Funding opportunities
Deadline: May 2018
Global Challenges Research Fund - Education in conflict and protracted crises
Type of projects: further research on the long-term role of education in conflict de-escalation, peacebuilding and post-conflict development and to inform innovations to improve access to quality education for all those affected by conflict and protracted crises
Location: any country or context on the DAC list of ODA recipients affected by conflict or protracted crises
Grant size: £60,000
Closing date: 24 May
DFID UK Aid Match
Type of projects: Disability; Health; Women’s empowerment; Youth/youth employment; Prosperity; Ending modern slavery; Girls’ education; Oceans and plastics
Location: Countries ranked in the bottom 50 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) and in countries assessed as highly or moderately fragile
Eligibility: UK-registered CSOs. Applicants must be able to raise a minimum of £100,000 during a 3 month public appeal
Grant range: DFID will match donations raised by successful applicants up to a maximum of £2m
Closing date: 25 May
Grand Challenges Exploration Brazil
Type of projects: Brazilian-led scientific innovations in antimicrobial resistance
Location: Brazil
Eligiblity: Brazilian organisations only including non-profit organisations, for-profit companies, international organisations, government agencies, and academic institutions
Grant size: up to $100,000
Closing date: 25 May
Grand Challenges India
Type of projects: Indian-led scientific innovations in antimicrobial resistance
Location: India
Eligiblity: India only (Indian academics, research institutions, companies, CSOs etc)
Grant range: up to $100,000 for proof-of-concept over 12-18 months
Closing date: 25 May
The British Academy's sustainable development programme
Type of projects: policy-oriented UK research, aimed at addressing the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and advancing the UK’s aid strategy
Location: research must be primarily relevant to the problems of developing countries
Eligiblity: the main applicant must be based at an eligible UK university or research institute. Co-applicants can be from overseas, and co-applicants from the Global South are encouraged
Grant size: up to £300,000 for up to 27 months
Closing date: 30 May
Convergence Design Funding
Type of projects: designing any blended finance vehicle that aims to attract private capital to global development at scale and addresses a specific development challenge (read this blog for info on one type of blended finance vehicle)
Location: worldwide
Eligiblity: accredited investors or investment advisory organisations
Grant range: up to $200,000 for feasibility study; $750,000 for proof-of-concept applications
Closing date: 31 May
Deadline: June 2018
Visegrad Fund
Type of projects: one of seven focus areas: Culture and Common Identity; Education and Capacity Building; Innovation, R&D, Entrepreneurship; Democratic Values and the Media; Public Policy and Institutional Partnership; Regional Development, Environment and Tourism; Social Development
Location: central and eastern Europe
Eligibility: NGOs, CSOs, private companies, public institutions and education and research centres globally which develop active cooperation with organisations from at least 3 Visegrad countries
Grant size: not stated, however grants can cover up to 100% of project budget with 15% for overheads
Closing date: 1 June
The Waterloo Foundation - tropical rainforests
Type of projects: tropical rainforest conservation, prevention of deforestation
Eligibility: UK-based charities with partnership with smaller local NGOs based in the countries in which they operate
Grant range: £50,000 - £100,000
Closing date: 1 June
USAID Going the last mile for HIV control
Type of projects: accelerating the HIV response to control and sustain reduction in its incidence
Location: Zimbabwe
Eligibility: US and non-US organisations can apply
Grant size: total fund value is $95m
Closing date: 4 June
Newton Fund Institutional Links grant
Type of projects: research collaborations and innovations centred on challenges which have direct relevance to social welfare and economic development of the partner countries
Location: collaborations between the UK and Vietnam, Mexico, Indonesia, Peru, Philippines, and Thailand
Eligibility: each proposal must have one Principal Applicant from the UK, as well as a Principal Applicant from the partner countries listed. Not-for-profit higher education institutions or publicly-funded research organisations can apply
Grant range: £50,000 - £150,000
Closing date: 8 June
Newton Fund Researcher Links workshop grant
Type of projects: international development-relevant research workshops which contribute to capacity building of early career researchers with the potential to contribute to the economic development and social welfare of LMICs
Location: workshops can be proposed between the UK and Brazil, China, India, Jordan, and Peru
Eligibility: not-for-profit higher education institutions or publicly-funded research organisations can apply. not-for-profit CSOs can participate but are usually not eligible to apply for the grants
Grant range: up to £50,000
Closing date: 8 June
UK Aid Direct: Community partnership grants
Type of projects: initiatives that focus on delivering results on a small scale, pilot new or innovative approaches, focus on the most marginalised, and work at the community level
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: small, UK-registered NGOs
Grant size: up to £250,000
Closing date: 13 June
UK Aid Direct: Impact grants
Type of projects: bringing tangible change to the lives of the poorest and most marginalised, on a large scale
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: medium-sized, non-government organisations registered in the UK, one of the lowest 50 countries in the UN HDI or in a country considered to be of high or moderate fragility
Grant range: £250,001 - £4m
Closing date: 13 June
Jo Cox Memorial Grants
Type of projects: women’s social, economic and political empowerment through supporting women-led civil society, and strengthening civil society capacity for early prediction of identity-based violence
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: organisations registered in the UK, one of the lowest 50 countries in the UN HDI, or in a country considered to be of high or moderate fragility.
