We have launched a re-granting programme to strengthen the capacities of LGBTI organisations in Europe to achieve change in the current landscape of rising anti-LGBTI forces.

At ILGA-Europe, we believe that now is a crucial time to stay united, re-claim agency and pro-actively address growing anti-LGBTI and anti-gender rhetoric and state-led anti-LGBTI attacks. That’s why we have launched a scheme under which we will support efforts that enable work on communication, alliance building, and the movement’s cohesion and resilience.

The context

For years now, we have witnessed mounting anti-gender and anti-LGBTI rhetoric, and targeted attacks against LGBTI rights and the LGBTI movement. Populists, religious actors, the far-right, ultra-conservative organisations, but also increasingly government actors and civil society actors are working to curtail LGBTI rights, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Their tactics are diverse and include (but are not limited to) strategic litigation, lobbying discriminatory legislation and policy, campaigning on-line, publicly presenting signatures against progressive laws, antagonising and pitting pro-rights communities against each other, producing and spreading harmful misinformation.

Some of the concrete examples of ways in which actions by these forces have impacted LGBTI communities over the recent years include – but are not limited to: the ban on legal gender recognition in Hungary; LGBTI-free zones and Family Charters in Poland; the ban on gender studies and LGBTI phobic violence during local election campaigns in  Romania; violence during Plovdiv Pride and control over NGO funding in Bulgaria; the rise of anti-trans rhetoric in the UK; the increase in anti-LGBTI rhetoric in the media in Denmark; trials of Middle East Technical University’s Prides and scapegoating the LGBTI community for the withdrawal of Turkey from the Istanbul convention; and blaming the spread of COVID-19 on same-sex marriages by religious leaders in Ukraine.

Anti-LGBTI actors often use anti-equality, anti-democratic, anti-gender and anti-LGBTI rhetoric and tap into different fears and anxieties of specific national contexts. They aim to disrupt alliances, create divides, attack funding of LGBTI organisations and groups, and reduce or halt progressive laws. They also sow discontent and misinformation among the general public, scapegoat LGBTI communities to divert attention from the anti-democratic slide and socio-economic and political failures, deliberately instilling fear around topics of LGBTI rights, marriage equality, gender equality, adoption, inclusive sexual education, abortion rights, trans rights and gender studies.

In essence these are anti-rights actors who are present and active across Europe and who aim to undermine fundamental rights more broadly. Therefore, it is paramount that we pro-actively address these attacks aimed to undermine and disrupt our work and lives. We must stay united, strengthen our solidarity across the human rights sector, boost our capacities, be agile and well-organised, and work on larger progressive agendas with allied organisations in a broader human rights movement.  

Aim of the program

This programme aims to strengthen the capacities of LGBTI organisations to be(come) pro-active and to achieve change in the current context of growing populist anti-gender and anti-LGBTI rhetoric and state-led anti-LGBTI attacks.

Under this programme we aim to do this through:

• Scaling-up skills, competences and capacities of the LGBTI movement in the areas of communication, alliance building, and sustaining a cohesive and resilient LGBTI movement;   
• Developing new approaches and tactics for communication work, effective campaigning, alliance building and evidence-based advocacy on the rights and needs of LGBTI people in the context of rising anti-LGBTI forces.

Projects we are looking for

ILGA-Europe acknowledges that while a lot of funding has been made available by funders for advocacy purposes it’s been challenging to find financial and human resources, time and energy to do the necessary work in communication, alliance building and on the movement’s cohesion. This scheme shifts the focus and supports projects aimed at work on communication, trust building and alliance building outside and inside the movement. We believe that strengthening these aspects of work will in return create conditions under which our long-term advocacy goals are more likely to be met. Therefore, this scheme is not designed to support projects that solely address advocacy goals. However, we strongly believe the work in the three areas described below can and will feed back into existing advocacy and campaigning work of LGBTI organisations.

Budget & scope

ILGA-Europe can support 10 to 15 grants in the size of €12.500 to €17.500. Projects involving two or more organisations working in a partnership can increase their budget to €20.000 in total.

