Applications are open to all types of CIVICUS members – organisations and individuals with voting or associate membership status – which meet the following criteria.
Flexible Funding
A central tenet of membership in the CIVICUS alliance is belonging to a global movement that stands in solidarity. In this spirit, the alliance launched the CIVICUS Solidarity Fund (CSF), a member-led and member-resourced granting mechanism.
Who can access the fund? The fund is accessible to CIVICUS members that normally struggle to access resources and support due to restrictions in the space where they operate, their organising characteristics (unregistered, recently established organisations, etc) or simply who they are and what they challenge: small CSOs (formal and non-formal), individual activists, movements – particularly from historically oppressed and marginalised groups – and early-stage social advocates and social entrepreneurs that are contributing to transformational impact in the communities served.
The objectives of the CIVICUS Solidarity Fund are to:
Enhance solidarity within the alliance, fostering a sense of belonging to a global movement for change;
Support civil society diversity and resilience, especially among smaller, non-formal actors;
Create opportunities where they do not exist for change-seeking actors to contribute to a more just, inclusive and sustainable world
You must be a CIVICUS voting member or associate member. To become a CIVICUS member, follow this link. To verify your membership status please send an email to .
You belong to one of this groups: women, youth, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+, Labour rights groups, indigenous and traditional peoples, and rural communities.
You belong to the same group or community whose issues you are trying to address. For organisations, this implies that you are constituency-led. For example, an organisation working to increase youth participation in civil society is constituent-led if its leaders and members are young people.
You find it hard to access funds because of government bans, bureaucracy/donor requirements and are seriously risking having to stop your activities for lacking resources.
You haven’t been awarded the CIVICUS Solidarity Fund before.
The activities associated with the grant can be completed within 12 months.
Funding requests of between US$1.000 and US$10.000.
For individual applicants: You must belong to a movement/collective which will ultimately and clearly benefit from the grant assigned to the individual and the activities they will plan with these resources.
Please note: Priority will be given to applicants from countries rated “closed”, “repressed” or “obstructed” in the CIVICUS Monitor.
What CIVICUS Fund
Your application and/or proposed initiative strengthens your community and/or the work that you do, making the world a better place for everyone. If you are requesting core funding, the mission of your organisation or yourself should be aligned with the above.
Costs of legal action, media coverage, travel/participation support to mission-aligned events and enhancing safety/wellness of activists and their communities are admissible.
The CSF will also accept proposals for core or unrestricted funding. This includes funding to sustain the daily activities of your individual advocacy work or your organisation’s work. This can include salary for personnel, office rent, etc.
You are trying to address a specific problem or need for a particular community. You are aiming to accomplish innovative ideas also geared at assisting or enhancing the needs of a targeted community.
What and Who CIVICUS do not Fund:
Applying for core funding as a way to build reserves for your organisation. We understand that during disruptive moments like what we are currently experiencing, the need to start building “reserves” to prepare for the future are a priority for many groups, organisations and activists, however we unfortunately cannot fund this during this round of applications.
Non-constituent-led: groups or organizations whose governance and team composition does not reflect the same target population(s) it seeks to serve or represent.
Individuals that don’t identify with/belong to at least one of the eligible communities/groups for this call.
Commercial (for-profit) enterprises or activities.
Organisations or individuals that are not from the eligible countries.
Funding to implement activities related to basic service provision*.
For more details visit https://www.civicus.org/index.php/what-we-do/defend/solidarity-fund