Deadline: 6 December 2013
Open to: civil society organizations governed, directed, and led by women with a primary focus on advancing women’s equality and human rights. Applying organizations should have a demonstrated track record and community support
Grant: CAD $10,000 – $20,000
Description
The MATCH International Women’s Fund is Canada’s only social innovation fund for women. MATCH is unique in that they bridge feminist grassroots human rights movements and the world of social innovation. They believe women are at the forefront of innovating social change globally. They fund women’s rights organizations around the world to make lasting changes in the lives of women and girls.
MATCH operates on the basic principle that women’s ideas and participation are crucial to successful development – a principle that has been honored by MATCH since its inception in 1976. For them, equal participation means ensuring that more money and resources reach the hands of women working for change in their communities.
What MATCH International does:
- Provide direct funding and support for women’s rights organizations.
- Provide scale-up funding for women social innovators.
- Generate and leverage opportunity to accelerate and scale social innovations that promote equality and human rights.
- Identify and promote the value of social innovation from a gendered perspective.
- Convene and collaborate to advance systems change.
Eligibility
Both grant streams described below require that organizations meet these three essential criteria:
- Are governed, directed, and led by women.
- The primary focus is advancing women’s equality and human rights.
- Have a demonstrated track record and community support.
In addition, they look forward to working with women’s rights organizations that:
- Are women-led, working at the grassroots level to support women and girls.
- Do not have access to funds from larger donor agencies.
- Are based and working in the Global South.
- Are working on issues that are difficult or controversial for women to raise in their communities, yet are critical to the realization of women’s human rights.
- Are organized and led by women from particularly marginalized populations, including but not limited to: refugees, rural women, economically disadvantaged women, women with disabilities, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQI) populations, sex workers, women affected by military occupation, women in conflict and post-conflict regions, girls and young women, and women from ethnic, religious, and cultural minorities.
- Actively include the perspectives of those served by or benefiting from the group’s activities.
Please note that the MATCH International Women’s Fund does NOT fund the following:
- Individuals
- Scholarships
- Government entities
- Groups without a strong women’s rights focus
- Groups whose sole purpose is to generate income or to provide charity to individuals
- Groups headed and managed by men, without women in the majority of leadership positions
- Political parties or election campaigns
Grant
The minimum grant amount will be $10,000 and will not exceed $20,000 CAD. Recognizing that social innovation is not a linear process the MATCH International Women’s Fund welcomes proposals that fall under the following streams:
Stream 1: Holding Ground: The Holding Ground funding stream supports organizations that are contributing to the sustainability of women’s rights, women’s justice and equality. These will be organizations that face financial or political vulnerabilities in delivering programs and are in need of financial and other kinds of support from MATCH.
MATCH International’s ‘Holding Ground’ grants are designed to (1) Provide flexible core support to organizations working to ‘hold the line’ by providing critical services/programs in response to increasingly violent backlash against women’s equality globally; and (2) Support capacity building and/or strengthen organizational sustainability.
Stream 2: Breaking Ground: The Breaking Ground funding stream supports organizations that have proven or promising early stage innovations and that need additional support to create the capacity and conditions to effectively sustain them. MATCH International’s ‘Breaking Ground’ grants are intended to support:
- A tested innovation that is grounded in systems change (i.e. with intent to shift the framing an issue, shift in behavior, shift in engagement, or shift in policy).
- Innovation and/or demand for program expansion.
- Collaboration and partnerships across sectors (e.g. with government and/or private sector partners).
- New infrastructure demands and activities for growth and transition to scale.
- Business planning and capacity building needs.
Application
The deadline for applying is FRIDAY December 6th 2013. In order to streamline the application process, MATCH International is currently accepting proposals online HERE! They strongly recommend that you submit online. You will be able to save your progress as you complete your application and once completed you will be able to review your application before you submit it. To download the required financial forms click HERE.
All applicants will receive a confirmation email indicating that they have received your proposal.
For more information, please email: application@matchinternational.org. Further details are available on the call for applications HERE and the official website HERE.