If the project involves more than one organisation it has to be developed in cooperation. Contact and other information about the applicants should include all partnered organisations. In the project and activities descriptions, there should be clear division of task and responsibilities indicated for each organisation. The budget also has to reflect clearly the distribution of the requested funds amongst partnered organisations. ILGA-Europe may contact the partner organisation(s) to verify that they commit to the project as described in the application.

The project should start between 1 and 30 September 2021, and should end by 30 September 2022. The final reporting will be due no later than 15 October 2022.

Deadline and timeline

Proposals should be submitted by 23 May, Sunday, 23:59 CEST. To find out more about the criteria and how to submit your proposal, click here.

Downloads

• Download here the application form in DOCX.
• Download here the budget form in XLSX.
• Download here the call for proposals in PDF.

Early in June, ILGA-Europe launched the ‘No One Left Behind’ fund, an initiative to tackle persisting socioeconomic inequalities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis. Read on to find out what it is, why we launched it and how we went about awarding 25 grants.

With ILGA-Europe’s ‘No One Left Behind’ fund, launched to tackle socioeconomic inequalities that have been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to support LGBTI organisations in Europe and Central Asia to strengthen their skills and knowledge in relation to socioeconomic inequalities, and to try out new approaches and to help them build relevant alliances. We managed to mobilise some new resources and also reallocated some money from our own budget, which was freed up as a result of the pandemic, creating a total fund of about €380,000.

The call for proposals closed on 5 July, and we received 66 proposals. We have awarded 25 grants and with this, we have exhausted the budget that we have available.

Why the ‘No One Left Behind’ fund?

Many LGBTI organisations in Europe and Central Asia in recent years have started to talk about the importance of addressing socioeconomic rights. It is important to recognise that even when civil and political rights and legal changes such as marriage equality or non-discrimination laws are advancing in some places in our region, many members of our communities are left behind because they face structural barriers in achieving basic safeties. This is especially true for members of underrepresented communities and people whose identities intersect (including Black people and People Of Colour; lesbians, bisexual, trans, non-binary and intersex people, sex workers, Roma, refugees and asylum seekers, disabled persons, among others).

Full equality will not exist if some LGBTI people have no access to education, if they are in precarious jobs, don’t get the healthcare services that they need, when they don’t have a roof above their head or when they are silenced and invisibilised during an economic crisis. Sadly, we increasingly see that these are real lived experiences for too many LGBTI people.

When the global COVID-19 crisis unfolded, many LGBTI organisations saw no other choice than to step-in and provide basic services to their communities. The livelihoods of many communities got so heavily affected that LGBTI activists and organisations began providing food and shelter whilst also trying to maintain their roles as advocates and community organisers. COVID-19 highlighted the urgency of addressing structural inequalities and showed clearly how much deeper the impact was on those with less power, security and visibility.

So, why then does the fund not support basic needs?

COVID-19 quickly shifted the focus of many activists from being advocates and community organisers to becoming service providers.

While there was and is undoubtedly a need to meet short-term needs of LGBTI communities, in the long term, it is not sustainable for LGBTI organisations to take on that role. Not only will they never have enough resources to support basic needs of LGBTI communities at large, but becoming involved in providing shelter and food fundamentally shifts attention away from their primary roles of being advocates and community organisers. However, while it is our belief that it is first and foremost the role of governments to provide basic needs to citizens. In cases where states fail to deliver, we consider it incredibly important to build the capacity of LGBTI organisations to tackle root causes of socio-economic inequalities and to build more resilience and strength in communities in responding to this crisis and future ones.

So, what does the fund support?

We have focused support under this fund under three headings:

· Support LGBTI organisations to learn more about the socioeconomic realities of LGBTI people and to strengthen their own capacities to carry out strategic response work.

· Support LGBTI organisations to carry out advocacy work and build alliances to ensure that LGBTI people have access to services and basic needs.

· Support LGBTI organisations to campaign and communicate so that the needs of LGBTI people are brought to the centre of the political and societal agendas.

