Funding

By: Juan Ortiz Freuler & Will Orr & Ana Brandusescu
Español

Nonprofits have to balance securing funds and staying true to their mission. How can we foster autonomy among organizations?

By: Juan Ortiz Freuler & Will Orr & Ana Brandusescu
Español

Nonprofits’ autonomy from their funders is particularly important in the digital rights space.

By: Tariro Tandi & Immaculate Mugo
Español | Français

Funders must rethink their principles and practices to ensure that they operate on participation, trust, and mutual understanding instead of power and privilege.

By: Lucas Paulson
Español

The invitation at the heart of "Narrative Spices" isn’t about specific strategies or approaches, but about cultivating habits that enable curiosity, exploration, ...

By: David Mattingly
Español

Here’s what the Fund for Global Human Rights learned from its second COVID-19 impact survey—and how the funding community can better support the crucial work that ...

By: Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky  & Francisco Cantamutto
Español

Human rights have the power and mandate to challenge the orthodox economic policies that the IMF promotes.

By: Matthew Burnett & Connor Smith
Español

Here are several social enterprise models that legal empowerment organizations have experimented with and that align with the values and work of many frontline ...

By: Matthew Burnett & Connor Smith
Español

The Open Society Foundation shares key lessons from its work supporting organizations that are experimenting with earned income models.

By: Katerina Linos & Laura Jakli & Melissa Carlson
Español

While many NGOs emphasize human rights in their appeals to raise money, new research shows that it is much more effective to emphasize basic needs.

By: David Mattingly
Français

Funders should trust and imitate their frontline partners’ ability to assess their communities’ greatest needs and offer the flexibility to pivot amid a crisis.

By: Shawn Shih-hung Shieh
Español | 简体中文

As foreign funding dries up, Chinese CSOs have quickly adapted and reinvented themselves to mobilize local funding.

By: Dimitrina Petrova
Español | Русский

A new initiative in Bulgaria aims to reinvigorate support for democratic values and human rights by directly engaging citizens in a bottom-up process of deliberative ...

By: Alejandro Bautista
Español | Français

If compelling human rights narratives are not grounded in sustainable, replicable and scalable projects, it will be hard to outweigh the political and economic ...

By: Merrill Sovner & Barry Gaberman & William Moody
Español

The project of developing civil society organizations that keep the government in check and nurture democratic practices and values is a multi-generational effort.

By: Alexandre Abdal & Andréa Pineda & Fernando do Amaral Nogueira & Juana Kweitel
Español | Português

The existing rejection and distrust of human rights among high-income Brazilians result mostly from lack of knowledge and reflection, rather than populist or radical ...

By: Tatiana Tolsteneva
Español | Русский

Russia’s non-profit sector has been playing a constant game of catch-up—can new media technologies break this pattern and appeal to younger audiences?

By: Ise Bosch & Claudia Bollwinkel
Español | Deutsch

Philanthropy can repeat oppressive patterns, or it can transform donor-recipient relations by giving decision-making power and trust along with money.

By: Fatima Iakupbaeva
Español | Русский

Shifting to a business mindset is hard for non-profit organizations, but with limited opportunities for funding in Central Asia, it is a change worth making.

By: Gabe Rissman
Español

A sustainable business model could help human rights groups apply shareholder pressure to improve corporate human rights behavior.

By: Rostislav Valvoda

NGOs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have shown resilience under pressure by inventing new ways to generate funds, including hybrid for-profit and non-profit ...

By: Louis Bickford
Español

Hybrid entities that mix for-profit and not-for-profit strategies have the potential to free NGOs from constantly seeking foundation funding.

By: Almut Rochowanski
Русский

Many NGOs in the North Caucasus have survived the panic of Russia’s “foreign agent” law, but not all activists raised in the comfort zone of grant-funded NGOs can ...

By: Tenzin Dolker
Español | Français

Now more than ever, feminist organizations need to deepen the search for autonomous resourcing models that work for our movements, on our own terms.

