International Social Work and Global Issues
Cross-national and global research, humanitarian response, and social development.
116 opportunities · 26 traditional · 90 nontraditional
Traditional (26)
- Grants and open callsFoundation grantOpen Society FoundationsRights-based funding across justice, migration, health and democratic practice in many countries, including research done with movements rather than only about them.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Discovery and health research fundingFoundation grantWellcomeA large international funder whose mental health, climate and health, and discovery research portfolios all fund social science, with awards that can be held outside the United Kingdom.$500k–$5M · Periodic calls
- Fogarty Emerging Global Leader Award (K43 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed) — PAR-24-296Federal fellowshipFogarty International Center, NIHA mentored career development award that buys protected research time for a junior faculty member at an academic or research institution in a low- or middle-income country, so that they can become an independent investigator based in their own country rather than emigrating. Three to five years of support, with a substantial salary contribution and a separate research development allowance for supplies, tuition, travel, statistical services and mentor communication. This is one of the very few NIH mechanisms where the award is held by an LMIC institution and the LMIC scholar is the PI rather tup to $100k per year · Annual cycle · Dec
- AAUW International FellowshipsFellowshipAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW)Supports women who are not U.S. citizens in full-time postgraduate study or research in the United States, running continuously since 1917. Master's and doctoral levels are funded at different rates, and fellows are expected to apply their expertise in service of their home countries — a fit for international and global social work scholarship.$20k–$25k stipend · Annual cycle · Aug, Sep
- Ford-LASA Special Projects GrantsFoundation grantLatin American Studies AssociationGrants for transregional research initiatives, conferences, working groups, and curriculum or teaching resource development in Latin American and Latino studies. Proposals are limited to five single-spaced pages.up to $13k · Periodic calls · Sep
- Horizon Europe Cluster 2: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive SocietyFederal grantEuropean Commission – European Research Executive Agency (REA)The social science pillar of the EU's research programme, and by budget the largest single source of European funding for welfare and inequality research. Three destinations structure it: democracy and governance, cultural heritage and the creative industries, and social and economic transformations — the last carrying 2026 topics on strengthening Europe's social model, tackling child poverty and rethinking long-term care policy, all directly commissioning social work evidence. Funding is by multi-country consortium, which makes it a route for a social work faculty to join or lead a cross-natiAmount not published · Annual cycle · Sep, Oct
- Social Science and Humanities Research Thematic Grant (SSHR-TG)Federal grantSocial Science Research Council, SingaporeSingapore's flagship competitive grant for social science and humanities research on issues of strategic relevance to Singapore and the region, run by the Social Science Research Council. Three funding tiers scale from a single project up to a multi-year research centre, so it can carry anything from a focused study to sustained programmatic work on ageing, family, mental health or social policy. Joint submissions across eligible host institutions are permitted, and collaboration with local or overseas partner organisations is allowed.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jun, Aug
- MSCA Postdoctoral FellowshipsFellowshipEuropean Commission – European Research Executive Agency (REA)Europe's largest individual postdoctoral fellowship, open to every discipline and to researchers of any nationality, funding a move to a host organisation in another country for advanced training and an independent project. The inter-sectoral strand matters for this field: the host can be a non-academic organisation, so a social work postdoc can be based in an NGO, a public agency or a service provider rather than a university department. Because the fellowship is portable and the project is the applicant's own, it is one of the few European routes to genuine early-career independence across bAmount not published · Annual cycle · Sep
- Fulbright U.S. Scholar ProgramFederal fellowshipU.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (administered by IIE)The flagship U.S. government fellowship sending faculty and professionals abroad to teach, conduct research, or carry out professional projects, with more than 380 awards in more than 120 countries each cycle. Social work faculty apply into open social sciences awards or country-specific awards; a dedicated school-of-social-work award listing exists in the catalogue.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Sep
- Fulbright U.S. Student Program — Study/Research AwardFederal fellowshipU.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (administered by IIE)The Study/Research award lets an applicant design an original project in a chosen country for a full academic year abroad. It is the main pre-doctoral international research route for MSW graduates and early doctoral students in social work, covering fieldwork on migration, global social welfare, or community practice.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Sep, Oct
- Racial Diversity UK FundFoundation grantNuffield FoundationResearch grants on racial inequalities, discrimination and disadvantage in the UK. The 2026 round's priority theme is inter-generational change in a racially diverse UK, covering identity, civic participation and life chances.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Oct
- SRA International Young Scholars Program (IYSP)Training & capacitySociety for Research on AdolescenceA mentored program bringing adolescence researchers based in low- and middle-income countries to the SRA biennial meeting, pairing them with senior mentors. Provides complimentary registration plus a travel stipend, building international research capacity and networks. Relevant to global social work researchers studying youth development outside high-income settings.$1k stipend · Periodic calls