Most of the projects which received funding focus on marginalised communities, such as LGBTI Roma, sex workers, migrants — or specifically on trans communities. In all such cases we have tried to make sure that communities affected are directly involved in decision making (and in most cases lead projects themselves). Through providing funding to these projects, we will support the visibility, organising and advocacy capacities of these groups who, often, have access to fewer resources.

What kinds of projects did we support?

Amongst the projects that we supported we have seen interesting examples of work in this field. Several organisations are planning to undertake research and mapping exercises to produce reports that can be used for advocacy and communication purposes. For instance, one group aims to map the root causes of socio-economic inequality experienced by LGBTI people with mental health issues and on that basis work with experts to find ways to strengthen the resilience of this group. Another group aims to build a database of unemployment LGBT Roma people as an entrypoint for advocacy. A third group will carry out a needs assessment of LGBTIQ refugees to advocate for a dedicated emergency shelter.

We in particular supported projects that included a clear plan on how data gathering would concretely be used to lead on change.

Various projects aim at developing tools to help LGBTI people access the labour market. Other projects focus on addressing homelessness by creating new alliances, or increasing access to health-care for marginalised communities by understanding the realities of communicaties and working together with healthcare professionals.

And the list goes on.

What’s next?

Many activists and LGBTI groups have known for years about the economic hardship and exclusion which many within their communities experience in their daily lives. Issues of unemployment, economic precarity, lack of access to adequate health care and housing, have been on the radar of many LGBTI groups for a long time. However, few of us have had the resources to do extensive and transformative work on socioeconomic inequalities. We need to build our knowledge, gather data, create new alliances, develop new relationships within institutions and governments to start instigating the needed changes in public policies, etc. In short, we all have a lot to learn.

The fact that we received 66 applications from all over the region, for a call for proposals that was narrowly focused, demonstrates that there is a great need for this work. So, for the coming ten months we aim to follow the work of our grantees closely and document the learning, so that it becomes available for everyone in the movement.

This is the beginning of a journey for ILGA-Europe to learn about how we can collectively address socioeconomic inequalities, in the hope that much more of this work can be supported in the future.

The COVID-19 crisis is having far-reaching effects on now our organisations are working. ILGA-Europe are adapting and finding new ways to continue our work using online platforms and resources. Our Finance and Admin team have brought together a really great resource for online financial management througout this time of lockdown, and here they share their top tips.

COVID-19 is having far-reaching consequences for LGBTI communities and organisations, but despite this time of unprecedented turbulence for the world, the human rights of LGBTI people must continue to advance. While you may currently be focussed on understanding what the immediate future looks like for your organisation and your activities, don’t forget to dedicate some time to thinking through how you are going to continue operating your finances and administration during this time.

Money matters. What matters even more is the proper management of money. A global crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates even more the importance of robust financial systems thanks to which an organisation can continue to operate despite external changes. Isolation measures in place in most countries will require a shift to digital culture in your organisation, and it must be done with people involved in finance and operations.

In most cases, you and your accountant currently don’t have physical access to your office, financial documents and computer systems. Digitalising and revamping your administration might be an unexpected outcome of these difficult times.

ILGA-Europe has gathered some tips on how to stay on top of the practical side of keeping your organisation running during the pandemic. Here are some of our key pieces of advice, and you can download our full booklet, complete with handy links to a range of free resources you can use, at the link at the end of this blog.

1. Use Cloud Based Storage

Without access to physical files, consider moving your documentation to online cloud-based storage that gives just the same, if not better, possibilities to file according to projects, funders, accounting codes — you name it. If you want to limit the hassle, use systems that allow for shared editing of documents and making annotations like “funded by…” or “paid”.

2. Adapt your forms

Think about how to adapt your regular financial and administrative forms for use in a digital (non-paper) format. Loose invoices or receipts floating around your cloud or mailbox will just make things more confusing.

3. Limit your cash operations

Use bank transfers. Move your checks and balances into digital format. For example, maintain regular cash reconciliations, reviewing bank accounts etc. online. That way you’ll pick up early if there’s something wrong!

