FAQ
About ITF
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Trans communities around the world face systemic discrimination, underfunding, and marginalization. Traditional funding structures often exclude or overlook trans-led work, especially in the Global Majority. ITF exists to challenge these inequities by directly resourcing trans leadership and community power-building.
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ITF’s work is grounded in a set of shared values:
Trans Leadership: Centering trans people as leaders of trans movements.
Intersectionality: Recognizing the diversity of identities, experiences, and needs within trans communities.
Transfeminism: Challenging patriarchy, affirming bodily autonomy, and uplifting the leadership of trans women and transfeminine people.
Collaboration: Working collectively toward liberation and justice.
Safety & Sustainability: Prioritizing community wellbeing and long-term movement resilience.
Transparency & Accountability: Upholding honesty and transparency while protecting confidentiality and safety.
Boldness: Embracing strategic risk-taking and innovation.
Responsiveness: Listening to and adapting alongside trans movements.
Care & Solidarity: Engaging each other with generosity, care, and mutual respect.
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ITF understands “trans” as a broad and inclusive term. It encompasses people whose gender identity or expression is different from the gender they were assigned at birth. We honor trans identities as rooted in resistance and shaped by local contexts, language, and histories. We respect the terms and definitions used by communities themselves.
Funding
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ITF supports trans-led groups with annual budgets of under $100,000 USD that are working to benefit trans communities and build trans movement power. We support both new and established organizations, with particular attention to communities facing intersecting forms of systemic marginalization.
For full eligibility criteria, visit our Apply for a Grant page.
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ITF provides core/general support and project grants to trans-led groups advancing the rights, wellbeing, and liberation of trans communities.
We recognize that our communities are diverse and have different needs and priorities. For this reason, ITF funds a wide range of movement-building activities, including but not limited to:
Education, trainings, and awareness-raising
Support groups and community spaces
Direct action, political advocacy, and demonstrations
Arts-based activism and media projects
Leadership, personal development, and skills-sharing programs
Community-based research and resource development
Campaigns and mobilizations
We embrace creativity and innovation and support work that builds power within trans communities and contributes to lasting social change.
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ITF defines a group as trans-led when at least 75% of its leadership and decision-making body (e.g. board, staff, or steering committee) are trans people. This leadership must be meaningful and intentional. Trans people should shape the group’s vision, strategy, and financial priorities.
While trans leadership is a critical eligibility criteria for ITF grants, we understand that there are contexts in which demonstrating these levels of trans participation is not possible.
If that is the case, we highly recommend that you explain how trans people are centered in the work and how they lead key decisions related to budget, structure, and direction.
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We recognize that there is no singular way to build movements. We see movement building as collective efforts to create shared vision, strategy, and action that challenge oppressive power structures. We prioritize work that:
Strengthens trans communities
Builds collective power
Changes public discourse, social norms, and policy
Is creative, bold, and rooted in community needs
This includes work centered on intersectional justice, transfeminist leadership, and long-term liberation.
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Participatory grantmaking centers those most affected as decision-makers, supporting community-led solutions and recognizing the expertise and sovereignty of those directly impacted.
This model breaks from traditional philanthropy, which often reflects colonial dynamics by concentrating wealth, control, and decision-making power in the hands of donors, particularly in the Global North, while treating marginalized communities as passive recipients.
The Grantmaking Process
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The full process, from application to grant disbursement, takes approximately 8 months. ITF’s participatory grantmaking model is intentional and requires time. We are committed to keeping applicants informed during each stage.
Our extended timeline reflects our core commitments to:
1. Language Accessibility
We accept applications in five languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese. These applications are then translated to ensure GMP members can meaningfully assess them.
2. Thorough and Intentional ReviewGMP members review applications across multiple stages, providing careful, grounded consideration.
3. Collective Decision-Making
All 15 GMP members gather in person to make final decisions on the highest-scoring applications. The GMP engages in thoughtful discussions, considering regional balance, community impact, and representation.
4. Ratification
After the GMP makes its funding decisions, ITF’s Board completes due diligence and formally ratifies the grants. In exceptional cases, the Board may request further clarification or review.
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We receive hundreds of strong applications each year, far more than we are currently resourced to fund. We are generally only able to fund 10–15% of eligible applications. In the 9th grant cycle, ITF received 465 eligible applications requesting over $11 million USD, but only had over $1 million to award.
We know this can be discouraging. Not being funded does not mean your work is not valuable; often, it reflects the limited resources available and the difficult decisions the Grant Making Panel must make.
Each cycle is a new opportunity, and we encourage groups to reapply, attend our webinars, and request feedback to strengthen future applications. We remain committed to growing the fund so that more trans-led groups can access the resources they need.