increase our response to your requests in the months to come.
Grant Criteria and Funding Cycle
Please see the Apply for a Grant page »
Questions about how to apply?
To contact the Program representative in your region, please select your country.