- SVRI Research GrantFoundation grantSexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)An annual research grant for work on violence against women and violence against children in low- and middle-income countries, requiring feminist, intersectional and rights-based approaches and safe, ethical engagement of affected communities.$40k–$100k · Annual cycle · Jul, Aug
- Institutional Grants (Democratic Governance and Education)Foundation grantTinker FoundationGrants to organisations working in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Latin America. Eligible activities explicitly include applied research, evaluation, community engagement, workshops, and scaling up promising interventions.$50k–$150k per year · Annual cycle · Jan
- Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian PrizePrize or challengeConrad N. Hilton FoundationAn annual unrestricted prize to a nonprofit organisation working to alleviate human suffering. Selected from a worldwide call for nominations, with due diligence on a shortlist and a final decision by an independent international jury.$3M · Annual cycle
- IASSW International Projects GrantPilot / seed fundingInternational Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW)Small grants of US $3,500 for collaborative international projects run by IASSW member schools, covering direct research costs such as data collection, analysis, dissemination and partner workshops.$4k · Periodic calls
- Humanities and Social Sciences research programs (Academic Research Fellowships and career-stage grants)Federal grantNational Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)Korea's national research funder runs a laddered set of humanities and social sciences programs spanning master's and doctoral student fellowships, Academic Research Fellowships for PhD holders without a permanent post, and career-stage research grants for early-career, mid-career and distinguished scholars. It also runs domestic and international collaborative research grants and larger International Research Group and Institute grants. The international tracks are the realistic entry point for a non-Korean social work researcher, who joins as a collaborator on a Korea-based lead's grant.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jun
- JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan (Standard)FellowshipJapan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)A 12 to 24 month funded postdoctoral fellowship placing an overseas researcher with a host researcher at a Japanese university or research institute, explicitly open to all fields of the humanities and social sciences. The host applies on the fellow's behalf and can separately seek a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow to cover the cooperative research costs, so the fellowship carries both salary-equivalent support and a route to project money. A viable path for a social work researcher pursuing comparative or Japan-focused work on ageing, family policy or welfare systems.Amount not published · Several times a year
- LAUNCH — Global Health Program for Fellows and ScholarsFellowshipFogarty International Center, NIHFogarty's flagship trainee pathway: one year of mentored global health research training at established biomedical and health research institutions and project sites in low- and middle-income countries. Fogarty funds seven consortia (ACHIEVE, Global Health Emerging Scholars, INSIGHT, NPGH LEADERs, HBNU, UJMT and GLOCAL), each with its own sites, mentors and application process, and trainees apply directly to a consortium rather than to NIH. For a social work doctoral student or postdoc, this is a route into field-based global research on mental health, HIV care engagement, maternal and child wAmount not published · Annual cycle · Sep, Oct, Nov
- Templeton Religion Trust GrantsFoundation grantTempleton Religion TrustFunds work across Covenantal Pluralism, the Program in the Study of Mysticism, the Social Consequences of Religion, and Art, Science and Futures of Religion. The Social Consequences of Religion strand asks whether religions are good or bad for society — directly relevant to social work research on religion, cohesion and wellbeing. Listed here so researchers know the route exists and how it actually works.Not a cash award · By invitation
- Gender, Race & Power ProgramFoundation grantHispanics in PhilanthropyLong-term flexible funding plus capacity building and learning resources for grassroots racial- and gender-justice organisations across the Americas, using an intersectional and transnational lens.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Migration & Forced Displacement ProgramFoundation grantHispanics in PhilanthropyMultinational regranting intermediary supporting frontline migrant-serving organisations, with an emphasis on targeted, community-informed and rapid-response capacity.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship ProgramFellowshipJacobs FoundationThree-year fellowship for early- and mid-career researchers working on the learning and development of children and youth, with funds paid to the fellow's institution and usable for salary, staff, equipment or travel.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Feb
- Mama Cash grant funds (Resilience, Solidarity, Spark, Revolution, Radical Love)Foundation grantMama CashMulti-year and annual grants to feminist, women's, girls', trans and intersex rights groups that are self-led by the communities they serve. Separate funds with distinct sizes and application windows.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Apr, Aug
- Wellcome Discovery AwardsFoundation grantWellcome TrustLong research programme funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline, including social science, pursuing work that shifts understanding of human life, health and wellbeing.Amount not published · Several times a year · Sep
- MSCA Postdoctoral FellowshipsFederal fellowshipEuropean Commission – Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (Horizon Europe)Individual postdoctoral fellowships supporting a mobility-based research and training project in any discipline, including social policy and social work research, at a European or global host.Amount not published · Annual cycle
Nontraditional (90)
- International and US grantmakingParticipatory grantmakingAstraea Lesbian Foundation for JusticeOne of the longest-running LGBTQI funders, resourcing movement-led groups worldwide including their own documentation and research work.$5k–$75k · Periodic calls