By: Dustin Sharp
Español | Français

Critics of human rights legalism are right to call for more “pragmatism,” but this must be contextual, looking for advocacy hooks grounded in moral, political, ...

By: Rona Peligal
Español

Grassroots activism through social movements offers the best hope for meaningful change in the fight for equality and dignity, and donors need to build trust and ...

By: Almut Rochowanski
Русский

After years of coverage about how the “foreign agent law” would spell the end of freedom of association in Russia, parallel universes of Russian civil society are ...

By: Gastón Chillier
Español

Shifting to local community funding is possible in Latin America, as a case in Argentina clearly shows. Can more organizations make such similar shifts in a sustainable ...

By: Dimitrina Petrova
Русский

Human rights NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe are facing increased hostility from governments and declining legitimacy in public opinion, while social service ...

By: Ronald R. Krebs & James Ron

A new law in Israel seeks to stigmatize NGOs that receive foreign funding—but evidence suggests that countries should welcome rather than fear the foreign funding ...

By: Rajshri Sen
Español

Getting traction and funding for women’s rights in India can be difficult, but partnering with innovative corporations is one way to push the boundaries of change.

By: Nadejda Dermendjieva & Gergana Kutseva
Español

In Bulgaria, women’s rights, feminism, and LGBTQ rights are inflammatory topics, and one women’s fund is fighting back with controversial campaigns.

By: Sukti Dhital
Español

Legal empowerment offers promising new methods to improve access to justice and build legal systems that work for everyone.

By: Pratima Gurung
Español

Groups in Nepal working at the intersections of different issues such as indigenous women with disabilities, are largely invisible to funders—but cross-movement ...

By: Maria Bobenrieth
Français | Español

In these turbulent times, business as usual is no longer an option for women’s rights organizations, and we must branch into new methods of operating.

By: Anna Koob & Sarah Tansey
Français | Español

Trends analysis allows human rights activists to see where human rights funding is going, and where it’s not. But what further questions do these findings spark ...

By: Jenny Barry
Español

Powerful results surfaced when a Mexican women’s rights funder began to give decision-making power to local activists.

By: Julian Oram & Deborah Doane

Most development and funding organizations are adapting to shrinking space rather than challenging it, but is this trend inevitable?

By: Barbara Klugman & Ravindran Daniel & Denise Dora & Maimouna Jallow
Español

Human rights funding is systemically inequitable, and this will only change when funders provide core support that allows grantee organizations to make their own ...

By: Felogene Anumo & Ruby Johnson
Español | Français

Young feminists are pushing back and forging new paths in global resistance, but they need financial support and personal security to achieve real gains.

By: James A. Goldston
Español

In Kenya, Guatemala and Brazil, courts have defied presidents and shaken up politics—is court-centric advocacy one of the few remaining avenues to legitimately ...

By: Victoria Ohaeri
Français

Linking online campaigns to offline action has become critical in challenging closing spaces in Nigeria.

By: Sadhana Shrestha
Español | नेपाली | Français

Fundraising should never just be about money—it must also be about raising awareness of human rights and social justice.

By: Garth Meintjes
Español | Русский | 简体中文 | العربية

The paradigmatic wall that separates lawyers into two camps—private and public—is a barrier to the possibilities and a threat to the health and resilience of our ...

By: Amandine Rushenguziminega
Français

A new levy in the African Union could lead to more financial independence—but who is funding human rights?

By: Amanda Fazano
Español | Français | Português

Brazil has a potentially large philanthropy market, and social media may be key to tapping into this resource.

By: David Crow & José Kaire & James Ron
Español

Marketing research can help Mexican rights groups monetize their “brand” and boost public donations.

By: Grigory Okhotin
Русский

With heightened restrictions on foreign funding, reporting on the Russian government’s repression requires creative social media projects.

By: Hou Ping
Español | 简体中文

In China, new laws make fundraising even harder, but the LGBTQ community is getting creative.

