Context
ISDAO, Initiative Sankofa de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, is a West African activist-led fund for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) people. It is an initiative that aims to strengthen and support a West African movement for gender diversity and sexual rights by adopting a flexible approach to grantmaking and developing a philanthropic culture committed to equality and social justice.
We stand for the following values:
- Equitable representation of the LGBTQI community
- Building and strengthening movements based on ideological principles, based on the recognition of unequal power relations.
Autonomy, inclusion, diversity and intersectionality, enabling self-determination at all levels.
Love Alliance Initiative
The Love Alliance Partnership is a 5-year initiative (2021-2025), aiming to provide country-level grants and strengthen movements in ten (10) countries in West, East, Southern, and North Africa. Its overall aim is to ensure that communities of LGBTQI people, sex workers, and people who use drugs are healthy and empowered, through a more inclusive, people-centered approach to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The initiative focuses on strengthening advocacy and building community-led movements in the 10 target countries, as well as strengthening advocacy at regional, continental, and global levels.
In West Africa, the initiative is being implemented in Burkina Faso and Nigeria with funding and partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is being coordinated by ISDAO. To learn more about the Love Alliance initiative, please click here.
ISDAO is flexible and provides support for communities to work in areas that are rarely funded by donors and that aim to advance and strengthen movements for social change, inclusion, and justice. Areas such as advocacy, core support, movement building, and capacity strengthening have received less attention in the funding priorities of many donors in Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
For this call, we are focused on initiatives that are linked to strategic advocacy and/or movement(s) building. We strongly encourage initiatives that focus on gender justice and transformative approaches, meaningful youth engagement, and participation.
ISDAO provides flexible funding to support the general coordination, operations and strengthening of groups/organizations and the initiatives/projects developed by these groups and organizations. Funding can be used to cover advocacy activities, capacity building, networking events, participation in strategic conferences, emergency funds, programs, basic operational expenses of the organization (running costs), to name but a few.
Eligibility Criteria
ISDAO invites proposals from organizations/groups led by communities of people who use drugs, LGBTQI people and sex workers based in Burkina Faso or Nigeria. Proposals should address community advocacy needs and/or facilitate/support organizational growth and capacity building in areas that will enhance movement coordination.
An organization/group may submit only one application in response to this call. The application must focus on work to be implemented in Burkina Faso or Nigeria. ISDAO welcomes applications from organizations/groups regardless of their registration status. This means that a group or organization does not need to be registered legally as an organization to be eligible for this call.
While we recognize that the provision of sexual and reproductive health services is part of the work of many organizations and groups, please note that this call for proposals, and the Love Alliance have a focus on SRHR advocacy and movement building, not the provision of sexual and reproductive health services (e.g. testing activities, condom distribution, medical care, etc.).
We strongly encourage organizations, groups, coalitions, and/or consortiums to submit applications that contribute to the overall goals of the Love Alliance Initiative. Our grant-making system is flexible, however, we strongly encourage applications that take into account the inclusion of the following groups: youth, women, and others under-represented within the Sex Worker, LGBTQI, and People Who Use Drugs communities.
Please read our frequently asked questions for more information.
Eligibility check
ISDAO's Love Alliance Special Initiative grants are open only to community groups/organizations led by LGBTQI people, people who use drugs and sex workers in Burkina Faso or Nigeria.
All applications received will be checked by ISDAO for completeness and eligibility. Incomplete submissions and/or submissions that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be submitted to the Local Activist Grant Making Panel (LAGMP) - Burkina Faso and Nigeria [1].
Please read the guidelines below carefully before developing your concept note. We invite you to determine if your group/organization is eligible for the ISDAO Love Alliance Initiative grant by answering the preliminary questions below.
- Is your group/organization community-based? Yes/No
- Does your group/organization work in Burkina Faso or Nigeria? Yes/No
- Is your group/organization led by LGBTQI, PWUDs, and/or Sex Workers? Yes/No
- Will your application benefit LGBTQI people, people who use drugs, and/or sex workers? Yes/No
If you answered YES to all the above questions, you are eligible to submit a grant application.
If you answered NO to at least one of the above questions, then you are not eligible for this ISDAO grant.
[1]The Local Activist Grant Making Panel (LAGMP) is made up of volunteer activists from the PWUD, LGBTQI, and Sex Worker communities, who have gone through a selection and induction process. These activists will collectively make decisions on the eligible applications received, following discussion, analysis, and a participatory process based on fairness, equity, and inclusion.
Grant details
Funding Levels
Grants awarded under ISDAO's Love Alliance Initiative fall into three categories:
$10,000 or less per year ⎯ Basic seed support for start-up organizations with between 0 and 2 years of existence or for informal groups, working locally at community level. These organizations are unlikely to have formal systems or structures, and most, if not all, of their work is carried out by volunteers. The annual budget of an organization or group applying for a grant of this size will not exceed USD 100,000. At this level of funding, applicant organizations/groups can apply for up to $10,000 for support of up to 12 months, and up to $20,000 for support of up to 24 months.
$10,001 to $30,000 per year ⎯ Funding to sustain pre-existing work or implement new initiatives undertaken by more formalized groups, active for at least 2 years, operating at local, sub-national, or national levels. These organizations must have established systems and structures, and be consistently staffed by paid employees (part-time or full-time) or volunteers. At this level of funding, applicant groups/organizations can apply for up to$30,000 for support of up to 12 months, and up to $60,000 for support of up to 24 months.
$30,001 to $50,000 per year ⎯ Funding aimed at consolidating or developing the work of formal groups working at sub-national or national levels, with at least 5 years' working experience and with functional organizational systems and structures and full-time staff. At this level of funding, applicant groups/organizations can request up to$50,000 for up to 12 months of support, and up to$100,000 for up to 24 months of support.
Core and Project Funding
ISDAO offers flexible funding and aims to respond to priorities identified within the movement, including core funding needs. Groups and organizations can apply for core and project funding, which they will indicate on their application form. This grant can be used to implement projects and to cover the organization's operational costs. Read the application form for core and project funding below.
Core Funding Only
ISDAO provides funding to strengthen the organizational structures and systems of community-led groups. Groups and organizations can apply for core funding only, and will indicate this on their application. This funding is specifically aimed at organizations already carrying out work related to the focus and goals of the Love Alliance initiative and needing funding to strengthen their organizational capacity generally and advance their work. Read the application form for core funding only below.
For this call, ISDAO accepts grant applications covering a minimum duration of 6 months and a maximum duration of 24 months. It should be noted that the final amount of the grant awarded and the actual duration of the grant may differ from the amount and duration originally requested. This decision is made by the Local Activist Grant Making Panel.
Approach to grantmaking - Participatory grantmaking
ISDAO applies a participatory approach to grantmaking as an organization, and all applications received will be reviewed and approved accordingly. This means that the sex workers, people who use drugs, and LGBTQI people who make up our Local Activist Grant Making Panel (Burkina Faso and Nigeria) are at the center of decision-making for this grant. The role of the Local Activist Grant Making Panel is to ensure that resources are allocated to the most critical and important work based on the needs of the community. This approach enables us to meet the needs of our communities, improve community organization, and bring about real change.