- Grantmaking to organisations of persons with disabilitiesParticipatory grantmakingDisability Rights FundParticipatory grantmaking where disabled people sit on the panel that decides awards, funding disabled-led organisations in the global South to do their own research and advocacy.$5k–$60k · Periodic calls
- Transition to Scale and innovation fundingPrize or challengeGrand Challenges CanadaStage-gated funding for bold ideas in global health and development — including mental health and humanitarian innovation — where evidence generation is a condition of moving to the next stage.$100k–$1M · Periodic calls
- Grants on migration and belongingFoundation grantUnbound PhilanthropyFunds immigrant and refugee organisations and the narrative, legal and research work that supports them, in the United States and the United Kingdom.$50k–$500k · By invitation
- 2027 Indigenous Community Media Fund Call for ProposalsParticipatory grantmakingCultural SurvivalGrants to Indigenous community radio stations, communicator collectives, and media outlets for community storytelling, documentation, and media capacity building, with an environmental-justice and climate priority for the 2027 round.$2k–$12k · Annual cycle · Aug
- Wellcome Snakebite Innovation PrizePrize or challengeChallenge Works (prize funded by Wellcome)A challenge prize for innovations that strengthen community response to snakebite, speed access to appropriate care, or improve treatment delivery in high-burden settings. Runs on prize stages, not a grant application.up to $6.3M · Periodic calls · Sep
- Disability Rights Fund 2026 Grant RoundParticipatory grantmakingDisability Rights FundGrants direct to organisations of persons with disabilities to advance disability rights advocacy. Decision-making is led by disabled people, and grants support 12 months of organisation-defined work.up to $50k · Annual cycle · Jun, Aug
- Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian PrizePrize or challengeConrad N. Hilton FoundationA $3 million unrestricted prize to a nonprofit alleviating human suffering. There is no application: a third party who knows the work must nominate the organisation during an open nomination window.$3M · Annual cycle · May, Apr
- Mulheres que Transformam o Futuro — Apoio a Soluções Comunitárias para a Resiliência Climática e a Justiça SocioambientalParticipatory grantmakingFundo Casa Socioambiental (Casa Fund)An open call from Brazil's Casa Socioambiental Fund supporting women-led community solutions for climate resilience and socio-environmental justice. The call funds up to 35 projects nationwide, with priority for women in traditional communities and for work on climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation. At least three grants are earmarked for women's associations producing agroecological cotton in the Brazilian semiarid. Casa Fund is a participatory grassroots fund: grantees are community associations, so a social work researcher would join as a documentation, evaluation or accompanimentAmount not published · Periodic calls · Jul, Aug
- Nexa Funding Opportunity: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (climate x health)Prize or challengeGrand Challenges CanadaA challenge-fund call for innovations helping local health actors address climate-driven health risks — mosquito-borne infection, extreme heat, and poor air quality — through early warning systems and climate-responsive patient care.Amount not published · Periodic calls · Aug
- Kluz Prize for PeaceTechPrize or challengeKluz FoundationAn annual prize recognising people and organisations using emerging technology to reduce conflict, build peace and safeguard human dignity. Application is a short structured form, not a grant proposal.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jun, Jul, Aug
- Nexa Funding Opportunity: Africa, Latin America and the CaribbeanPrize or challengeGrand Challenges CanadaA challenge fund for locally led solutions helping health systems anticipate and respond to climate-driven health threats: extreme heat, poor air quality and mosquito-borne disease. Transition-to-Scale applications are open.Amount not published · Periodic calls · Aug
- Sparkplug Foundation GrantsFoundation grantSparkplug FoundationSmall foundation making grants to start-up and grassroots organizations for one-year activities, with a two-stage letter-of-inquiry then full-application process opening each September.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Sep, Nov
- CIVICUS Crisis Response FundRapid-response fundCIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen ParticipationA rolling rapid-response fund for civil society facing sudden restriction, supporting both advocacy responses to unexpected civic-space closures and resiliency or emergency measures for groups under immediate threat. Applications are accepted year-round with no fixed deadline, and funded activities run three to six months. Coalitions of two or more co-applicants can request a larger budget than a single organisation. For social work research this is the instrument that keeps a community research partner operating — security, legal defence, organisational resilience — when a coup, a new NGO law$10k–$20k · Rolling / open
- CIVICUS Solidarity FundParticipatory grantmakingCIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen ParticipationA member-led and member-resourced granting mechanism inside the CIVICUS alliance, designed to move small amounts of money to constituency-led groups that structurally cannot reach institutional donors. Priority goes to organisations of women, youth, people with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ people, labour groups, Indigenous peoples and rural communities, and to applicants in countries the CIVICUS Monitor rates closed, repressed or obstructed — which covers much of francophone West Africa and the Sahel. Eligible costs include core operating costs, legal action, media coverage, safety measures and commu$1k–$10k · Periodic calls
- Disability Rights Fund — OPD GrantsParticipatory grantmakingDisability Rights FundA grantmaking collaborative in which persons with disabilities sit on the bodies that decide grants, funding organisations of persons with disabilities in the Global South to advance the CRPD, including their own advocacy research and documentation.$10k–$120k · Annual cycle · May, Jun
- Keepers of the Earth FundParticipatory grantmakingCultural SurvivalAn Indigenous-led fund whose awards are approved by an internal committee made up mainly of members of different Indigenous Peoples, supporting community-designed projects in land rights, language revitalization, climate action, and traditional knowledge.up to $12k · Periodic calls
