How to apply for Commonwealth Foundation’s Civil Society Responsive Grants…

If your organization is planning a regional or international workshop or an exchange visit to another NGO or project, but you are in need of grant support, then one of the best possible options is applying for the Commonwealth Foundation’s Civil Society Responsive Grants.

The Commonwealth Foundation is an inter-governmental organization supported by Commonwealth governments to provide support towards strengthening of civil society for sustainable development, democracy and intercultural learning within the commonwealth countries. It has grantmaking programmes for NGOs specifically for supporting activities that involve intercultural exchange: such as short training courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, cultural festivals, exchanges and study visits in other Commonwealth countries. The Civil Society Responsive Grant programme of the Foundation is specifically for NGOs in Commonwealth developing countries. To get the list of Commonwealth countries, which are members of the Foundation, click here.

If your organization is planning to organize a regional or international workshop or conference, you can request support from the Commonwealth Foundation to sponsor participants. But remember that the support will be only for participants from Commonwealth developing countries.

Similarly, with the grant support, you can network with another NGO in another country by arranging a cross-country visit. Your organizational staff or community members can go on a visit to another NGO in another country to see its projects and also invite its staff/community to your own country. The Foundation will provide the grant to support the full visit, including air travel and accommodation for the staff. However, such kind of support for this cross-country visit is preferable only between Commonwealth developing countries only. For an organization seeking an exchange visit with a developed country, a strong case has to be made giving details of the benefits to be achieved for members in the developing country.

The Foundation prefers to fund exchange visits within a region rather than the international ones.

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