Grant size: up to £1m
Closing date: 13 June
Comic Relief - Safe, Secure, Settled fund
Type of projects: sport to improve the lives of young people up to the age of 25 without a safe or secure place to live
Location: UK, India, South Africa, Brazil or Kenya
Eligiblity: UK and Southern CSOs can apply
Grant range: £100,000 - £500,000 over 2-4 years
Closing date: 14 June
Brooke Development Fund
Type of projects: supporting people whose livelihoods depend on the labour of horses, donkeys and mules
Location: worldwide
Eligiblity: UK and Southern CSOs can apply
Grant range: £50,000 - £200,000 per year for up to 3 years
Closing date: 15 June
Civitates coalition building fund
Type of projects: fostering strong national coalition-building among CSOs to address the shrinking space for civil society in Europe
Location: EU or EFTA states
Eligibility: a coalition must have at least three partners. The lead must be non-profit or CSO. Cross-country coalitions are not accepted
Grant size: phase 1: €10,000 for coalition building. A maximum of 16 proposals will be selected for a project period of 14 weeks. Grantees will then be invited to submit proposals for phase 2
Closing date: 15 June
Global Innovations for Character Development
Type of projects: scientific innovations to promote character development through research and implementation projects
Location: low and middle income countries globally and through Latin America and the Caribbean
Eligiblity: the lead applicant must be affiliated with an institution based in a low and middle income country
Grant size: up to $234,000 for proof-of-concept awards (10 awards); up to $1 million for scale up awards
Closing date: 15 June
The Toyota Foundation international grant programme
Type of projects: cultivating empathy through learning from our neighbours: practitioners' exchange on common issues in Asia
Location: projects must be conducted in two or more of the target countries: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Mongolia, Japan, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam
Eligibility: a diverse team based in multiple target countries. Team members could include practitioners, researchers, creators, policy makers, journalists and other media representatives
Grant size: up to $89,000 for 2 year projects. Note this donor does not cover any overhead and administrative expenses
Closing date: 15 June
Global Challenges "pump priming" research fund
Type of projects: cancer and global health. The purpose of this call is to provide “pump-priming” funds to generate preliminary data and establish, expand and/or consolidate UK-LMIC partnerships
Location: LMICs
Eligibility: the lead applicant must be based at a UK higher education institution or at an eligible independent research institution. Researchers based in institutions outside the UK are eligible to apply as co-applicants only. At least one LMIC-based scientist must be included as a co-applicant
Grant size: up to £200,000 for up 24 months
Closing date: 20 June
Global Challenges research fund: established researchers fund
Type of projects: cancer and global health. Researchers are invited to apply for funding for fully-developed researcher-led projects and programmes that will help tackle the most important health research questions in cancer in LMICs.
Location: LMICs
Eligibility: this call does not require partnerships with researchers in LMICs. In contrast to the "pump priming" call, this call is targeted at researchers with established research plans and data to support larger, longer-term projects, and established partnerships within the UK or with LMICs
Closing date: 20 June
Ending the pandemic threat: a Grand Challenge for universal influenza vaccine development
Type of projects: identifying novel, transformative concepts that will lead to development of universal influenza vaccines
Location: worldwide
Grant range: $250,000 to $2 million for 2 years. Indirect costs are capped at 15% for NGOs
Closing date: 22 June
National Endowment for Democracy (NED)
Type of projects: promote civic education, strengthen civil society organisations, promote independent media, promote and defend human rights and the rule of law, strengthen democratic ideas and values, strengthen democratic political processes and institutions, strengthen a broad-based market economy
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: UK and Southern CSOs can apply
Grant size: average of $50,000
Closing date: 22 June
Rwanda: Ambassador's small grants programme
Type of projects: improving basic economic or social conditions in the community
Location: Rwanda
Eligibility: Rwandan cooperatives registered with the Rwanda Cooperative Agency
Closing date: 25 June
Unitaid
Type of projects: fighting tuberculosis and its drug-resistant strains
Location: the focus is in low-income countries but proposals that include middle-income countries in scope are eligible
Eligibility: UK and Southern CSOs may apply
Closing date: 29 June
Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund
Type of projects: conservation of plant, animal and fungus species
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: UK and Southern CSOs may apply
Grant range: up to $25,000
Closing date: 30 June
Deadline: July 2018
The Conservation, Food and Health Foundation
Type of projects: conservation, food and health
Location: Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East
Eligibility: UK and Southern CSOs can apply
Grant size: up to $30,000. Average grant size of $20,000
Closing date: 1 July
Fogarty International Centre
Type of projects: stigma reduction interventions leading to better outcomes for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and on the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS
Location: countries defined by The World Bank as low-, lower-middle- or upper-middle-income economies
Eligibility: US or LMIC institutions, higher education institutions and other non-profit organisations. Collaborations between US and LMIC investigators are encouraged
Closing date: 1 July for letter of intent, 1 August for application
The Internet Freedom Fund
Type of projects: technology-centred efforts that aim to strengthen internet freedom and promote human rights by circumventing repressive censorship and surveillance, improving related digital security capabilities, and contributing to the overall health of the internet
Location: LMICs
Average grant size: between $50,000 and $200,000
Closing date: 1 July
The Big Give Christmas Challenge
Type of projects: match funding available for a broad range of international development projects (including projects specifically focused on Ethiopia). Match funding would be used to double public donations to participating charities in the Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign
Grant range: match funding of £1000 - £25,000
Closing date: 6 July
R2HC
Type of projects: improving health outcomes by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions in humanitarian crises
Location: humanitarian settings, or in non-humanitarian settings if findings can be applied to humanitarian settings
Eligibility: UK and Southern organisations can apply
Closing date: 17 July (opens 5 June)
Guernsey Overseas Aid
Type of projects: those which will help to provide the basic needs of the world’s least developed countries or to help the indigenous population to provide those needs
Location: least developed countries as classified by the UN Human Development Index
Eligibility: charities registered with one of the Charity Commissions in the United Kingdom or one of the Crown Dependencies; approved humanitarian agencies (e.g. UNICEF, UNHCR, etc.)
Grant size: up to £40,000
Closing date: 27 July (opens 1 June)
Deadline: August 2018
The Toyota Foundation research grants
Type of projects: seeking new values for society by fundamentally exploring basic ways of thinking and methodologies on what approach we should take to address difficult issues to be faced in the future
Location: worldwide
Grant size: up to 8 million yen for projects lasting up to 2 years beginning April 2019
Closing date: 3 August (opens 4 June)
Unitaid - child health
Type of projects: innovative and sustainable approaches to accelerating access to better tools for integrated management of childhood fever
Location: the focus is in low-income countries but proposals that include middle-income countries in scope are eligible
Closing date: 17 August (it is recommended that an "intention to submit a proposal" form is submitted by June 1st. These are not mandatory, however they allow the secretariat to provide initial feedback)
UN Women: the global award for women's empowerment
Type of projects: women's empowerment
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: civil society, public and private institutions and individual women's empowerment champions
Grant size: $100,000
Closing date: 31 August
Deadline: September 2018
UK Aid Direct Small Charities Challenge Fund
Type of projects: strengthening the capacity of grassroots development organisations working with the poor, vulnerable and most marginalised to carry out work in priority countries and work towards achieving the Global Goals
Location: the lowest 50 countries in the UN Human Development Index
Eligibility: UK-registered CSOs whose annual income is < £250,000
Grant size: £50,000 over maximum two years
Closing date: 27 September (applications can be made on a rolling basis, however the deadline for the third review of proposals is 27 September)
Feminist Review Trust
Type of projects: lesbian and transgender rights; violence against women and girls; disabled women and girls; refugee women and girls
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: UK and international organisations may apply
Grant size: up to £15,000
Closing date: 30 September
Contracting opportunities
Find out more about contracting opportunities and how to apply in our Bidding for a DFID contract guide.
Breaking the Cycle of Hunger and Strengthening Resilience for the Poor in Malawi
The UK will provide up to £50 million (2018-2023) to this new resilience programme in Malawi. The goal of the programme is to strengthen resilience of poor and vulnerable households to shocks and stresses and to reduce annual dependence on humanitarian aid. The programme will support poor and vulnerable households and communities to manage their own risks, to reduce their exposure to shocks through better targeting and delivery of social protection, better land and water management for increased agricultural production, build a strong and sustainable natural resource base and to sustainably strengthen resilient livelihoods.
Better Aid in Conflict (BAC) South Sudan
The Better Aid in Conflict programme will support the international aid effort in South Sudan to be "conflict sensitive", minimizing the negative effects and maximizing the positive effects of all forms of aid, so as to contribute towards peace and stability whenever possible. The UK will provide funds towards the establishment of a multi-donor Better Aid in Conflict programme in South Sudan from 2018-2023.
Delivering sustainable and equitable increases in family planning in Kenya
The programme is expected to ensure that women and couples in Kenya can plan their pregnancies and improve their sexual and reproductive health, with a particular focus on adolescents, the poor and the most marginalized, including promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities.