4. Harness the full power of spreadsheets

Whether you use accounting software or not, it will no longer be easy or even possible to track payments by looking into physical files and documents. The key to your organisation financially healthy during this pandemic will be to harness the full power of spreadsheets (and other software, if you have it) to maintain control not just of your accounts, but also your budgeting and reporting.

5. Keep on top of your cashflow

Given the crisis, you might forget to keep aside enough money for salaries, or forget that a big invoice from a thing you did a month ago is coming your way. We recommend you update your cash flow situation at least monthly, including the amounts on all possible cash and bank account balances, status of received funds and expenditure. The longer you leave it to do these types of regular checks, the harder it will be to back-track later to locate missing funds.

6. Get with e-timesheets

In case payroll was not done digitally before in your organisation, take the time to go through the entire process and think about the steps needed for them to be replicated in a virtual format. Ensure that timesheets or records of leave are e-approved following your usual practices.

7. Keep funders informed

It is always important to keep your funders informed and up-to-speed with any changes to project activities and/or budget lines. In the current crisis, it is likely that you will need to make changes to your project activities and budget, and communicating about them with your funders is key. Conditions for reallocation and eligibility of costs might be quite different from one funder to another.

8. Use digital signatures

Digital signatures are widely accepted nowadays so consider using them when approving costs and signing documents. However, get in touch with your funders first if you plan to make significant changes to the way you approve, process and prepare documents. Your funder is more likely to accept “unusual” methods if they have been consulted in advance.

9. Assess your risks

When doing your risk assessment, don’t forget to include financial and administrative risks, and think about how these will affect your cash flow and ability to deliver activities.

10. Reach out for emergency funding

It is better to plan for the possibility that the current situation will continue for some time. There is no harm in reaching out to your funders to explore what emergency funds might be available, or asking them on advise for alternative funding if your community has specific emerging needs relating to the crisis.

ILGA-Europe is inviting organisations and groups from Europe and Central Asia to apply for this new funding opportunity to support D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism*. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.

D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people face specific barriers and challenges when accessing human rights. Accessibility and inclusiveness have increasingly been part of LGBTI groups and organizations’ conversations and practices. Yet most D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people continue to be marginalised in LGBTI movements across Europe and Central Asia. At ILGA-Europe, we want to contribute to changing that.

In November 2019 we hosted a gathering of 11 D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activists from nine countries throughout the European region. Priorities identified during the gathering are around: connecting voices and ideas and visibility of D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people, educating LGBTI and disability organisations, campaign and advocacy for legal and policy changes. A clear interest to work at an international level was also expressed as well as the importance of having D/deaf and disability LGBTI people leading on this work.

In line with the conclusions of the gathering and as part of our work to support the LGBTI movement in Europe and Central Asia, ILGA-Europe is now inviting you to apply for this new funding opportunity to support D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.

Do not hesitate to contact us via email at valeria@ilga-europe.orgor by calling 0032 2 609 56 52 (Valeria’s number at ILGA-Europe):

• If you have doubts or questions related to this funding opportunity.
• If you need support with your application.
• If you will not be able to apply but you would still like to be informed about this work. 

Priorities for this funding opportunity:

1) With this funding we will support projects that prioritize:

• Connection: D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people voices and ideas are more connected and less isolated;
• Legal and policy change: Through advocacy work there are fewer barriers to D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people enjoying their human rights;
• Visibility: D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people experiences and activism are more visible.

2) An additional priority is about the LGBTI (and disability) movement becoming more aware and accessible for D/deaf and disabled LGBTI people. With this fund we want to support projects that:

• Create results that remain also after the fund is finished.
• Is part of a longer process of developing D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activism in Europe and Central Asia.
• Create knowledge, tools, practices that can be used by other activists for similar purposes;
• Keeps into account a regional and cross-country perspective.

Activities that can be supported:

Examples of activities that can be included in project proposals are:

• Needs assessment or planning activities for your organisation or group;
• Community activities, online or in person, to meet and engage with more D/deaf and disabled people;
• Advocacy work around policy or legal change that is important to D/deaf and disabled people;
• Communication activities and campaign online and offline;
• Development of educational materials such as publications or trainings;
• Meetings or events to build alliances or learn from each other;
• Any other activity that is in line with the priorities of this fund;
• Etc. 

