KIOS – The Finnish NGO Foundation for Human Rights provides grants to civil society organizations for human rights projects in developing countries. This donor agency is open to accepting applications throughout the year, though only one application per organization is allowed. There is an application form through which all grant seekers have to fill and submit for seeking grants.
The application form itself seeks very detailed information about the proposed project. This means that KOIS openly accepts proposals directly instead of a basic Letter of Inquiry. But such proposals overload the donor sometimes because of which it temporarily suspends accepting new applications. In any case, it is a good idea to go through the application process and submit the completed application whenever it is open.
The application form seeks information about the organization and the project (which includes background, beneficiaries, gender, objectives, activities, sustainability, evaluation and the financial assistance requested from KIOS for the project). In addition to the application form, there is also a requirement for references. There is separate form for submitting references. Annexes about the organization profile, legal certificates, budget, byelaws etc can also be submitted.
KOIS has prepared a grant application guide which all applicants can download and read it carefully before apply for a grant. The guide is available at this link.