Thank you for your interest in the Legal Empowerment Fund. We are no longer accepting submissions for this funding cycle.
What happens next?
Applications will be accepted until February 18, 2022 (11:59pm Eastern Standard Time). The LEF will review applications and an independent grants panel made up of legal empowerment practitioners and experts will make the final grantee selections in April 2022. Short-listed organizations will receive confirmation of their eligibility and a request for additional information and documentation for due diligence purposes. You will be informed if your organization has been awarded a grant in June 2022.
Troubleshooting
We want to make the application process as easy as possible. If you encounter any difficulties, please reach out to us at lef-support@globalhumanrights.org. You can also check this page for periodic updates regarding frequently asked questions.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ELIGIBILITY
Is the work my organization considered legal empowerment?
We are accepting proposals from all groups that do legal empowerment work, regardless of whether they self-identify as legal empowerment groups. The LEF defines legal empowerment as:
Legal empowerment- combines law with organizing to build power among people affected by injustice. When people are able to know, use, and shape the law, they can access justice. With the law on their side, people are able seek peaceful solutions, protect the lands and resources they depend on, and hold their governments and other perpetrators of justice to account.
This covers a wide range of work, including legal awareness, legal response, advocacy, etc. Please keep in mind that one of the LEFs priorities is to fund organizations that use legal empowerment strategies to advance systemic change beyond individual cases.
Are law firms eligible for funding?
For-profit law firms are not eligible for LEF funding. Eligible organizations include registered or unregistered grassroots organizations i. e. , organizations that come from, are led by, and are accountable to the people most impacted by a problem. The organization can be formally or informally structured, can work within or outside of movements, and can be made up of volunteers or have paid staff.
What size grant is appropriate?
In this round of grant-making, the LEF will consider proposals for $10,000-$100,000 in annual funding, and for a period of up to two years. The amount should be at least 25% but no more than 50% of your organizations annual budget. This means we are prioritizing organizations with annual budgets of $20,000-$400,000. We will consider funding larger organizations that are doing targeted and specific legal empowerment work.
Are there any geographic restrictions?
No. We are accepting applications from all countries.
PROJECTS
What types of work is NOT funded by the LEF?
The LEF does not provide grants for: service delivery or development projects. Additionally, the LEF does not provide grants for stand-alone conferences, individuals, businesses, scholarships, fundraising events, government agencies, micro-credit programs, trade unions or trade union federations, construction of roads, bridges, buildings, wells or medical facilities, or activities directly or indirectly intended to support candidates for political office.
Can an organization submit more than one proposal for different areas of work?
No. Each organization should submit one proposal.
Can organizations submit joint proposals?
Yes, organizations can work together to submit a joint proposal.
Will the LEF support proposals geared toward knowledge creation?
Yes. The LEF will provide learning grants.