Delivering Accelerated Family Planning in Pakistan Behaviour Change and Public Sector Service Delivery
There are high levels of unintended pregnancies, induced abortions and maternal deaths in Pakistan. This tender is for the behaviour change and support to public sector service delivery components. The impact of the programme will be 2,405 fewer maternal deaths, 3.5 million fewer unintended pregnancies and 1.64 million fewer unsafe abortions. The outcome of the programme will be more women able to safely plan their pregnancies and improve their sexual and reproductive health.
Ongoing grant opportunities
AngloAmerican Group Foundation
Type of projects: environment, education and training; community development; HIV/AIDS and welfare
Countries: UK, Chile, Peru, India, Mozambique, Brazil, Colombia, China, Mongolia, Zimbabwe
Grant range: unspecified
Charles Hayward Foundation
Type of projects: clean water and sanitation; basic health programmes; self-sustainability through training in farming skills and income generation activities
Countries: Commonwealth countries of Africa
Grant range: up to £15,000
Charles Steward Mott Foundation
Type of projects: strengthening philanthropy and the nonprofit sector as vital vehicles for increasing civic engagement and improving communities and societies
Countries: South Africa
Grant range: $15,000 to $250,000
Dubai Cares
Type of projects: school infrastructure; school health; nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools; quality of education
Countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jordan , Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia
Grant range: unspecified
Overhead recovery: this donor limits overhead recovery to no more than 7% of donations
Elton John AIDS Foundation
Type of projects: Projects providing tangible impacts on individuals living with and communities affected by HIV Aids
Location: Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Myanmar (Burma), Nigeria, Russian Federation, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Eligibility: UK and Southern CSOs can apply
Grant range: £10,000 - £15,000
Ford Foundation
Type of projects: educational opportunity and scholarship; sustainable development; freedom of expression; gender; sexuality and reproductive justice; human rights; economic fairness
Countries: worldwide
Grant range: unspecified
Ford Foundation's JustFilms Grant
Type of projects: artist-driven film and new media projects, and other forms of creative visual storytelling, that explore the rich diversity of the human experience. These stories inspire imaginations, disrupt stereotypes, and help transform attitudes that perpetuate injustice.
Location: worldwide
Grant range: unspecified
Global Fund for Children
Type of projects: innovative, locally-led projects where all children and young people enjoy equal resources and opportunities in society and can live to their full potential
Location: worldwide
Eligibility: legally registered as a local organisation in the country where you operate with youth or child-focused programmes. Most new partners have budgets under $100,000
Jana Robeyst small conservation grants
Type of projects: the study and protection of endangered species with a specific focus on elephants
Location: sub-Saharan Africa
Eligibility: early career scientists, conservationists and non-profit organisations based anywhere in the world
Grant size: €1500
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)
Type of projects: those which enhance livelihoods by addressing challenges in areas such as education, energy poverty, food security, public health, water supply and sanitation, which may not be directly funded through other financing windows. Projects supported include technical assistance for small-scale social schemes, research, and humanitarian aid. In addition, OFID runs special programs for health, Palestine and energy poverty
Location: priority is given to low-income, least-developed countries
Eligibility: intergovernmental organisations such as UN agencies and international, national, regional and non-governmental organisations. Individuals, private entities and OFID Member States -Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela - are not eligible to apply for assistance.
Grant size: unspecified. In 2016, OFID funded to US$11.7m over 42 projects. Half of all its commitments went to African countries in 2016
Open Society Initiative for East Africa
Type of projects: health and rights; freedom of expression and information; justice and human rights
Countries: East African countries
Grant range: $10,000 to $200,000
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Type of projects: health, education, women's rights, children's rights and political representation, focusing mainly on the poorest Indian states and give priority to particularly vulnerable groups within Indian society
Location: India
Eligibility: Applicants must be local Indian registered organisations and not the Indian branch of a UK INGO. Annual budgets of around £2m annual spend
Grant size: There is no minimum or maximum grant size. The funder does not usually fund 100% of the amount requested and prefers to fund projects which have multiple donors.
Pollination Project and Levi Strauss Company
Type of projects: grassroots environmental projects; conserving, protecting, restoring and/or advocating for the ecosystems upon which our civilisation depends
Countries: worldwide
Grant range: $1,000 to $5,000
Saga Charitable Trust
Type of projects: education, training, healthcare and income generation
Location: developing countries that host Saga holidaymakers
Grant range: up to £20,000
UBS Optimus Foundation
Type of projects: child health, education, child protection and/or early child development
Location: Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, South Africa, Bangladesh, China (including Hong Kong), India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom
Vitamin Angels
Type of projects: Vitamin Angels gives grants of selected micronutrient commodities, especially vitamin A, to non-profit organizations working with underserved populations globally
Grant range: gift-in-kind