- Black Feminist Fund — Sustain Fund and Solidarity FundParticipatory grantmakingBlack Feminist FundTwo participatory funds resourcing Black feminist movements globally: multi-year core support (Sustain) and shorter solidarity/convening grants. A Grant Review Committee of movement people makes the final funding decisions, not staff.$20k–$200k · Periodic calls
- LGBTIQ+ Emergency Support Fund (Small Grants for Community-Led Rapid Response and Advocacy in Asia-Pacific)Rapid-response fundAPCOMSmall, fast grants for LGBTIQ+ community-led groups across Asia and the Pacific responding to human rights violations, shrinking civic space and other urgent threats. Documentation and monitoring of violations are explicitly eligible.up to $5k · Periodic calls · Jun
- Incident Emergency FundRapid-response fundDigital Defenders PartnershipRolling emergency fund for human rights defenders, journalists and activists under digital attack — replacing seized or damaged equipment, hardening systems, and covering psychological impacts so documentation work can continue.up to $5k · Rolling / open
- Protection GrantsRapid-response fundFront Line DefendersEmergency protection grants for human rights defenders at risk — physical and digital security, legal fees under judicial harassment, medical costs after attack — sustaining the capacity to keep documenting abuses.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- Opportunity GrantRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund for Feminist ActivismFast small grants for activist groups facing an unanticipated, time-sensitive opening, covering advocacy and work to raise awareness, influence policy and shift public discourse. Decisions come within 15 business days.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- Crisis Response FundRapid-response fundCIVICUSRolling grants for civil society groups hit by new or escalating restrictions on assembly, association or expression — funding advocacy campaigns, counter-narrative work, digital security and collective care.up to $20k · Rolling / open
- ISDAO Regional Call for Grant ProposalsParticipatory grantmakingInitiative Sankofa d'Afrique de l'Ouest (ISDAO)An activist-led West African fund whose volunteer Activists Grant Making Panel decides all grants. Three tiers of flexible support for LGBTQI-led groups, including advocacy, capacity building and knowledge work.$5k–$90k · Periodic calls · Sep, Oct
- Zayed Sustainability Prize — Health categoryPrize or challengeZayed Sustainability Prize (United Arab Emirates)An annual global prize with a Health category awarding US$1,000,000 to an organisation delivering affordable healthcare access in underserved settings. No grant paperwork — a submission-and-jury process.$150k–$1M · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
- Security Grants and Opportunity GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund for Feminist ActivismRolling rapid-response grants to feminist activists, organisations and movements — Security Grants when safety is at risk, Opportunity Grants for advocacy, awareness raising, policy influence and shifting public discourse.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- Karibu New Realities Grant (Africa Grantmaking Programme)Participatory grantmakingKaribu Foundation (Norway)An African-led participatory programme in which a Core Group of African activists sets its own eligibility rules and makes the funding decisions, backing 'constructive troublemaking' ideas that disrupt structural injustice.$5k–$15k · Annual cycle · Jun, Jul, Aug
- PICAN Climate Justice FundRapid-response fundPacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN)A community-driven re-granting model that moves climate and disaster money directly to Pacific frontline communities on the vouching of a trusted local node partner, with no formal proposal required.$2k–$7k · Rolling / open
- Opus PrizePrize or challengeOpus Prize FoundationA $1 million award to one faith-motivated social entrepreneur solving a persistent social problem, with two $100,000 finalist awards. Winners are surfaced through a partner Catholic university that hosts that year's award.$100k–$1M · Annual cycle · Nov
- inroads FellowshipsIn-kind resourceinroads (International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma)Themed cohort fellowships for network members who produce a personal or collective resource on abortion stigma, combining a stipend with structured collective learning and global dissemination.$2k stipend · Periodic calls
- Refugee Leadership Fund (RLO-to-RLO Fund)Participatory grantmakingResourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative, housed at Asylum AccessA fund described as "for refugees by refugees" that aggregates contributions and redistributes them directly to refugee-led organizations, with Boost grants for newer groups and Advance grants for established ones.$25k–$200k per year · Periodic calls
- Skoll Award for Social InnovationPrize or challengeSkoll FoundationA $2 million unrestricted award to fewer than ten organisations a year that are scaling proven social innovations. Candidates are sourced by the foundation over several years rather than through an open call.$2M · By invitation
- Security Grant (rapid response)Rapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund for Feminist ActivismRapid grants for feminist activists and groups facing unanticipated, time-urgent safety and security risks. Receipt confirmed within 24 hours and decisions made within 15 business days.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- AI for Good Innovation FactoryPrize or challengeInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU), United NationsThe UN's global pitching competition for AI solutions to social and development challenges, run as monthly regional and thematic rounds feeding a Grand Finale at the AI for Good Global Summit.$20k · Several times a year · Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May
- Rapid Response Grants and Enabling Defenders GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific (UAF A&P)Grants of up to USD 5,000 to women and non-binary human rights defenders and their movements across Asia and the Pacific, accepted in any language, any day of the year, with a response in 72 hours.up to $5k · Rolling / open
- Survivor Leadership FundParticipatory grantmakingThe Freedom FundUnrestricted grants to organisations led by people with lived experience of trafficking and exploitation, covering programmes, staff and office costs, with country-specific application rounds.up to $20k per year · Periodic calls · Apr, May
