Deadline: 2 December 2019

The International Trans Fund (ITF) is currently accepting applications for the fourth grant cycle. The ITF was created to mobilize sustainable resources to help build strong, trans-led movements and support collective action, and to address and eliminate funding gaps impacting trans groups across the globe.

The ITF is a participatory grantmaking fund and they take an activist-led approach that engages trans people in the grantmaking process. This means that trans people are actively involved at every stage, from determining funding priorities to reviewing applications and making decisions about which organizations get funded. ITF wants to ensure widespread trans community participation as well as foster trans leadership and collective ownership of funding decisions.

Priorities

The ITF’s priorities in this funding cycle are to:

• Fund a diversity of groups, including different regions, languages, gender identities, strategies and issues.
• Prioritize trans communities facing greater levels of marginalization (e.g. racism, classism, ageism, ableism, misogyny and so on).
• Support trans-led organizations whose work is intersectional and contributes to social justice, movement building, and the liberation of trans people.

Grant Information

Most grants will range between $10,000 and $30,000. Grants up to $50,000 may be considered in special circumstances. ITF does not accept applications for funding of more than $50,000 or less than $5,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• ITF encourages organizations to submit applications from any region in the world and they accept applications for funding in English, French, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Spanish.
• Organizations may only submit one application. If an organization submits more than one application, both may be found to be ineligible.
• To be eligible for funding organizations must meet the following criteria:
  • Be trans-led:
    • Trans people must be in decision-making roles, including setting the organization’s strategic and financial priorities, and make up 75% of the staff, spokespeople, and Board or decision-making body.
    • If this is not the case, organizations must demonstrate how trans people make budget, organizational and strategic decisions.
  • Have an operating budget under $150,000 USD.
  • Be a group of people (i.e. not an individual).
  • Main focus of work is to benefit the trans community.
  • Contribute to movement building, not just providing direct services.

General Tips for Writing a Strong Application

• Make sure your application is complete. Fill in all fields of the application form and include the requested details. Respond with N/A (not applicable) to questions that are not relevant to your organization. Do not leave a question blank. The ITF will not follow-up on incomplete applications and if it is not complete your application may be considered ineligible.
• Be clear and concise. ITF follow a strict page limit as this will help to fairly evaluate applications. Applications must not exceed 8 pages. Font size should be no smaller than 11pt. Please note that to be fair, they will not review materials after 8 pages. Additional materials (reports, strategic plans, etc.) will NOT be reviewed.
• Follow the 3-4-1 formula. Due to the strict page limit, you need to be strategic with how you use your space. ITF suggest that you allocate up to 3 pages to PART 1: Organizational Background, 4 pages to PART 2: Funding Request and 1 page to PART 3: Financial Information. Do not forget to provide referees under PART 4.
• Remember your reviewer. Your application will be reviewed by ITF’s GMP who are trans activists from different parts of the world. This means you should write to your peers, but know they may be peers who know very little about your working context. Trans activists know the importance of your work, just remember to describe its specifics well.
• Make your application stand out. Be clear about what you will do with the funding and make sure you tell ITF what impact it will have on your community and the trans movement. The competition for funding is very high and you need to make a case for why your work is important to trans movement building in your region.
• Be realistic. You are the experts of what needs to be done in your context so tell ITF what your organization wants to do and not what you think they want to hear. The best applications are ambitious but realistic. This also includes the budget – ask for the funding that your organization needs to do the work.
• Check your details. Make sure you check that your contact details, especially your email address, are spelled correctly. If ITF cannot get in touch with you, it will delay the process.
• When you select referees, choose 2 people that know your organization and that will give an honest and thoughtful reference. These cannot be members of your organization but should be colleagues, funders or representatives of civil society. Please do not list ITF GMP or Steering Committee members as referees. Remember to inform your referees about your application and the need to respond to our request.
• The ITF has adopted a simplified budget reporting table within the application form. This has been changed to reflect the ITF’s belief that grantees and the GMP should focus on the work itself versus budget lines. You must fully complete the table.

How to Apply

Interested applicants must download the application form and send it via email at the address given on the website.

For more information, please visit https://www.transfund.org/our-grants/apply-for-a-grant/