- Call for Concept Notes - Asanka Creative Initiatives Fund
Frequently Asked Questions
About us ISDAO
ISDAO is a West African activist-led fund for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people. It 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
- Build and strengthen ideologically-based movements, based on recognition of unequal power relations.
- Autonomy, inclusion, diversity and intersectionality, enabling self-determination at all levels.
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.
For the Asanka Creative Initiatives Fund, this support is intended for individual LGBTQI activists.
Asanka funding may be used to support creative initiatives that go beyond traditional forms of activism. This includes, but is not limited to, all creative initiatives undertaken by individual LGBTQI activists to support LGBTQI activism in at least one of the ISDAO’s focus countries. Examples include producing a short documentary, publishing a book or comic book, creating a web radio show, or carrying out a photography project, etc.
Who we fund
ISDAO's Asanka Creative Initiatives Fund grants will be awarded to:
- Individual LGBTQI activists based in one of the ISDAO focus countries or originating from one of the ISDAO focus countries, whose work is rooted in and connected to the local movement in the region or in one of the ISDAO focus countries. The projects they propose must also involve collaboration with local partners.
Please note that :
- For this fund, only initiatives proposed by individual LGBTQI activists will be accepted.
- Concept notes submitted by groups or organizations are not eligible for funding.
Individual LGBTQI activists are people who identify as members of the LGBTQI community and are recognized as such by their peers.
ISDAO's funding comes from several institutional funders.
ISDAO works to make resources available to LGBTQI organizations across West Africa, with a particular focus in our early years of grantmaking on the nine countries that participated in the community consultations and mapping research that informed the fund's creation in its early years (2014-2016). These countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
If your grant application is approved by Asanka’s activist grant-making panel, you should designate a fiscal host organization to receive and administratively manage the grant.
Identifying and working with a fiscal host is a strategy commonly used by groups or organizations that are not legally registered—or cannot legally register—in their own country, or that have more limited capacity and experience in grant management. A fiscal host (or fiscal sponsor) is a legally registered organization that can support registered or unregistered organizations, and/or organizations with limited capacity in financial management and grant management, by hosting a grant on behalf of the organization or organizations and providing technical support and advice to the hosted organization. The relationship must be governed by a collaboration agreement or contract between the two entities, which defines the roles and responsibilities of both entities and outlines how the relationship will function.
In some cases, a fiscal host may also provide guidance and capacity-building in financial management to assist groups or organizations in this area. The fiscal host must be legally registered in its country. There are many ways to approach the role of fiscal host. If you have further questions about fiscal hosting or the ISDAO’s requirements regarding organizations with fiscal hosts, please email asanka@isdao.org
YES, you can submit a grant application. However, please make sure that the creative initiative you wish to submit does not fall within your organization’s areas of focus and is not intended to be implemented by your organization.
No, ISDAO only funds individual activists—those who identify as members of the LGBTQI community and are recognized as such by their peers. This aligns with our vision and our political and strategic commitment to strengthening the leadership, vision, and capacities of community members.
Our grants go to groups and networks led by LGBTQI people who are committed to defending their rights. This includes groups, organizations, and networks of sex workers and people who use drugs that are led by and focused on LGBTQI sex workers and LGBTQI people who use drugs. For this call for concept notes, groups, organizations and networks of sex workers and people who use drugs that are not focused primarily on the LGBTQI SW and/or PWUD communities are not eligible.
For the regional and annual call for proposals, ISDAO does not prescribe priority areas for grant recipient organizations.
However, for the Asanka Fund, ISDAO is particularly keen to support creative initiatives beyond traditional forms of activism. Examples include producing a mini documentary, editing a book, creating a comic strip, launching a web radio, or developing a photography project, among others.
To this end, ISDAO encourages individual activist applicants to develop creative programs and activities that are aligned with these goals and address the needs of community members in their immediate surroundings, while promoting the well-being and organization/movement of community members.
ISDAO will give priority to individual activists who identify as members of the LGBTQI community and are recognized as such by their peers:
- Have little or no access to funding from major donors.
- Are working on emerging issues that have previously been underfunded.
- Are in rural, remote, and/or underserved areas.
- SPECIFICALLY, AND PRIMARILY use innovative and creative strategies to promote their activism and advocacy (including art, music, culture, poetry, film, etc.)
Individual activists, particularly those from francophone countries, from LBQ communities, as well as trans* and intersex individuals, are strongly encouraged to apply.
No. For this Asanka fund, only concept notes from individual LGBTQI activists are accepted. We encourage LGBQTI-led groups, organizations, and consortia to submit a proposal during our regional call for proposals, launched in October each year.
The Asanka Fund is not specifically designated as core funding. However, when ISDAO opens its annual call for proposals, core support funding is eligible, and you may apply for it.
No, at ISDAO all open calls for grants encourage the submission of concept notes or proposals developing innovative and creative initiatives that support advocacy, community mobilization, movement building, etc. However, this pilot fund particularly encourages creative initiatives that are other than traditional forms of activism. However, this pilot fund particularly encourages creative initiatives that are other than traditional forms of activism.
ISDAO grants under the ASANKA Fund provide up to $7,500 for a one-year period, depending on the proposed creative project. Please note that the final grant amount awarded may differ from the amount initially requested.
ISDAO does not currently provide emergency funds outside its annual grant-making system (national and regional grants). Currently, for our annual regional cycle, we provide additional resources to all our grantees ONLY for safety, security and emergencies through our RESPOND Fund initiative. We encourage you to contact the donors who all provide emergency support, including Frontline Defenders, Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights-Africa, and Freedom House (Dignity for All program).
No, we accept only one concept note per individual LGBTQI activist.
Application process
We are currently accepting concept notes in French and English. The call for concept notes is open from May 11 to June 1, 2026. Any applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered for submission to the Asanka Fund’s decision-making panel.
Download the form, available in French and English, from isdao.org, and then email the completed form to asanka@isdao.org by the deadline indicated.
Please make sure your application is complete and that all questions have been answered. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete before submitting it.
After the deadline, ISDAO is unable to consider applications that are incomplete or missing certain information, and we cannot accept any additional information or revisions after the deadline.
We cannot accept proposals/concept notes received after the deadline, and neither can we honor requests for deadline extensions.
You should receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 72 hours of the date of submission of the concept note. If you do not receive this acknowledgement, we have not received your e-mail. You will be informed of the final selection by email.
Once your application has been approved by the committee, the grant approval process will take 4 to 6 weeks from the date you receive notification.
Yes, ISDAO aims to be as flexible as possible. Therefore, if an activity no longer meets the objective for which you had planned it, it is possible to make adjustments after receiving your pre-approval notification. As each situation varies, you should contact ISDAO to discuss changes and modifications.
Let us know immediately upon receipt of your pre-approval letter and we will discuss your new project/initiative before finalizing your grant agreement.