- Youth Climate Justice Fund — Annual Open CallParticipatory grantmakingYouth Climate Justice FundFlexible grants of up to $40,000 to youth-led climate justice and socio-environmental groups worldwide, with regional youth committees reviewing and deciding awards.up to $40k · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar
- SPARC (Social work with groups: Practice, Advocacy, Research and Community) GrantsPilot / seed fundingInternational Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG)Small seed grants and formal endorsement for innovative group-work projects in practice, education, training or research. Since 2013, 49 of 71 endorsed projects received funding totalling about $40,000.$400–$1k · Several times a year · Jun, Nov
- Projects for PeacePrize or challengeProjects for Peace (administered by Middlebury College)A competitive student award giving $10,000 to design and carry out a peacebuilding project, usually over the summer. Winners run the project themselves, including any documentation or assessment of it.$10k · Annual cycle
- Daily Seed GrantsPilot / seed fundingThe Pollination ProjectSeed grants of up to $500 to individuals, informal groups and small nonprofits worldwide for community-change projects already underway. Reviewed monthly on a rolling basis.$500 · Rolling / open · Jan, Feb, Mar
- Leading From The South — Asia window (Women's Fund Asia)Participatory grantmakingWomen's Fund AsiaThe Asia window of Leading From The South, a Global-South-led consortium fund in which Southern women's funds — not Northern intermediaries — make the grant decisions. Women's Fund Asia awards multi-year grants in three tiers to organisations and networks led by women, girls, trans and intersex people working on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate justice and economic justice. The tiers reach from community-level frontline work through national advocacy to regional agenda-setting, and the multi-year form is long enough to carry evaluation and evidence-builAmount not published · Periodic calls
- Apoyos de Respuesta Rápida (rapid response grants)Rapid-response fundFondo de Acción Urgente de América Latina y el Caribe (FAU-LAC)FAU-LAC is a feminist rapid-response fund working across 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It offers three funding modalities, of which the Apoyo de Respuesta Rápida (ARRS) is the flagship: grants for the protection, integral security and collective care of movements in the region facing risks and threats, and for groups building transformations against systems of oppression and injustice. Requests are made through a dedicated intake portal rather than a fixed-date competition, which makes it a viable channel for urgent security, protection and accompaniment needs arising in theAmount not published · Rolling / open
- AWDF Grants (Call for Proposals)Participatory grantmakingAfrican Women's Development FundAWDF is a pan-African feminist fund based in Accra that resources women's rights and feminist organisations, collectives and movement actors across Africa, with deliberate emphasis on groups historically excluded from funding — nascent and grassroots organisations, unregistered groups and movements that mainstream donors treat as too risky. Its last cycle offered five distinct grant types aimed at those actors. Grants can carry organisational strengthening, knowledge production and learning/networking work, so a community organisation partnered with a social work researcher can use AWDF money Amount not published · Periodic calls
- CODESRIA Grants and FellowshipsTraining & capacityCouncil for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)CODESRIA, headquartered in Dakar and operating fully in French and English, is the pan-African social science research council and the single most important non-Northern funder of African social research careers. Its grants and fellowships strand now runs through the College of Senior Academic Mentors, which pairs doctoral students registered at African universities with senior diaspora academics for proposal and chapter feedback, reading materials, methodological guidance and conference networking; Support to Doctoral Schools, which funds humanities and social science doctoral schools to run Amount not published · Annual cycle
- Doria Feminist Fund — Core, Project and Knowledge Production GrantsParticipatory grantmakingDoria Feminist FundA MENA-region feminist fund making core, project and knowledge-production grants to feminist organisations and collectives based in or working across the Middle East and North Africa. Decisions are made participatorily: an activist review committee reviews applications, gives feedback, builds the shortlist against movement priorities, joins due diligence and confirms the final grantees. The knowledge-production stream is the direct route for community-based research, documentation and evidence-building; core support funds the organisational capacity that makes such work possible.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- FemFund Poland — MiniGrants, Multi-year and Intervention GrantsParticipatory grantmakingFundusz Feministyczny (FemFund)A Polish feminist fund built on participatory grantmaking in its strict sense: the fund states that the people who take part in a call decide who the money goes to. Three streams run — MiniGrants for informal groups, collectives and NGOs, multi-year grants for sustained work, and intervention grants for urgent needs. Money is deliberately routed to villages and small towns as well as cities, which makes it a route for locally-grounded participatory research and community documentation that a mainstream Polish research council would not reach.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Fondo Integral and Fondo ActivistaParticipatory grantmakingFondo AlquimiaFondo Alquimia is Chile's feminist fund, working for the human rights and social justice of women, children, trans persons and sexual and gender diversities. It runs two funding lines. Fondo Integral gives direct contributions to organisations' work plans, covering operational and activist costs, and pairs money with horizontal partnership, visibility support and workshops on feminist financial administration and communications. Fondo Activista provides contingent, rapid-disbursement support for public actions, rights-violation and crisis situations, and movement commemorations. The fund reporAmount not published · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
