Grantmaking

We offer a holistic model of support that is trust-based, flexible, and designed to strengthen our partners’ organizational and technical capacity.

We trust our partners, in a direct challenge to traditional philanthropy.

Our grants are unrestricted and without burdensome proposals or reporting requirements. This empowers our partners to focus more on their respective missions and to make decisions that best serve their communities.

Meet our partners

We prioritize mutual respect and support.

Trust-based grantmaking offers greater equity in our partnerships and ensures that our partners feel safe to take strategic risks. We maintain open feedback mechanisms and respond quickly to feedback from our partners.

Our feedback framework

“From the very beginning, we felt WomenStrong’s approach was different. The word I would use would be: Trust. Trust that we are the experts in our field and in our community.”

Girl Up Initiative Uganda

Grant Eligibility Criteria

WomenStrong does not have any open grant opportunities at this time.

WomenStrong has periodically invited women-led organizations working in the areas that are important to us to send us information about themselves. If those organizations met our criteria, we reached out to hold exploratory conversations and have discovered through dialogue whether prospective partners were a good fit for our programs.

Types of Organizations We Have Supported:

Led by women, who hold the majority of leadership positions.
Led by nationals based in the country of operation.
Operates in urban or peri-urban areas.
Registered in its country of operation as a nonprofit.
Has more than one donor.
Has a local governing body, led by women and representative of the communities and populations it serves.
Has a focus on empowering women and girls and advancing gender justice.
Is willing to share commonalities and to explore solutions and challenges through peer exchange.
Is willing to provide opportunities for its staff to learn and participate in WomenStrong’s Learning Lab and events.
Has an annual budget of less than US $1 million.