Project proposals must be different from any other project you have already in place. ILGA-Europe wants to make the learning of these projects available for LGBTI activists in Europe and Central-Asia. As such, we expect applicants to be willing to share their learning with us.

Examples of costs that you can include in your project are: travel costs such as flight, train or bus tickets; accommodation costs for instance in a hotel; meals costs; food for coffee breaks; cost to rent a room for an activity; costs to pay for salaries of those involved in the project; costs for design or printing publications or other materials; costs to ensure accessibility of activities such as sign language interpretation, speech to text captioning; costs to cover reasonable adjustments when it comes to accommodation, transportation or operating costs linked to the project (for example a share of your organisations rent, internet bill or stationery) among others.

Examples of costs that you cannot include in the budget are: alcoholic drinks; purchases of equipment (such as laptops, projectors or similar items) or purchases of real state among others.

Who can apply for this funding opportunity?

Registered organisations led by D/deaf and disabled LGBTI activists are encouraged to submit project proposals; proposals from LGBTI organisations working on the intersection of LGBTI and disability are also eligible.

We also welcome projects where an unregistered group operates with the support of a registered organisation. If your group is not registered (you do not have a bank account, etc.) you can partner with a registered organisation and have them applying with you and supporting the project administration.

We will also welcome proposals for projects to which ILGA-Europe would contribute part of the funding. For example, if your group is part of an organisation which is in position to develop a larger project and fund part of it, ILGA-Europe would consider being a co-funder to this project. The one requirement is that this would be supporting important activities that would not happen without this funding.

No matter what form your activities take (registered organisation or informal group) you need to have some experience in running projects, including financially. In case, you doubt on applying, please do not hesitate to reach out to us as we can support you with your assessment. ILGA-Europe also provides support in grant management in the form of webinars and meetings aimed at explaining the financial management requirements for the project.

Applicants must be based in the 54 countries of Europe and Central Asia

Budget available:

We plan to make up to 5 grants in the range of 3.000€-5.000 €. Projects can last a maximum of 6 months and have to finish before the 15 October 2020. For this call, ILGA-Europe has a total budget of 17.000 €.

How to apply for this fund:

You have to fill in this application form by 10 February 2020; this is the preferred option: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DdeafanddisabledLGBTIactivism

You can also fill in the same application form in word format and send it to this email address: valeria@ilga-europe.org

In order to promote accessibility for all we also welcome video applications. This is limited to applicants that do not have the capacity to write an application. Video applications need to answer the same questions as written applications so check the whole application form before and make sure you address those questions in the video. The video must be a maximum of 10 minutes. Please use .mp4 and .mov formats. We appreciate and encourage videos that are “Selfie-style.” You can record yourself looking directly at your smartphone, tablet or computer. No special effects, labels, or editing are required. Videos will not be accepted if we cannot see who is speaking on behalf of the organization. We will require organization’s to submit contact information and the budget template in writing.

You can send us the video application via WeTransfer or sharing a link to a Dropbox or Google Drive folder. Please send the link to this email address: valeria@ilga-europe.org. Do not attach the video to the email as the size will be too large and it will not go through.

Applications written or video must be submitted in English. The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.

What is going to happen and when?

• The last day to submit your application (deadline) is Monday 10 February 2020.
• We will review applications and decide on projects to support by 24 February 2020.
• We will inform all applicants about the result of the review via e-mail or other contacts provided in the application.
• For the project selected, we may ask additional questions or clarifications to the applicants. Together, we will also compile a more detailed budget.
• Once all these steps are taken, and in case we have answers to all the questions and doubts, the project will receive final approval and we will send you the contract together with a Payment Request Form (PRF) We will work so that all contracts are signed between the 1 of April and the 30 of April. Activities might start from the day in which the contract is dated
• For this funding, we will send you the 80% of the budget within 4 weeks of signing the contract and receiving the PRF. The remaining 20% is to be transferred at the end of the project once the final narrative and financial reports are submitted and approved.
• No matter when the contract is signed the project activities must finish by the 15 of October 2020.
• By 30 October 2020 you will have to submit a final narrative and financial report. We will review the reports and ask additional questions if needed.
• During the 5 or 6 months of project we will have regular contacts (every one or two months).

