Recognizing the increasingly urgent need to defend human rights in the Arab region, as well as the challenges of funding such work there, a working group of advocates initiated a multiphase research process to explore possibilities for local human rights funds in the Arab region. This first phase of research aims to identify resource mobilization and participatory grantmaking mechanisms in other regions where communities have successfully organized to support human rights in difficult environments. Furthermore, it aims to provide sufficient context and detail so that researchers in the next phase can engage in thoughtful, informed and open-ended discussions with leaders on the ground. Authors: Mary Fifield and Abigail Sarmac Published: November 2020 Published...

GlobalGiving, as part of its mission to make it easier for funders to identify, support, and strengthen community‑led approaches, engaged the GFCF to understand how to define “community‑led” and to develop internal tools that would help their team identify community‑led grantee organizations. Over 2020, the GFCF, along with field partners in six countries, engaged in participatory research with knowledgeable local community leaders to: Explore what community‑led approaches look like in practice; Gather evidence of such approaches and their long‑term impact; and, Discover how funders’ policies and practices promote or inhibit community‑led approaches. One output of the research is the Community‑Led Assessment Tool, that will help GlobalGiving determine the degree to which...

The goal of this report is to identify and lift up a variety of enabling practices that can be replicated, increased in scale and scope, and adapted. The report: Presents the current landscape of funding for gender equality; Acknowledges common constraints, or stumbling blocks, that often emerge as challenges for bilateral and multilateral funders wishing to directly resource feminist movements; and, Identifies concrete building blocks, or dimensions of funding modalities, that address those constraints. The hope is that this work can provide practical steps for funders to drive more accessible, efficient, and impactful funding to feminist movements and strengthen the capacity of movements and funders to deliver on the shared mission...

This consultation paper is designed to advance a conversation about measurement in civil society. The goal is to identify more meaningful approaches to organizational learning and accountability. Over a two‑year period, 130 people from civil society from all over the world came together in a series of parallel and intersecting conversations, online and in‑person, to co‑create this document. It is now being published to widen those discussions and to advance the co‑creation process still further. To date, these conversations have resulted in increased understanding about the challenges involved in measurement, identification of some promising areas for exploration, guiding principles for any system of measurement, and two recommended action steps (local...

This study aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the characteristics and impact of small grants funds and recent developments in thinking about this kind of funds. In particular, it explores their role in strengthening environmental protection in an effective, participatory and socially just fashion. The purpose of the study is to provide further insight into how small grants funds function and what they can achieve. It seeks to create a starting point for discussion and forward-looking strategizing about the role and value of small grants funds in contributing to environmental protection, women's rights and social justice. This study aims to provide insight and answers in the following three areas: The...

Generosity in the time of Covid-19 is a series of reports from CivSource Africa about giving during the Covid-19 lockdown in Uganda. The reports aim to capture a snapshot in time – a snapshot which CivSource Africa hopes will capture the generous spirit of Ugandans. The reports are not only a curation of stories of giving during lockdown, but also an invitation to have a wider conversation about philanthropy in Uganda. A lot of the giving that occurred during lockdown happened in small communities, among and between neighbours and at the family level, far away from the glare of the media. So this report is but a small glimpse into all...

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ghana are generally fragile and dependent on donor funding mechanisms for survival. Recent studies show that financial sustainability of CSOs is challenging, which has spurred conversations on new alternative funds mobilisation routes, innovative methods and strategies to ensure its sustainability. This scoping report highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with faith-based giving as a domestic resource mobilisation strategy that CSOs could explore in Ghana. Specifically, the report highlights the experiences of funds mobilisation, the strategies, the opportunities and successes and the challenges. Published by: West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) Published: June 2020 Download: 'Exploring faith-based giving as an alternative funding model for civil society organisations in Ghana:...

As the impact of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic grows, local peacebuilders continue working to help communities break through cycles of violent conflict. During the first week of April 2020, Peace Direct and Conducive Space for Peace held a series of consultations asking local peacebuilders how their lives and work have been affected by this unprecedented health emergency, what their communities need, and how they see their role during this time of crisis. These consultations included input from over 400 peacebuilders from more than 60 countries. This report presents key findings and recommendations from those consultations. Published by: Conducive Space for Peace, Humanity United & Peace Direct Published: April 2020 Download: 'COVID-19 and...

The study, produced by the Twerwaneho Listeners' Club (TLC) in Western Uganda, offers a thorough exploration of how giving has evolved in the communities where TLC is active. It delves into various reforms to local giving: some are as a result of changes in the way communities live, while others are a result of structural changes to the government’s service delivery. It concludes that giving has always been an intrinsic part of the ethos of the communities studied - indeed sharing has always been regarded as a necessary aspect of survival - and explores the role of informal education (folklore/story telling and proverbs) in shaping the spirit/culture of giving to...

Systems of community giving and self-help have always existed within different cultures and traditions around the world. But it is only recently that community philanthropy has started to gain visibility as a specific practice that has relevance to the broader field of international development. In this article, we focus on what community philanthropy looks like as development practice, drawing on examples from a global cohort of 16 organisations that identify with the community philanthropy concept. We define community philanthropy as a value-driven development practice that builds assets, capacities, and trust. In particular, it focuses on the role that local resources can play in community development, and how their presence can...

Stopping As Success (a consortium consisting of Peace Direct, CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, and Search for Common Ground, with support and funding from USAID) is a collaborative learning project that aims to study the dynamics at play when ending a development programme, and to provide guidelines on how to ensure locally led development. In doing this, Stopping As Success looks beyond the technical aspects of an exit strategy to identify examples that demonstrate a transition toward locally led development. There are relatively few free, widely available resources about how to access unrestricted funding. Most online sources seem to talk about "what” the funding landscape is and “why” foundations and other funders...