Dalan Fund (DF) aims to transform how Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central and North Asia are resourced, fostering resilience and the collective power of intersectional social justice organizers and movements in and for the regions. As an activist-led, multi-regional, and participatory fund, DF was seeded in 2023 in response to multi-layered accumulated crises, acute shifts in the contexts, and threats to the resilience of activists and communities they support in the regions.
For a couple of decades, the Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central and North Asia (CEECCNA) regions have been experiencing rapidly rising authoritarianism, militarization, anti-gender, and anti-democracy movements. Currently, there are ongoing wars, frozen conflicts, unsettled border disputes, authoritarian regimes, and rapid democratic backsliding.
Recognizing social justice movements and activists are at the forefront of driving transformative change across the regions, they need the resources to resist, recover, and sustain their work and create conditions for dreaming, envisioning, and enacting futures beyond crises. The Fund is piloting its first resource distribution cycle to support their crisis preparedness, prevention, response, and recovery work.
ABOUT THE PILOT CYCLE: FIRST CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Our grounding truth is that crises are contextual and situated, and communities with lived experiences and movements at the frontline response are best placed to define them. Dalan Fund offers a transformative approach to crisis work and encompasses deeply rooted and unrecognized forms of oppression such as human rights violations, shrinking civic spaces, anti-gender movements, etc., prevailing across the CEECCNA regions.
Given the complex geopolitical, cultural, economic, racial, ethnic, and historical layers of recurring crises in the CEECCNA regions, the Fund works on the following dimensions:
Recognizing that there are ongoing and emergent crises all across the regions with immediate and long-term needs to address them, we aim to fund ideas, efforts, strategies, and actions proposed by the movements that fit within the four crisis dimensions.
WHAT KIND OF GRANTS DO WE GIVE
Dalan Fund will provide core and flexible grants that can be used to support the organization/group´s ongoing work, general operations and functioning, and priorities to address the impacts of crises and emergencies. Core funding can be used on priorities identified by groups that contribute to their strengthening and sustainability such as paying salaries, rent, organizational activities, etc.
As Dalan Fund´s grants are flexible, grantee partners can adjust them according to emerging priorities within the grant period. We understand that priorities may shift from the moment of sending the application, till resources reach grantee partners, and throughout the implementation period. Therefore, flexible grants enable the allocation of resources as context or priorities change.
The vision and goal for Dalan Fund´s Resource Distribution is to provide multi-year support to our grantee partners. Given that DF is still in the building and expansion period, for the Pilot Cycle in 2024, one-off grants will be given of between (1) USD 5,000-10,000 for unregistered groups, and (2) USD 7,000-15,000 for registered organizations. We encourage applicants to apply for any amount that falls within this range.
Overall, we anticipate funding approximately 30 groups/organizations. The duration of the grant cycle is one year. The exact number of grants will depend on the actual grant sizes as determined by our Participatory Decision-Making Committee (PDMC), the participatory decision-making body of Dalan Fund´s Resource Distribution practice.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Please note that given limited available resources, priority will be given to groups and organizations that represent historically excluded communities affected by acute, protracted, or the risk of potential crisis. No prior experience of receiving grants is required to be eligible for DF´s funding. Here are the eligibility criteria for the available funding:
- Have at least 60% of the leadership and decision-making body be composed of women, trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people;
- Be led by (1) activists based in the CEECCNA regions (please refer to the list of eligible countries below); (2) migrant and diasporic activists based outside but working for CEECCNA regions;
- Be a registered organization, unregistered group, and/or a network;
- Have a mission focused on supporting and advancing human rights, freedom, and dignity for all, and promoting structural changes for historically excluded communities;
- Have charitable and not-for-profit activities;
- Have an operational budget over the past year under 70,000 USD.
WHAT AND WHO WE DO NOT FUND
- Organizations founded by or structurally dependent on political parties, government agencies, or religious institutions;
- Organizations and businesses whose main aim is to make a profit;
- Academic research;
- Relocation or emergency response grants (Please note that due to the pace of the Pilot Cycle, DF will not be able to move funds for requests that are of high time sensitivity. To learn more about timelines and processes of the cycle, refer to the timeline provided below);
- Requests from individuals;
- Organizations affiliated with political parties, government agencies, military, paramilitary, or religious institutions.
WHO WE FUND
The fund intends to support intersectional social justice movements led by historically and currently excluded communities. In particular, the grants are designed to support organizations, collectives, networks, and initiatives that work at the intersection of two or more different movements, issues, and strategies that are critical in their contexts.
- Feminist, women’s rights, and gender justice
- LGBTQIA+ rights
- Disability rights and justice
- Ethnic and racial justice
- Romani rights
- Digital rights
- Decolonization
- Peacebuilding and demilitarization
- Economic justice
- Rights of people living with HIV
- Climate and environmental justice
- Collective Care and Healing
- Land rights
- Sex workers rights
- Narrative change and independent media organizing
- Harm reduction movement
- Rights of people who use drugs
- Labor and workers’ rights
- Indigenous peoples rights
- Rights of people living in rural area
- Migrant, refugee, and forcibly displaced people`s rights
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and bodily autonomy
WHERE WE FUND
We support three sub-regions of CEECCNA with 16 countries outlined below:
In the Russian Federation, we aim to fund organizing within and by indigenous peoples’ movements from the North Caucasus and North Asia and to support anti-authoritarian, environmental, health, gender, and other intersectional social justice struggles led by groups and collectives not only officially recognized as indigenous, but also as ethnic communities within and beyond national republics.
* Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central and North Asia have often been grouped as one region by Western and Northern geo-political, development, and philanthropic measures. They are, however, quite distinct, separate, very diverse regions with their own cultural, political, geographical, and historical identities. We consider these territories distinct regions for this fund’s work and attempt to deconstruct assumptions and artificial grouping and support self-determination and reclaiming identities.
OUR DECISION-MAKING MODEL
As an activist-led multi-regional fund, Dalan Fund is committed to democratizing resource distribution practices and putting analysis of regional intersectional grassroots activists and organizers at the center of the decision-making on where funding goes.
The Participatory Decision-Making Committee (PDMC) plays a key role in co-designing the Dalan Fund´s resource distribution mechanisms and holds decision-making power in selecting the Fund´s grantee partners. Composed of 15 members, the committee connects and weaves local expertise and analysis, guiding the sub-regional funding priorities and the Fund´s Resource Distribution practice. To ensure that the power of decision-making is shared among representatives of movements and geographies that Dalan Fund works with and for, the role is rotational.
As Dalan Fund is committed to fostering resilience and the collective power of intersectional social justice organizers, activists, and movements in and for the CEECCNA regions, the PDMC is composed of activists both based in CEECCNA regions, as well as migrant and diasporic organizers. They bring knowledge, experience, networks, and political guidance from feminist and gender justice movements to climate, racial, and disability rights justice organizing.
Learn more about our sub-regional advisors here.
PROCESS OVERVIEW
How to apply?
To apply, please fill out our online form in English or Russian. Please note that due to security reasons, we accept proposals only through the online application form. All the submitted data is safely stored on Dalan Fund´s secure data storage platforms, and only relevant staff members of Dalan Fund and our fiscal host have access to it.
Before submitting, we highly suggest to:
- Carefully read the application form and attached documents to ensure that you are eligible to apply;
- Submit the proposal via Typeform (our online application submission system): in ENG or in RUby 10 pm Bishkek time/ 8 pm Yerevan time / 7 pm Kyiv time / 6 pm CET on August 8th, 2024;
- If you would like to prepare the application offline, you can access the whole narrative and budget proposal forms here. However, you must submit your final application through the online system, so if you decide to work in an offline form first, you can copy-paste your answers to the online form.
If you have questions or comments regarding the application process, please reach out to info@dalan.fund
Application form overview
The application form consists of six sections outlined below:
- Contact Information of two members of the applicant organization/group, and social media links. Please make sure you do provide contact information, we will use them both in communications throughout the selection and grant cycle processes;
- Organizational Information that outlines questions related to the registration status, geographic scope, leadership composition, and decision-making within collective, and operational budget;
- Organizational Goals, Strategies, and Tactics that explore the organization/group´s mission, focus areas, approaches, and communities served;
- Crisis Work led by the organization/group, the context in which the crises are unfolding, and strategies and tactics used to prevent, prepare, respond to, and recover from the crises;
- Reference information from organizations you have worked with and know you well. Please inform your references about mentioning them in the application before you apply so that they are informed about the due diligence process if your application is selected for funding.
Please make sure you answer all questions given in the application form. Incomplete and late applications will not be considered.
Timelines
The timeline outlined here offers an overview of the process from submission of application to selection:
July 8th – August 8th 2024
The call for applications is open in English and Russian.
August 2024
Dalan Fund staff screens applications against the criteria and prepares sub-regional application buckets for the collective decision-making process.
September 2024
The Participatory Decision-making Committee reviews applications and makes decisions sub-regionally.
October 2024
- A due diligence process is conducted for the selected applicants;
- After a successful reference check, selected applicants will be requested to submit relevant documentation and grant agreements will be signed;
- All applicants are informed about the status of their proposals.
November 2024
Funds will be transferred to the grantee partners.
December 2024
The duration of the grant cycle is December 2024-December 2025.
Reporting Requirements
Selected grantee partners will need to sign a grant agreement with the submitted application and estimated financial proposal as annexes. As part of the reporting, grantee partners will be requested to send progress and final reports and a financial report:
CONTACTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Throughout July 2024, the Dalan Fund team will provide a few virtual spaces in English and Russian for direct interaction with potential grantee partners to answer all pending questions and offer space for sharing and learning from each other. To stay in tune with the unfolding opportunities and relevant information, make sure you:
- Follow Dalan Fund on Instagram and connect to Instagram live on July 15 (in English) and July 17 (in Russian) at 4 pm CET / 5 pm Kyiv time / 6 pm Yerevan / 8 pm Bishkek time, where we will provide answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding Call for Applications;
- Register for our Zoom session in English and Russian on July 24 at 4 pm CET / 5 pm Kyiv time / 6 pm Yerevan / 8 pm Bishkek and ask us any pending questions you may have.
- Sign up for Dalan Fund´s newsletter to get updates about the Pilot Cycle, as well as about other opportunities and resources provided and curated by DF;
Furthermore, if you have any questions concerning the Pilot Cycle process and timelines, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at info@dalan.fund.
