Deadline: 03 July, 2020
The Internet Society Foundation is currently accepting applications for Strengthening Communities/Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) grant programme.
The Strengthening Communities/Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) grant programme aims to expand economic growth, improve health outcomes and increase educational opportunities by supporting individuals and communities to more knowledgeably and skillfully use the internet.
The foundation is committed to working with organisations that focus in one (or all) of the following three areas: Economic Growth, Health and Education. The foundation is seeking projects that help communities leverage internet access to build financial opportunities, increase economic independence, and create sustainable income sources. The foundation is also seeking projects that support communities to leverage internet access to improve health outcomes, facilitate patient care and up skill local healthcare providers. Such projects could include:
- Entrepreneurship and increasing digital literacy among girls in order to help them become small business owners
- Agriculture and using the internet to increase agricultural yields by better understanding demand and market changes
- Climate change and adapting a local business to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly or more resilient to climate change
- Innovation and creating tech hubs or maker spaces that allow rural populations to create innovative solutions to local problems
- Telemedicine and providing online preventative care to underserved rural and remote communities
- Digitising records and simplifying patient record keeping and care through electronically preserving records
- Connecting health facilities and enabling better sharing of information among healthcare facilities
- Innovation and supporting innovative solutions to healthcare provision that can easily be implemented in low-bandwidth environments
- Remote education and enabling communities to access culturally relevant educational opportunities, such as learning materials in local languages
- Teacher education and supporting teachers to leverage the internet to up-skill themselves or to further increase the educational opportunities for their classrooms
- Innovation and creating unique learning opportunities that can be replicated across similar contexts
Benefits
- Grants of up to $150,000 will be awarded for projects lasting up to 24 months
Eligibility
- Organisations must be legally registered in their country
- Organisations must have an official bank account in their name (based on their legal registration)
- Organisations must be equivalent to a United States of America public charity (or a 501c3 organisation)
- Before awarding funds to any organisation, the Foundation will verify this equivalency
- Have a demonstrated understanding and track record of success in working in one or all of the Focus Areas detailed above
- Have a deep knowledge of their countries and networks that extend beyond capital cities and urban areas
- Are committed to the using the internet as a force for good
- Can demonstrate previous experience in managing large (over $100,000) grants and possibly experience in sub-granting to local groups
To apply and for more information, click here.
Photo source: Africa Centre