By: James Ron & José Kaire & David Crow
Español

New research suggests that if human rights organizations use evidence-based fundraising strategies, the public will donate.

By: Maina Kiai
Español

While donors partner with civil society to counter shrinking civic space, their rigid funding systems can undermine progress.

By: Gulika Reddy

Is social entrepreneurship in India a way for civil society to break open closing spaces?

By: Qian Cheng
简体中文

To make headway on human rights in China, advocates need to get creative by partnering with state-owned enterprises.

By: Michael Edwards
Español | Français | Português

What standards of behavior should we expect from the leaders of foundations, NGOs and aid agencies?

By: Lotta Teale
Español | Français

Taking a hybrid approach to legal funding recognizes that different issues require different types of funding.

By: Burkhard Gnärig 
Español

Traditional politicians and traditional CSOs are part of an old world that is being replaced by very different forms of civic participation.

By: Edwin Rekosh
Español | Français

The current human rights business model is not keeping up with trends in technology, philanthropy, business and society.

By: Laura Piazza

There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to campaigning for today’s LGBTI activists, but providing support on short notice allows organisations to be reactive and ...

By: Maria Amália Souza 
Português

Building a culture of philanthropy in the global South is a herculean task, but small grants can still make big changes.

By: Ana Valéria Araújo & Maíra Junqueira 
Português | Español

Logistical issues and lack of awareness among Brazilians have created significant—but not insurmountable—obstacles to fundraising for human rights.

By: Ellen Sprenger
Español

Asking donors for money and then implementing programs is an old model from which civil society must break free.

By: Mallory Mroz

A new approach to refugee protection needs to draw on the principles of self-sufficiency to prevent aid dependency and let refugees work so that they contribute ...

By: Hussein Baoumi
Français | العربية

In some countries, relying on local funding gives human rights defenders even less freedom.

By: Jenny Barry
Español

Feminists and environmentalists are coming together in Mexico to form new partnerships with an emphasis on local resource mobilization.

By: Claudia Bollwinkel
Deutsch

Activists are using a multi-van in Germany to help female refugees cope with violence and harassment.

By: Jenny Hodgson

As local rights groups seek alternative funding sources, the closing space for civil society makes this even more imperative.

By: Edwin Rekosh

In this climate of closing space, we have an imperative to rethink the business models for protecting human rights.

By: Aakar Patel
Español | العربية

Amnesty International’s India hub focuses most of its fundraising efforts on domestic contributions, facing challenges as diverse as the weather to brand recognition

By: Zoe Gudovic
Español

Becoming agents of change for women’s rights in Serbian society requires creativity in building connections and solidarity.

By: Jean-François Durieux
Français | Español

The refugee protection regime needs reform, but this requires new international approaches that go beyond the Refugee Convention.

By: Hillel Ben-Sasson
Español

Marked as traitors by the dominant Right for relying on foreign aid, Israeli liberal NGOs need a wider base of local donors.

By: Mariela Puga & Luz Aquilante & Natalia Eberbach
Español

Building a culture of giving in Latin America takes creativity, persistence and a willingness to invest in people.

By: Linda To
Français

To get funding amidst intense non-profit competition in Hong Kong, human rights groups must get creative.

By: Lucía Carrasco Scherer & Christen Dobson
Español | Français

Women’s funds are gaining increasing recognition at the local and international levels as leading agents of social change.

By: Bolor Legjeem

Despite an economic crisis, some Mongolian companies still respond to carefully constructed funding requests.

By: Jenny Barry
Español

Partnering with celebrities and seeking visibility is key to mobilizing resources for the women’s movement in Mexico.

By: Brian Root 
Español | Français | العربية

Human Rights Watch generally avoids burdensome evaluations; instead, we’re looking for “light and agile” reflections on our work.

By: Seema Guha

Can NGOs and India’s political opposition stop Modi’s civil society clampdown?

