Tips for Writing a Strong Application
- Make sure you are applying for the right grant. SEED grants are 1-year grants for organizations that have never been funded by the ITF. THRIVE grants are 1-year grants for organizations that have been funded by the ITF and are in good standing.
- Make sure your application is complete. Fill in all fields of the application form and include the requested details. Respond with N/A (not applicable) to questions that are not relevant to your organization. Do not leave a question blank. The ITF will not follow-up on incomplete applications and if it is not complete your application may be considered ineligible.
- Be clear and concise. We follow a strict page limit as this will help us fairly evaluate applications. Font size should be no smaller than 11pt. Please note that to be fair, we will not review materials after the page limit. Additional materials (reports, strategic plans, etc.) will not be reviewed.
- Remember your reviewer. Your application will be reviewed by ITF’s Grant Making Panel, composed of trans activists from different parts of the world. This means you should write to your peers but know they may be peers who know very little about your working context. Trans activists know the importance of your work, just remember to describe its specifics well.
- Make your application stand out. Be clear about what you will do with the funding and make sure you tell us what impact it will have on your community and the trans movement. The competition for funding is very high and you need to make a case for why your work is important to trans movement building in your region.
- Be realistic. You are the experts of what needs to be done in your context so tell us what your organization wants to do and not what you think we want to hear. The best applications are ambitious but realistic. This also includes the budget – ask for the funding that your organization needs to do the work.
- Check your contact details. Make sure you check that your contact details, especially your email address, are spelled correctly. If we cannot get in touch with you, it will delay the process.
- Choose relevant referees. When you select referees, choose 2 people that know your organization and that will give an honest and thoughtful reference. These cannot be members of your organization but should be colleagues, funders, or representatives of civil society. Please do not list ITF Grant Making Panel or Steering Committee members as referees. Remember to inform your referees about your application and the need to respond to our request.
- Present your budget. The ITF has adopted a simplified budget reporting table within the application form. This table is as simple as possible to reflect the ITF’s belief that grantee partners and the Grant Making Panel should focus on the work itself versus budget lines. You must fully complete the table.
Application Guidelines
The Application Guidelines are designed to support you to write a strong and competitive application. Our Guidelines are available in five languages:
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)