Astraea Lesbian Foundation funds projects:

• Led by and targeted to lesbian/bisexual/queer women
• Led by and targeted to transgender and/or intersex people
• Led by and for LGBTQI communities that are historically marginalized and under resourced within LGBTQI communities
• Have active participation and leadership from the communities most affected by issues that the group works on.
• Are inclusive and reflect the diversity of the geographic region in which they do their work.
• Show an understanding of the connections amongst different oppressions facing LGBTQI people, and have a commitment to address other forms of oppression such as oppression based on class, race, ethnicity, age, physical and mental ability, gender, national identity, and religious affiliation.
• Develop leadership and build communities’ capacity to achieve social change, particularly through proposals that strengthen an organization’s ability to organize.
• Organizing may be defined as activities that actively engage people affected by societal problems in the process of identifying and pursuing solutions.
• Works in alliance and/or builds coalition with other justice movement organizations (e.g. sex worker rights, human rights, etc.)
• Have organizational structures and practices in place that reflect social justice principles
• Groups that are based in countries/locations that do not yet have significant LGBTQI resources
• Have limited access to traditional sources of funding

The fund strengthens LGBTQI groups by providing flexible general support grants ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 per year.

Groups should be:

• Led by and/or for LGBTQI communities. Non-LGBTI-led groups must demonstrate how they address LGBTI human rights issues and how they involve LGBTI’s in organizational and programmatic decision-making.
• Doing work towards long-term social change, on issues affecting LGBTQI people and/or people who are penalized, persecuted or harassed for their gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexual orientation.
• Non-governmental organizations, not-for-profit groups, or the equivalent, with organizational budgets of $500,000USD or less.
• Groups that have been active for at least one year at the time should send in their proposal. A group which has been active for less than one year may apply if they demonstrate their group’s ability to sustain activities over the long-term and illustrate how a grant would help them to build their organization’s capabilities.

Before preparing the application, please make sure you meet the criteria.

To apply for this funding opportunity, you need to download, fill in and submit a LOI. It can be found here.

To be considered for June 2017 cycle, submit an LOI by January 31, 2017.

Astraea also has a U.S. Fund, an Intersex Human Rights Fund and a Global Arts Fund. For more information, please visit Astraea Lesbian Foundation.

Source: FundsForNGOs