Project Support Fund

Getting a new public program off the ground requires funds, technical know-how and promotional marketing. Through the Project Support Fund (PSF), the Coalition gives members all three of these key resources in one comprehensive grant package.

The Project Support Fund provides capacity-building grants of up to $10,000 paired with one-on-one consultations with the Coalition’s staff and other members to support the design and implementation of innovative new Sites of Conscience programs and initiatives that use the lessons of history to spark action on contemporary issues. The Project Support Fund has a rigorous application process and project grants are awarded by a peer-led Grant Review Committee.

 

2021 Global Theme: Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19

The 2021 Project Support Fund is now closed. Given the scale and severity of the pandemic, this year the Coalition’s Project Support Fund (PSF) focused on bolstering programs that enable local communities to emerge stronger from COVID-19. In particular, members were encouraged to develop innovative projects that begin to address and help alleviate the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on marginalized groups – by examining such topics as the rise in domestic violence against women, the rise in hate crimes against Asians, the ways that racism and public health intersect, and the pandemic’s impact on human rights, among others. Priority was given to replicable projects that center communities’ needs, rights and aspirations, foster a deep reflection on the root causes of social inequities, and help break cycles of exclusion, poverty, violence and discrimination.

To read about 2021 PSF Awardees, click here.

 

Who Can Apply?

The Project Support Fund is open to members of the Coalition in good standing (dues fully paid). Previous Project Support Fund recipients must wait a minimum of twelve months following the close of their most recent project to reapply.
 

What Types of Projects Are Supported?

The Project Support Fund is designed for pilot projects that allow members to try new pioneering approaches. In recent years, grant recipients have created interactive digital maps of sites of atrocities; launched dynamic traveling exhibits to reach rural children; and produced radio shows featuring intergenerational dialogue on key human rights issues.

Coalition members may apply for one of three grant categories:

  • On-Site Projects: Innovative public programs that inspire reflection and action on pressing issues, that use new technologies or methods, or that target new populations with which the site has not previously engaged. For example: human rights education programs, public dialogues on new issues, programs that aim to create or use new tools that evaluate the impact of Sites of Conscience programming.
  • Peer-Exchanges: Projects that focus on members learning from one other and promote exchange, collaboration and support between Coalition’s members, staff and Trustees. For example:
    • Staff Exchanges: a representative from one Coalition’s site might visit another to learn how it implements a specific project;
    • Consultancies: a Coalition’s site representative, Coalition’s Trustee, or Coalition’s staff member might provide expert support on a specific project;
    • Mentoring: one Coalition’s site might seek mentoring from another Coalition’s site around a specific issue or need. The mentoring site may support the applicant site’s management/administration — its fundraising, marketing, financial management – communication and programmatic development as well as other types of strategic guidance.
  • Advocacy Projects or Missions: a Coalition’s site Director, Coalition’s Trustee, and/or Coalition’s staff member might travel to a Coalition’s site to advocate for the site, sharing their international experience with local communities, authorities, or media to help legitimize and build public support for a site or a project.

For more information, please check out our PSF guidelines listed at the end of this page.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Coalition’s Secretariat prior to submitting an application, and well in advance of the submission deadline. For a list 2020 PSF awardees and their projects, please click here. Below are selected examples of final reports presented by recent PSF Awardees.

You can also visit our Resource Center to find more PSF reports, applications, and proposals.

PSF Guidelines

English Spanish French Arabic