2024/2025 Commonwealth Foundation Grants Programme for Civil Society Organizations (£30,000 in Grants Per Year)

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About Commonwealth Foundation Grants Programme for Civil Society Organizations

The Commonwealth Foundation grants of up to £30,000 for projects lasting up to two years to civil society organisations in the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Foundation support projects that seek to facilitate constructive engagement between civil society and decision-makers, including civil society participation in policy development and implementation. 

• Sponsor Organisation: The Commonwealth Foundation

Benefits of Commonwealth Foundation Grants Programme for Civil Society Organizations

• Grants of up to £30,000

Commonwealth Foundation Grants Programme for Civil Society Organizations Requirements

• Only applications meeting the eligibility criteria will be considered.
• The applicant must be a not-for-profit civil society organisation (CSO) registered in an eligible Commonwealth Foundation Member State.
• The applicant organisation must have a minimum of three years’ demonstrable experience working on participatory governance and advocacy within the area/theme(s) of the proposed project. Organisations that have been registered and operating for less than three years are not eligible.
• Applicant organisations that are currently implementing, or that have recently completed, a Commonwealth Foundation Grant but have not received their final payment, are not eligible to apply to this grant call.
• The project must seek to facilitate change through constructive engagement between civil society and decision-makers, including civil society participation in policy development and decision-making, within one or more of the Foundation’s priority themes (see above).
• Proposals must relate to projects that are expected to begin after the 1 August 2025 and before the end of September 2025.

To check your eligibility, please refer to the eligible countries map and complete the eligibility quiz. Visit the website to access this.

Application Date and Process

1. Check your eligibility

Before you apply, please ensure you have completed the the eligiblity quizand check your country is eligible in the dropdown menu on the eligible countries map.

Only applications that meet our eligibility criteria can be considered.

2. Register with SurveyMonkey

Survey Monkey Apply are the providers of the online platform we are using for grant applications. We will only consider completed applications that have been submitted using the online application system.

Before applying, you need to set up a SurveyMonkey Apply account. To set up your account, click ‘register’ on the website here.

3. Complete the online application form

To apply, you will first need to log in to your SurveyMonkey Apply account and complete and submit an online application form on the website here.

The application and supporting documents cannot be emailed to the Foundation.

Applications open at 1pm BST on 17 September 2024 and close at 1pm BST on 24 October 2024.

4. Provide the required additional documentation

All applicants must submit a completed online application form. All applications must include the following additional documentation:

Please note: incomplete applications willnot be considered.

1. A logic model (using the template provided here).
2. A copy of the organisation’s registration certificate. This should be a clear scan of an official registration document provided by the relevant authorities in the country where the applicant organisation is registered. If the registration certificate does not clearly state that the organisation is not-for-profit, please add other documentation which can be used as evidence of your organisation’s not-for-profit status (for example, articles of association). When the original registration certificates are not in English, shortlisted applications can be expected to be asked to provide a certified translation.
3. If your organisation is based in India, you should be compliant with the Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) or have preparations in place to obtain a valid FCRA registration certificate to legally receive charitable funding from outside sources.
4. For grants of £15,000 per year: The applicant organisation may choose to submit either the latest audited accounts or a copy of the organisation’s most recent annual accounts. Annual accounts must include a balance sheet, a profit and loss statement and notes about the account. They must be signed off by the organisation’s Board or its principal executive officer. Audited accounts or annual accounts must not be older than December 2022.
5. For grants exceeding £15,000 per year: a copy of the organisation’s most recent audited accounts is required. Note that audited accounts must include both the accounts and the opinion of the external auditor who has certified them. They must be signed off by the auditor and the organisation’s Board or its principal executive officer. They should not be older than December 2022.

6. Check you have successfully submitted your application

Filling in the application form does not automatically submit it. Please make sure that after you fill in the application form you go back to the main application screen and click on the submit button to submit your application.

You will receive an email from [email protected], the email address from SurveyMonkey Apply, acknowledging receipt of your application soon after it is submitted. If you do not receive this acknowledgement email one of three things may have happened:

Please check out all these options and if you are still experiencing problems contact the grants team at [email protected]

• Your application was not successfully submitted
• The email was sent to a different email that was provided in the form
• Your email is in your spam inbox

Application Deadline

24 October, 2024

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