What will ILGA-Europe do and how you can connect with us:

• If you are interested in this opportunity and you have questions or doubts please contact us and we will do our best to support.
• Once projects are selected we will work with those involved to answer questions or doubts, look together at the planning for the project and to revise the budget if needed.
• When project activities will be implemented we will be available to support in case you experience problems or need suggestions on how to go about some aspects of your work.
• We will work to collect learning from the work done under this funding and we will circulate this knowledge for instance with articles, educational materials, online learning sessions among others.  

Do not hesitate to contact us via email at valeria@ilga-europe.org or by calling 0032 2 609 56 52 (Valeria’s number at ILGA-Europe):

• If you have doubts or questions related to this funding opportunity.
• If you need support with your application.
• If you will not be able to apply you would still like to be informed about this work. 

ILGA-Europe are organising a lunch webinar for activists to discuss the findings of the new report that compares the needs of activists with the priorities of funders. The report was commissioned by ILGA-Europe and the Global Philanthropy Project and was recently launched. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, 5 March from 12.30-13.30 CET.

Our new report, Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia: Comparing the Priorities of LGBTI Organisations and Funders, provides a compelling challenge to assumptions about the funding landscape in Europe and Central Asia, with new data and recommendations for resourcing LGBTI movements at the forefront of progress and the frontlines of resistance.

The report shows that the most important strategies identified by activists are poorly funded. These strategies include countering populist and right-wing movements, providing emergency support and supporting LGBTI communities.

Registration closed

• Read more about the new report here.
• This new report compares the key findings from ILGA Europe’s 2018 Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia: Priorities and Access to Resources report with an analysis of European and Central Asian grantmaking data from the 2015-2016 Global Resources Report:? Philanthropic and Government Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Communities.

‘Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia’, report launched by ILGA-Europe and the Global Philanthropy Project.

Research carried out by ILGA-Europe and the Global Philanthropy Project reveals one in three LGBTI organisations in Europe and Central Asia received no external funding in 2017.

The report shows that the most important strategies identified by activists are poorly funded. These strategies include countering populist and right-wing movements, providing emergency support and supporting LGBTI communities.

“In the current socio-political context, LGBTI people and activists are often at the forefront of suffering from rising populism and extremism. But LGBTI activists who are working to resist from groups and institutions a rollback of rights, protections and equal opportunities across the region, are doing so with a lack of sufficient resources.” notes ILGA-Europe Programmes Director Björn van Roozendaal.

It is increasingly clear that backlash against equality and threats to civil society support are no longer limited to Eastern Europe, but are also occurring across Western Europe.

Recent examples include public manifestations of transphobia trying to block access to human rights for trans people in the UK, an attack on a LGBT centre in Barcelona by right-wing extremists and an orthodox declaration against the human rights of LGBTI people in the Netherlands.

“Overall resources and capacity in the region don’t match the challenges at hand, thereby increasing the potential that we could rapidly lose ground. This is why there is an urgent need for governments and other funders to step up their support and make sure civil society groups get access to more and better funding across Europe. And that they do so now.” added van Roozendaal.

The data also points to several areas of organising that can help respond against the backlash, including supporting LGBTI groups working who work with underrepresented groups within the LGBTI community, such as trans and intersex people, as well as LGBTI migrants and refugees. 

Read the report:

The new report compares the key findings from ILGA Europe’s 2018 Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia: Priorities and Access to Resources report with a deeper-dive analysis of European and Central Asian grantmaking data from the 2015-2016 Global Resources Report: Philanthropic and Government Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Communities.

This report provides a compelling challenge to assumptions about the funding landscape in Europe and Central Asia, with new data and recommendations for resourcing LGBTI movements at the forefront of progress and the frontlines of resistance.

