Source: Arnab Chakraborty, from the project “Building Awareness on Civil Resistance & Nonviolent Movements in India & Bangladesh”

ICNC’s Activist Education Grants program supports educational initiatives related to nonviolent civil resistance to achieve human rights, freedom, and justice.

Click here to read about featured projects by our grantees.

ICNC’s Activist Education Grants Program supports educational initiatives related to nonviolent civil resistance. Such initiatives may involve:

• Developing educational resources (such as manuals, online courses, curricula, translations, and articles)
• Convening educational gatherings (such as workshops, seminars, classes, forums, conferences, and exchange programs)
• Developing and sharing knowledge for mass audiences about a wide range of topics related to movement organizing and civil resistance (such as videos, radio shows, websites, or artistic productions).

We do this because we believe that unified, organized people waging nonviolent action are a powerful force to advance rights, freedom, and justice. We also believe that strategy can help movements overcome challenging conditions; that effective nonviolent action involves skills that can be learned; and that increasing education about civil resistance increases people’s chances of success.

Many of the individuals who are organizing movements are engaged at the local community level. However, most people at the grassroots do not have access to traditional philanthropy. Our application process is designed to strengthen these groups’ projects and their grant management skills so that they are able to sustain their activities and funding resources.

We fund projects that spread knowledge on nonviolent civil resistance and that demonstrate potential for long-term sustainability and impact. Many of our past and current grantees have designed and led workshops, written manuals, designed curricula, and translated resources into local languages. Some grantees have engaged in work with broad reach across regions of the world, while others have worked deeply in particular communities.

Our grantees frequently demonstrate creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and the development of new ideas. Their work has demonstrated connection to community and the participation of community members involved in campaigns or movement building. In addition, many of our grantees have a history of collaboration, with other local, regional, national or international groups.

You can see a sample of supported projects here.

***Sorry, we are not currently accepting unsolicited Activist Education Grant proposals.***

Trust in our grantees and knowledge of how they work allows us to offer targeted grants and reduce administrative requirements on grantees. Accordingly, ICNC accepts Activist Education Grants applications from:

• Individuals who are alumni of ICNC’s educational programs, such as our Learning Initiatives Network (LIN) program; the Fletcher Summer Institute (FSI); ICNC Summer Institute; ICNC-Rutgers online course; and ICNC-supported Regional Institutes, academic seminars, and field workshops; or
• Individuals who receive a strong reference and referral from an ICNC staff member, ICNC advisor, or ICNC program alumni.

If you do not meet one of the above criteria, please do not apply for an Activist Education Grant. We are unable to respond to proposals from applicants who do not meet these criteria. Please see our many other opportunities for engagement in the For Activists & Organizers section on our website.

In accordance with ICNC’s mission, applicants must be committed to nonviolent methods in their groups, organizations, campaigns or movements, and their aims must be consistent with the establishment and defense of human rights, democratic self-rule, rule of law, and justice.

ICNC funds grants up to a maximum of $20,000.

Initial grant periods can be for anywhere between 3 months and 1 year, depending on the proposed project. Projects are eligible for renewal for up to three years, in one-year increments, pending approval of a grant application to extend the current project.

• Ensure you are eligible to apply for an ICNC Activist Education Grant by checking our eligibility requirements.
• Projects must focus on education and knowledge sharing about civil resistance, rather than political campaigning or political advocacy for a particular cause. Please note what We Do Not Fund below.
• All proposals must include plans for monitoring of the project implementation and evaluation of the project’s impact.
• Proposals should demonstrate the potential for the project’s long-term sustainability.
• Applicants should show a commitment to inclusiveness and diversity. That commitment can be demonstrated by involvement, promotion, or outreach to participants or constituents from multiple geographic areas, socio-economic backgrounds, tribes, languages, ethnicities, political views, castes, religions or other orientations. Inclusion of those from different genders and identities is strongly encouraged, as is accessibility to participants with disabilities and other hardships.
• ICNC’s Activist Education Grants program will not support general operating expenses (i.e. salaries and overhead) that exceed 30% of the total project budget.

• General operating costs that are not directly linked to the project or initiative that is supported by ICNC’s Activist Education Grant;
• Political parties, voter registration, election monitoring, or litigation;
• Material support for movement or campaign activities such as expenditures for t-shirts or posters advertising a protest or campaign, or expenditures to advertise a specific slogan of the movement;
• Applicants that are not completely committed to nonviolent means of struggle or who engage in nonviolent means of mobilization and resistance to advance agendas that curtail human rights, democratic self-rule, rule of law or justice;
• Emergency assistance for activists, scholars, and human rights defenders. There are other funders who focus on this and some of them can be found on the Emergency Assistance landing page on the International Civil Society Action Network website.

First, ensure you meet our eligibility requirements.

All new project proposals begin with an applicant filling out a Letter of Intent (LOI). If you wish to apply for funding for a new project, please contact smallgrants [at] nonviolent-conflict.org to receive a Letter of Intent form.

Grantees applying to renew an ICNC grant for an existing project are not required to fill out the Letter of Intent form, and may request an ICNC Activist Education Grants application by emailing us directly at: smallgrants [at] nonviolent-conflict.org.

Activist Education Grant proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis by ICNC. Applicants should expect to participate in a phone interview with ICNC staff, followed by possible revisions to their grant application and budget. The processing and review period for each application is 8-10 weeks.

Grantees are required to sign a grant agreement, which outlines the budget and financial requirements, timelines, activities and deliverables, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, and other terms and conditions regarding how funds will be distributed and used. Grantees commit to being available for regular communication with ICNC staff and to share regular updates about the project, including being available for possible site visits by ICNC staff.

All approved grantees will be expected to submit interim and final reports on the progress of grant implementation, project outputs, and preliminary impact. Interim and final report templates will be provided upon project approval.