By: Emma Naughton & Kevin Kelpin
Español | Français | العربية

Yes, human rights work must be measured, but we need to focus on the small steps as well as the “big picture.”

By: Mubin S. Khan
বাংলা

Amidst tighter donor budgets for human rights, NGOs in Bangladesh are also grappling with increasingly intrusive governments.

By: Anne Meike Fetcher
Español

Is “Do-It-Yourself-Aid” the answer to funding rights work? Anne-Meike Fechter describes this model, its funding and related implications

By: Vincent Ploton
Español | Français

Human rights groups are understandably reluctant to use “results-based management”, but embracing this approach can boost their impact.

By: Dimi Reider
العربية | עברית

If Israeli human rights groups are labeled fronts for foreign interests due to their funding, what does that make Israel itself?

By: Prafu Bidwai

India’s new Modi government trains its guns on environmental activists.

By: Charles Kojo Vandyck 
Español | Français

Human rights groups can survive in the current funding climate if they shift their focus towards locally driven funding resources.

By: Nicola Desouza

Nepal is the most open country in South Asia for LGBT rights, but even here, patriarchal biases exclude women and transgenders. Can foreign funding change this?

By: Selemani Kinyunyu
Français

For too long, the African Union and its human rights bodies have depended on foreign aid. If the Union implements a radical new financing tax on airline tickets, ...

By: Benjy Cannon
العربية | עברית

Although the American Jewish community spends relatively little on human rights work in Israel/Palestine, they are getting serious about promoting a lasting peace ...

By: Medha Patkar

The Indian state aggressively promotes foreign investment in all sectors but civil society.

By: Lenin Raghuvanshi

NGOs working with untouchables and bonded labour face hostility from upper castes. For these groups, it’s nearly impossible to raise local funds. Without foreign ...

By: Patricia Mendoca
Português

The world is watching as Brazil prepares for the World Cup and Olympics. As Northern funding for Brazilian human rights groups declines, local groups must take ...

By: H. Selen Akçali Uzunhasan
Türkçe

Turkey’s campaign for EU membership has revolutionized funding for its civil society, but there is still a long way to go.

By: Ian Smillie

Over four decades, BRAC has become one of the largest and most effective NGOs in the world, with outstanding success in incorporating human rights into its programs ...

By: Saskia Brechenmacher & Thomas Carothers
Español | Français | العربية

The global pushback against domestic NGOs has arrived. International donors must learn to cope, but it won’t be easy.

By: Melaku Mulualem

Kenyan officials under International Criminal Court indictment seek caps for foreign funding to local NGOs, raising the spectre of a “Beijing Consesus” for African ...

By: Nora Lester Murad
Español | עברית | العربية

Nora Lester Murad describes a new alternative to international aid and domestic charity for Palestine; community directed funds

By: Okeoma Ibe
Français

Designing and planning solutions to human rights problems from thousands of miles away often produces unsustainable results. The time has come for Southern human ...

By: Eduardo Pannunzio
Português

Human rights groups in the global South are dependent on international funds, but those monies are dwindling for NGOs in emerging economies such as Brazil. To survive, ...

By: Osai Ojigho
Français

International aid is not ethically wrong, and local rights groups will use it for years to come. We must also mobilize domestic funds, however, by gaining a better ...

By: Ajaz Ashraf

Donations by ordinary citizens to India’s newest political party, the AAP, prove that Indians can and will donate to important causes. Indian rights groups can ...

By: Rachel Wahl

If international funding compromises the work of domestic human rights groups, what should international donors do? It is admirable for local groups to refuse international ...

By: Fateh Azzam
العربية

Human rights NGOs do not necessarily need to be grassroots social movements. But issues of dependence on foreign funding and corruption that accompany 'professionalization' ...

By: Nora Lester Murad

Aid to Palestine is essentially palliative, intended to maintain a status quo. From that vantage point, aid seems to be remarkably complicit with continued Israeli ...