Comparing the Priorities of LGBTI Organisations and Funders

In October 2018, Global Philanthropy Project and ILGA-Europe launched a new report comparing the key findings from ILGA Europe’s 2018 Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia: Priorities and Access to Resources report with a deeper-dive analysis of European and Central Asian grantmaking data from the 2015-2016 Global Resources Report: Philanthropic and Government Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Communities.

The report is a first-of-its-kind gap analysis made from two sets of complementary data providing clear pathways and opportunities for new grantmakers and additional resources to support this large and complex region. This research was presented and analyzed during the October 2018 ILGA-Europe Donor Pre-Conference in Brussels, Belgium.

We are happy to invite you to the upcoming webinars on the Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia – Priorities and Access to Resources!

We invite LGBTI activists working in Europe and Central Asia to join us in a series of webinars to discuss the findings.

1. Community Organising – Why is it a Priority? Monday 4 June at 16.00 CEST (Duration: 1hr)

We will talk with activists about why community organising is such a critical activity in these times. It appears that this activity is often underfunded and we would like to discuss why this is the case and what can be done about that. Note that this webinar is for activists only. Registrations closed.

2. Fighting opposition – what does it entail?  Thursday 7 June at 16.00 CEST (Duration: 1hr)

We will talk with activists about how they fight opposition. What are effective strategies and what is the role that funders can play in supporting this? We want to discuss how funders can contribute to this important work. Note that this webinar is for activists only. Registrations closed.

Want to read the report?

Interested in our findings? Please click here to access a copy of the report. 

Today, ILGA-Europe are releasing the ‘Funding for LGBTI activism in Europe and Central Asia: priorities and access to resources’ report. The stories and direct experiences of LGBTI activists working throughout Europe and Central Asia are at the very core of this new publication. 

What it is: 

ILGA-Europe wanted to learn more about the LGBTI movements’ priorities in the rapidly-changing political, social and cultural environment we all find ourselves in. We were particularly curious to understand more about how your work is being resourced.

The Funding for LGBTI Activism report distils the survey responses of 287 LGBTI organisations into one publication, written by Erin Howe and Somjen Frazer from Strength in Numbers for ILGA-Europe.

Put simply, this report shows where funding is needed and signposts ways for funders to fund LGBTI activists in an ever-more strategic and sustainable way.

 Why it matters:

• This report is crafted from the experiences of LGBTI activists – your experiences. Its contents deliver a hard dose of reality about what life on the frontline of activism is really like, and it will hopefully support your applications for more flexible, responsive funding. 
• By pointing out the areas where needs don’t match the funds available, it will be the catalyst for honest, practical conversations between LGBTI activists and funders/those with the resources to support the movement’s work. 
• It provides evidence of the sheer ingenuity of LGBTI activists – half of the organisations surveyed had no paid staff and are making change happen on a voluntary basis, and one third of the respondents don’t get funding from governments or foundations. 

How to access the report:

Copies of the report will be available to the public from 15:00 CEST on Monday 30 April.

Please click here to access a copy of the report.

Want to know more? 

Are you an LGBTI activist in Europe or Central Asia who works on getting funding to support your work? Join us on Thursday 3 May for a conversation about the report.

Registration closed

Don’t forget to join the discussion online with the hashtag #FundingforLGBTI

On Monday 30 April ILGA-Europe will launch the report ‘Funding for LGBTI Activism in Europe and Central Asia: Priorities and Access to Resources’, giving an excellent picture of the opportunities and challenges for funding LGBTI activism that exist in the regions.

We asked activists in Europe and Central Asia about the funding situation for their organisations. Almost 300 activists participated in our survey and told us about their priorities, funding gaps and barriers they faced in getting funding in the first place. 

We are planning a series of interesting webinars for activists and funders to dive further into the findings. Please scroll down for further information.

Why does this report matter?

Activists in Europe have achieved significant change with relatively little resources, in times of growing opposition it has become critical to take a deeper look about how funding reaches LGBTI movements. Access to sustainable resources for LGBTI movements in Europe and Central Asia are not a given – funders change priorities in terms of priorities, but also regions in which they work. The Global Philantrophy Project reported that in the period 2013-2014 funders reported to have supported the American LGBTI movement with $218mln, whereas the European LGBTI movement received approximately $22mln. Thus, it is important to understand what funding gaps and opportunities exist.