- Kosovo Women's FundParticipatory grantmakingKosovo Women's NetworkA small-grants fund run by the Kosovo Women's Network for women's organisations in Kosovo and the surrounding region, weighted toward groups serving rural and marginalised women and girls. Grants are small and flexible, and every grant is paired with tailored capacity development — grant writing, project management, financial management and advocacy — so the fund is as much a capacity-building instrument as a money instrument. That pairing is what lets a small rural organisation become a credible research or evaluation partner.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Mulago Foundation Fellows and Portfolio FundingPilot / seed fundingMulago FoundationA design-for-impact funder that combines grants with debt or equity where the structure fits, and pairs money with explicit training in impact measurement and scaling strategy. The measurement training is the substantive draw for this database: Mulago's model is built on defining and tracking a single outcome metric, so a funded organization becomes a natural partner for rigorous outcome research, and the training itself builds evaluation capacity inside the organization.Amount not published · By invitation
- Nia Tero Programs (Policy, Organizational Strengthening, Biocultural Monitoring)In-kind resourceNia TeroNia Tero describes itself as the leading funder advancing Indigenous peoples' guardianship, reporting more than USD 125 million in direct funding to 274 distinct Indigenous peoples covering over 130 million hectares of lands and waters. It works through three programmes: Policy, which builds Indigenous representation and access in policy spaces; Organizational Strengthening, which resources the self-determined institutional needs of Indigenous peoples; and Biocultural Monitoring, which is explicitly Indigenous-led data sovereignty — community-controlled monitoring and evidence about territorieAmount not published · By invitation
- Renewed Women's Voice and Leadership – Bangladesh (RWVL-B)Participatory grantmakingManusher Jonno FoundationA national intermediary fund in Bangladesh that re-grants multi-year core funding to grassroots women's rights, feminist and community-based organisations and to networks led and managed by women and gender-diverse groups. The support is deliberately institutional rather than project-bound — institutional strengthening, grassroots implementation and movement-building — and applications open with a short Expression of Interest accepted in Bangla or English, which lowers the barrier for organisations that could never assemble a donor-standard English proposal. Manusher Jonno works across 53 distAmount not published · Periodic calls · Sep
- Trag Foundation Open Calls — Fund for Young Feminists, Green Ideas, Active CommunitiesParticipatory grantmakingTrag Foundation (Serbia)Serbia's main community-philanthropy foundation, running a standing set of open calls rather than a single programme: a Fund for Young Feminists, Green Ideas for solidarity-economy and environmental initiatives, Active Communities for local civic action, and a strategic grant for good governance. The Active Communities line is explicitly aimed at community-based groups initiating change in their own localities, which is the natural home for a community-partnered study or local evaluation in the Western Balkans. Trag reports 2,400+ projects supported across 250 communities over 26 years.Amount not published · Several times a year
- TrustAfrica GrantmakingFoundation grantTrustAfricaAn African-led foundation headquartered in Dakar that has moved over USD 80 million through more than 600 grants to civil society organisations in 34 African countries since 2006, currently distributing roughly USD 2 million a year in partnership with other philanthropies. Its three initiative areas are democratic governance (social movements, youth leadership, rights work), equitable development (illicit financial flows, smallholder farmer policy, higher education reform) and African philanthropy, where it funds research on the field itself. Its Senegal base and francophone working capacity mAmount not published · Periodic calls
- CODESRIA Meaning-making Research Initiative (MRI)Foundation grantCouncil for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)CODESRIA's flagship research grant strand, funding interpretive and explanatory research on African social realities and futures, with diversity and gender treated as central rather than optional questions. Applications may be individual or from groups of three to five members drawn from one country or several, which makes it a genuine vehicle for cross-border francophone-anglophone West African teams. A dedicated stream funds groups headed by female scholars and composed of women only, with rare justified exceptions. Grants run on a strict 16-month lifespan and budgets must be built to that. Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar
- Fund for Innovation in Development (FID) Call for ProjectsPilot / seed fundingFund for Innovation in Development (Fonds d'innovation pour le développement)FID is a Paris-based, francophone-anchored fund backing promising ideas with high potential impact against poverty and inequality, and it is unusual in that its whole architecture is built around evidence: funding is released in seven successive stages matched to a project's maturity, so an idea can move from small pilot through rigorous evaluation to scale without changing funder. It explicitly finances research institutions alongside NGOs, governments and companies, which makes it one of the few nontraditional funders where a social work researcher can be the applicant rather than a subcontrAmount not published · Rolling / open
- Tenure Facility Partner ProjectsIn-kind resourceInternational Land and Forest Tenure FacilityThe Tenure Facility provides grants and technical assistance directly to Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant peoples and local communities and their partner organisations to secure legal recognition of collective land and forest rights. It works across Africa, Asia and Latin America, with African projects including the Republic of Congo, and it is deliberately structured to be flexible and direct so communities can move at the speed the threat demands rather than the speed a donor cycle allows. Funded work routinely includes participatory mapping, documentation of customary tenure, legal and aAmount not published · By invitation
- Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific — Rapid Response GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund Asia & PacificA feminist rapid-response fund for women and non-binary activists and organisations under threat across Asia and the Pacific. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis rather than against deadlines, and the fund also runs strategic support for defender communities alongside the emergency window. For research-adjacent work the relevant uses are security, relocation, urgent documentation of violations and protecting the people and records a longer evidence project depends on — the kind of cost no conventional research grant will move fast enough to cover.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Global Innovation FundFoundation grantGlobal Innovation FundA development innovation fund that backs early-stage innovations with proven potential to improve the lives of people living in poverty, using flexible capital across grants, equity and debt. Priority investment geographies are Africa and Asia, and stated thematic areas are building climate resilience and unlocking inclusive economic opportunities with an emphasis on women and girls, across agriculture, education, health, gender equality and financial and social inclusion. Notably for social work research, the fund states explicitly that research institutions may apply, which makes a universitAmount not published · Rolling / open
- Zayed Sustainability PrizePrize or challengeZayed Sustainability Prize (United Arab Emirates)An annual global prize, in its 18th year, awarding across six categories — Health, Food, Energy, Water, Climate Action and Global High Schools — to enterprises, nonprofit organisations and schools delivering transformative sustainability solutions. The Health and Climate Action categories reach the same terrain as social work's environmental justice and community health work, and the award functions as implementation and scaling money for the winning organisation rather than as a personal honorarium, which is what makes it usable by a community organisation working with a researcher.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
- Ukrainian Women's Fund — Calls for ProposalsParticipatory grantmakingUkrainian Women's FundA Ukrainian women's fund operating since 2000 that has run hundreds of grant competitions for women's and feminist NGOs and is currently reshaping its support around wartime needs. Its recent, now-closed calls show the shape of what it funds and are a fair guide to what returns: implementation of regional National Action Plan 1325 commitments by coalitions, pilot projects addressing conflict-related sexual violence, travel grants for activists, and support for women entrepreneurs creating jobs. The 1325 and CRSV lines are directly research- and evaluation-adjacent for social work scholars workAmount not published · Periodic calls
- Lipman Family PrizePrize or challengeUniversity of Pennsylvania — The Wharton SchoolAn annual global prize run out of the Wharton School that celebrates leadership and innovation in the social sector with an emphasis on impact and the transferability of practices. Beyond cash, winners receive engagement with Penn faculty and students, which is the feature that makes it relevant to a research database: the prize routinely pairs awarded organisations with university analytic capacity to document and transfer what works. Focus areas visible on the site include economic development, environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation, gender equality and food security, and 2026 winAmount not published · Annual cycle
- Yidan Prize (Education Research and Education Development)Prize or challengeYidan Prize FoundationTwo annual prizes — one for Education Research, recognising researchers whose work strengthens teaching and learning, and one for Education Development, recognising leaders advancing practice through innovative interventions. Each laureate receives a gold medal, a cash prize of HK$15 million (shared equally for teams) and a project fund of HK$15 million. The project-fund half is the reason this belongs in a research funding database: it is money to be spent extending the winning work, so it functions as a large unsolicited research and implementation grant rather than a purely honorific award.Amount not published · Annual cycle
- Elrha funding calls (R2HC research and Humanitarian Innovation Fund)Rapid-response fundElrhaThe single portal where Elrha posts its humanitarian research and innovation calls, including crisis-triggered R2HC calls for research responding to current or anticipated humanitarian health emergencies.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Government of the Virgin Islands Procurement Opportunities (GVIBUY)Evaluation contractU.S. Virgin Islands Department of Property and ProcurementThe USVI's central procurement office posts all territorial government solicitations, including professional-services and evaluation work, through GVIBUY. Registration in the system is the route to bidding on territory-funded social research.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Robert Carr Fund for civil society networksParticipatory grantmakingRobert Carr FundA pooled international fund giving core, flexible, multiyear support to global and regional civil society networks led by inadequately served populations, including networks of people who use drugs. Decision-making is explicitly participatory with those communities.Amount not published · Periodic calls · May
- Emergency Assistance ProgramRapid-response fundFreedom HouseStanding emergency assistance for human rights defenders and civil society organisations under threat, including rapid response advocacy and opportunity grants and resiliency grants for security training and threat mitigation.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Mama Cash grantmaking (Solidarity Fund and Spark Fund)Participatory grantmakingMama CashFlexible, long-term core support for self-led feminist groups — people who speak and act for themselves from lived experience of stigma, violence, exploitation and exclusion — including accompaniment beyond the grant.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- GFCF Small Grants for Community Philanthropy OrganisationsTraining & capacityGlobal Fund for Community Foundations (South Africa)Small grants to build the capacity of community philanthropy organisations worldwide, explicitly including those piloting participatory grantmaking — one of the few sources that funds the infrastructure of community-led funding itself.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Prague Civil Society Centre Grants — Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central AsiaFoundation grantPrague Civil Society CentreOne of the few grantmakers that treats Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia as a single working region, awarding institutional core support, project support, emergency support and small follow-up grants across 12 countries. The follow-up grants are unusual and useful: participants in the Centre's events and workshops can get small grants to carry an idea forward, a low-friction route into funded work for groups with no grant history. Selection is competitive and uses external experts, and some calls are invitation-based rather than open.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- FundActionParticipatory grantmakingFundActionActivist-led participatory fund for Europe that shifts funding decisions from funders to activists. Members apply for grants and are required to review each other's applications and vote on what gets funded.Amount not published · Several times a year
