Democracy Commission Small Grants Program

The U.S. Embassy’s Small Grants Program announces a competition for Russian non-governmental organizations to carry out specific projects.

The program currently is not accepting applications. Please visit this webpage for updates on the next competition.

What Does the Small Grants Program Do?

The Small Grants Program provides grants to Russian-registered non-governmental non-commercial organizations to help develop grassroots democracy and civil society. The Public Affairs Section administers the program with grant decisions made by the Expert Commission, which is chaired by the Ambassador or his representative and includes members from most U.S. government agencies at the Embassy.

What Does the Small Grants Program?

The Small Grants Program only funds proposals that contain accurate and well-developed implementation plans and clear explanations of how the project goals will be achieved, where those goals address the Program's themes and priorities. The decisions of the Expert Commission are final.

The Commission prefers supporting complete projects instead of individual activities, such as conferences, publications, or round tables. A complete project involves a sequence of coherent events, logically interwoven and linked in time, designed to achieve specific goals within a particular time frame, focusing on target audiences, and leading to concrete and measurable results that will directly benefit the local community. The time frame for the project should be appropriate to the project activities and should not exceed 12 months.

What Are Project Themes Supported by the Small Grants Program?

In 2012 the Program welcomes proposals in the following areas of civil society development: Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Corruption Awareness Campaigns and Training; Association Building; Civic Education; Civil Society; Ethnic, Minority, and Women’s Equality; Free Flow of Information (including support for independent media); Human Rights; Legal Reform; and Transparency in Government.

Who Can Apply?

Applications must come from registered Russian non-governmental and non-commercial organizations with a bank account in rubles in a Russian bank. American and third-country organizations and individuals are not eligible. Projects can only be submitted by organizations and not by individuals. Government agencies, businesses and commercial institutions are not eligible. There are no geographic priorities or limitations on applicants, except a requirement that the project be implemented in the Russian Federation.

Can one applicant submit several applications?

An applicant can only submit one proposal. If an organization submits several proposals, all of its applications become automatically disqualified.

How Large are the Grants?

The Small Grants Program provides grants of up to USD 50,000 and only funds proposals that contain accurate and well-developed implementation plans and clear explanations of how the project goals will be achieved, where those goals address the Program's themes and priorities.

How Do I Apply?

Projects must use the official application form. It may be downloaded from the link below.

• Application Materials in English (MS Word 149 KB) | (PDF 80 KB)

We also recommend that you download our How-To Guide for Grant Writing (PDF 336 KB).

Proposals should be submitted in English, if possible, and delivered by e-mail. Russian versions will also be accepted. If e-mail delivery is not possible, applications can be delivered by regular mail at 121099 Moscow, Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok 8, Public Affairs Section, U.S. Embassy.

The application form must be accompanied by the applicant's Registration Certificate, Tax Registration certificate, Balance Sheet for the previous year, and Letters of Support or Commitment from any partners who are included in the proposal.

Applicants are encouraged to provide any press clippings or other significant publicity about its activities.

Proposals and attached documents should be sent to:
E-mail: MoscowDC@mail.ru
Phone: (495) 728-5365
Fax: (495) 728-5262 (Attn: Democracy Commission Small Grants Program)

Post:

Democracy Commission Small Grants Program
Public Affairs Section
U.S. Embassy
Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok, 8
121099 Moscow, Russia

What is the Deadline for Proposals?

The deadline for proposals for this period is June 22, 2012.

How Do I Know the Status of My Application?

After a proposal has been received, the Commission will review it at one of its meetings. If there are questions, applicants will be contacted to provide feedback. It is therefore important to be sure that the contact information that you provide is current.

The Commission will inform applicants of the outcome as soon as the proposal has been reviewed. We discourage applicants from calling the Commission about the status of their proposal.

What Does the Small Grants Program Tend to Reject?

Failure to comply with any of the conditions cited in the Application Form or Application Guidelines may result in the rejection of your proposal.

In addition, common reasons that lead to the rejection of proposals include:

• the project lacks a concrete plan of action;
• the project's plan of action includes publications or events without a detailed description of their contents;
• the project consists exclusively of coordinating the work of others;
• the project consists of setting up a new organization without any other
• coherent project activity;
• the project goals are vague and not measurable;
• the project includes activities that are ineligible under the Small Grants Program rules, such as:
  
  
  • Political or partisan activities;
  • Participation in legal proceedings and litigations, lobbying for law initiatives;
  • Research and academic projects and academic conferences;
  • International travel and support of foreign participants;
  • Direct social services (health care, psychological rehabilitation and counseling, legal consultations, vocational training, providing employment opportunities, etc);
  • Competitions of any kind as the focus of a project;
  • Cultural activities (festivals, concerts, arts exhibits, etc.); and
  • Sports festivals and competitions.
  • Setting up a new entity unless it is part of a broader project;
  • On-going operating costs.