With this report, ILGA-Europe present the perspectives of activists on how funding can help bring about change. By doing that we aim to foster conversations about how funding can best help the European and Central Asian LGBTI movement in critical times. The report is just a starting point for conversations and so we are inviting you to join us in exploring how we can strengthen the landscape of funding for LGBTI activism in Europe and Central Asia.

Want to read the report?
Interested in our findings? You can subscribe to receive the publication on the launch day (30 April) and indicate your interest in attending webinars.   

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Webinars for activists!

We invite LGBTI activists working in Europe and Central Asia to join us in a series of webinars to discuss the findings.

• Introduction to Key Findings – Thursday 3 May at 16.00 CEST (Duration: 1hr 15)

We will introduce the key findings of the report. Björn van Roozendaal from ILGA-Europe will talk about why ILGA-Europe worked on this report. Itsauthors, Erin Howe and Somjen Frazer from Strength in Numbers will talk about the findings and Matthew Hart from the Global Philantrophy Project will talk about the significance of this report for funders. Activists will have the opportunity to ask questions. Note that this webinar is for activists only.

• Community Organising – Why is it a Priority?  Monday 4 June at 16.00 CEST (Duration: 1hr)

We will talk with activists about why community organising is such a critical activity in these times. It appears that this activity is often underfunded and we would like to discuss why this is the case and what can be done about that. Note that this webinar is for activists only.

• Fighting opposition – what does it entail?  Thursday 7 June at 16.00 CEST (Duration: 1hr)

We will talk with activists about how they fight opposition. What are effective strategies and what is the role that funders can play in supporting this? We want to discuss how funders can contribute to this important work. Note that this webinar is for activists only.

Webinar for Funders!

• Introduction to Key Findings – Tuesday 12 June at 16.00 CEST (Duration: 1hr 15)

We will introduce the report’s key findings. Björn van Roozendaal from ILGA-Europe will talk about why ILGA-Europe worked on this report. Its authors Erin Howe and Somjen Frazer from Strength in Numbers will talk about the findings. This webinar is for funders only.

registration to all webinars is closed

This morning, 489 MEPs voted in favour of an instrument to support civil society organisations which promote democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. 

Over 500 LGBTI organisations are members of our ILGA-Europe family – and the message coming from many of them for the past few years has been undeniable. Their work is getting harder, much harder.

Their ability to organise events with their local LGBTI community, as well as working in alliances for human rights and the rule of law in their countries, is reducing.

This is happening all over Europe – it’s not a problem that only exists outside the EU. We repeat: this is problem for the EU too.

And it’s not just ILGA-Europe who have observed this phenomenon – in January 2018, the FRA’s new report recognised shrinking space at an institutional level for the first time and said it needed to be urgently addressed.

One very practical way to better support civil society groups who are experiencing obstacles (whether direct or indirectly) is more flexible funding. There are several great mechanisms  available for human rights defenders reworking outside the EU’s borders, including from DG NEAR and DG Devco – but nothing similar for EU-based civil society to turn to.

That is why ILGA-Europe is delighted to see that MEPs in Strasbourg today in a resolution clearly call for a funding mechanism for human rights organisations working in the EU. The European Parliament has shown that it understands the realities faced by activists working to create positive change in their communities. I

In her intervention in the debate in plenary on Tuesday, Commissioner Jourova also voiced her support for such an instrument and it is now up to the European Commission to include a European Values Instrument in its proposal for the next Multi-annual Financial Framework (or MFF). Such an instrument should allow for direct support for national organisations working on human rights and democracy in a flexible manner.

The report provides a guidance for LGBTI organisations on fundraising from individuals in Europe and Central Asia.

ILGA-Europe and the Global Philanthropy Project have developed a fundraising guide, which includes an overview of fundraising, frequently asked questions, 10 case studies of LGBTI organisations raising money, and guidance and resources to start or improve your fundraising. The ‘Insiders’ briefing’ contains more strategic hands-on guidance targeted at LGBTI activists.