LGBTI equality and human rights in Europe and Central Asia

Call for proposals: Supporting strong communications by LGBTI organisations

ILGA-Europe is excited to launch a multi-year programme to foster stronger and more strategic communications across the European and Central Asian LGBTI movement and to contribute to collective thinking on shaping public conversations and changing public attitudes. 

Over the coming three years, ILGA-Europe will do this through different activities, including financial support and consultancy to build strong communications abilities, grants to support targeted communications initiatives, peer learning spaces and a growing network of communications practitioners and experts. 

Since 2013, we have been offering support through analysis of message and framing on LGBTI issues, grants to support narrative development and message testing, trainings and materials on strategic communications for LGBTI organisations, skills-boost activities on basic communications skills, and facilitation of a Facebook group of LGBTI communicators, among other activities.

In 2019, we launched an assessment of communications needs of the LGBTI movement in Europe and Central Asia, to better understand what is holding LGBTI organisations and groups back. The main conclusions of this study, the largest-ever carried out specifically on communications of the LGBTI movement in the region, were twofold:

  1. Existing capacities to undertake this work are currently inadequate
  2. There is a huge untapped potential of the movement’s communications ability as we see a great wealth of communications knowledge and experience in the movement on which we can build to grow the movement’s communications capacity.

With the new programme ILGA-Europe aims to effectively close the gap between inadequate resources and the wealth of existing experience.

As part of this programme, at the end of May 2022, ILGA-Europe is opening a call for proposals for multi-year project grants to support LGBTI organisations in strengthening their own strategic communication capacities.The aim of these grants is to support organisations to make communications into one of the core functions in their work and to amplify their existing communications skills and experiences.

Main things about the call:

  • ILGA-Europe invites project proposals from LGBTI organisations and groups in Europe and Central Asia
  • We expect to make up to five multi-year project grants (each grant for the period of 2.5 years) to LGBTI organisations to develop and strengthen their communications work
  • Organisations should be able to demonstrate their existing communications experience and have a clear vision on how to develop communications as a strategic area of work
  • Grantee partners will have access to various learning opportunities and will be asked to share their own learning with ILGA-Europe and with the wider LGBTI movement
  • Following an online session for prospective applicants organised on May 12, we prepared a Q&A document about the call and the application process.

To apply please submit your application and budget to our Senior Programme’s Officer, Svetlana. Proposals should be submitted using the application form and budget template before May 29, 2022, Sunday, 23:59 (CET). For the detailed information on the aims of this call, background information and eligibility criteria, see the Call for proposals. You can also use our Guidance on reporting financial and administrative requirements while preparing your application.

If you have any questions in the preparation of your project proposal, please contact Svetlana Zakharova, ILGA-Europe’s Senior Programmes Officer: svetlana@ilga-europe.org