By: V. Suresh
हिन्दी

Dependence on institutional funding has depoliticized, monetized and corrupted much of the human rights work in India. While state-control of human rights funds ...

By: Rita Jalali

To fight the chilling effect created by new laws on foreign funding, Indian human rights NGOs need to develop support for funding among citizens. Though difficult, ...

By: Chris Jochnick

Human rights advocates are loathe to accept corporate funding, even in pursuit of worthy initiatives. But companies facing human rights challenges are eager for ...

By: Helle Abelvik-Lawson

Brazil’s recent economic growth – driven by multinational corporations and supported by the government – is a source of human rights violations and perpetuates ...

By: Daniel Sokatch

Ultra-nationalist political parties are yet again trying to crack down on dissenting Israeli NGOs. This is the latest in a longer series of efforts to fundamentally ...

By: Maina Kiai
Français

In October Kenya introduced legislation capping foreign funding to NGOs and requiring that money be channeled through a government body. Though narrowly defeated, ...

By: Murat Çelikkan 
Türkçe

The government often accuses Turkey’s human rights groups of doing the work of “foreign powers,” which scares off local donors. But when rights groups seek foreign ...

By: Angelika Artyunova

A paradigm shift in funding from human rights toward 'investments' and 'business solutions' is threatening women’s rights organizing and the rights-based approach ...

By: Hans Peter Schmitz

The rights based approach to development is increasingly popular, but more rights-based money isn’t the answer to the world’s ills. Rights-based practitioners will ...

By: G. Ananthapadmanabhan

The Indian government uses the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to block global support to NGOs that question the state. The FCRA must go, but meanwhile, civil ...

By: Christen Dobson & Lucía Carrasco Scherer & Emilienne de León
Español | Français | العربية | Português

Using the first-ever data-driven effort to track global human rights funding, representatives from two major global funding networks based in the U.S. and Mexico ...

By: William Nee
简体中文

Even as China grows in wealth, it has yet to fully develop a culture of philanthropy – one that is free and clear of government influence and able to effect real ...

By: Lucia Nader
Español | Français | Português

There is a perverse see-saw effect in place within the BRICS countries. In Brazil, as the government grows in prominence and companies become more global and voracious, ...

By: Noam Sheizaf
العربية | עברית

Israel’s human rights organisations depend on foreign funding to defend the rights of the Palestinians. But as the Middle East is increasingly torn by new conflicts, ...

By: Elie Abouaoun
Español | Français | العربية

It’s time for a paradigm shift in the Arab region, where local human rights groups are negatively perceived and donors still resist supporting right based initiatives.

By: James Ron & Archana Pandya
Türkçe | Español | Français | Português | العربية | עברית

Despite enjoying a fair bit of local support, local human rights organizations (LHROs) in the Global South are still largely dependent on foreign funds. To better ...

By: Alice Nkom
Español | Français | العربية

When the EU awarded a large grant to Alice Nkom for her work defending gay people in Cameroon it was attacked for encouraging illegal activity. Here Nkom describes ...

By: Ana Valéria Araújo
Español | العربية | Português

Brazil’s economic success has led to foreign funders pulling the plug on human rights groups but a major education campaign is needed before Brazilian donors will ...

By: Ravi Nair
हिन्दी | العربية | Español

One of the country’s most informed human rights experts explains how India blocks foreign funding for rights work it doesn’t like. Philanthropists avoid supporting ...

By: Lori Allen
Español | العربية | עברית | Türkçe

The work of human rights organisations in the occupied Palestinian territories can never end abuses. Only a political solution that ends the Israeli occupation ...

By: J. Brian Atwood
Español | Français | العربية

The human rights movement, the democracy-promotion community, and development donors have common goals, but they have not always seen themselves as allies. It is ...

By: James Ron

Human rights work depends on the voluntary efforts of activists, concerned citizens, and government personnel. Big transformative ideas, however, also require organizational ...