- Tewa Grantmaking to Nepali Women's GroupsParticipatory grantmakingTewa — Nepal Women's FundNepal's own women's fund, built on locally raised money and volunteer grant committees rather than on a foreign donor's programme cycle — the model that made Tewa a reference case for community philanthropy in South Asia. It raises funds that go directly to diverse Nepali women's organisations and groups, including groups in districts that international funders rarely reach. For a social work researcher this is a route to community-embedded partners and to the kind of local, small-group grantee that participatory and community-based research depends on.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- Disability Justice Funds (participatory grant-making)Participatory grantmakingADD InternationalFunds designed and awarded by panels of disabled women and young disabled people themselves, resourcing grassroots disabled people's organisations in Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Cambodia and Bangladesh.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- FRIDA Young Feminist Fund — Call for ApplicationsParticipatory grantmakingFRIDA | The Young Feminist FundA fund run by young feminists where the applicants themselves are the panel: every group that applies votes for the top proposals in its regional voting group, and non-voting groups are disqualified.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Global Resilience FundRapid-response fundPurposeful (Global Resilience Fund)A pooled crisis-response fund that moves flexible money to girls and young feminists responding to acute and protracted emergencies, steered by local young advisors and an Activist Stewarding Circle.Amount not published · By invitation
- HIPGiveCrowdfundingHispanics in PhilanthropyA bilingual crowdfunding platform built for Latino nonprofits in the US and Latin America, with sponsor matching funds and fundraising training attached, usable to raise money for documentation and community research projects.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Pawanka FundParticipatory grantmakingPawanka FundAn Indigenous-led global fund that supports Indigenous peoples' own initiatives on traditional knowledge, wellbeing, rights and self-determined development. Its method, which it calls LAN Pawanka, is explicitly learning-by-doing and step-by-step, and it describes the Indigenous peoples it funds as local partners rather than grantees — the participatory-grantmaking posture where the constituency governs the money. It is one of the few funds whose remit directly names traditional knowledge, which is the ground on which Indigenous-led evaluation, intergenerational knowledge transmission and commuAmount not published · Varies by programme
- Fondo Lunaria Convocatorias (open calls for young women and trans youth collectives)Participatory grantmakingFondo Lunaria Mujer (Colombia)A Colombian feminist fund whose recurring calls resource collective processes led by young women and trans people, including groups with no legal registration and groups far from Bogota.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- General Grants (Namaqualand Daisy, Inyosi, Hungwe, Mosu)Foundation grantThe Other FoundationA Southern African LGBTI community foundation with four grant streams, including one that funds individual activists, artists and researchers directly rather than through an institution.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- International Trans Fund Grants (SEED and THRIVE)Participatory grantmakingInternational Trans FundA global participatory fund governed by trans activists that resources trans-led groups doing movement-building work anywhere in the world, through one open grantmaking cycle each year.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Oct, Nov, Dec
- Slovak-Czech Women's Fund GrantsParticipatory grantmakingSlovak-Czech Women's FundA binational women's fund covering Slovakia and Czechia — a corner of Central Europe that lost most of its dedicated gender funding when the large post-accession donor programmes wound down. The fund lists grants alongside its own programmes and projects, supporting women and girls to pursue their ambitions. It is included here as a live regional funder for community-partnered work in the two countries, with the caveat below about how little it publishes in English.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- International Trans Fund GrantsParticipatory grantmakingInternational Trans FundGrants to trans-led groups, decided through a trans-led grantmaking panel. The published list of supported activities explicitly includes community-based research, media projects and resource development.Amount not published · Annual cycle
- Rapid Response, Protection, and Advocacy & Alliance Building GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund Africa (UAF-Africa)A pan-African feminist fund that moves money in days, not months, for unanticipated and time-urgent situations. Three windows: rapid response, protection/security, and advocacy and alliance building.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Pawanka Fund GrantsParticipatory grantmakingPawanka FundA global Indigenous-led and Indigenous-governed fund supporting traditional knowledge, language revitalisation, Indigenous governance and self-determined development across seven world regions.Amount not published · By invitation
- Accessibility Fund cohort microgrants and storytelling supportTraining & capacityThe Accessibility FundA three-year cohort combining unrestricted microgrants with a nonprofit accelerator and storytelling support for grassroots disability organisations, mostly in the Global South.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Nov
- Global Resilience FundParticipatory grantmakingPurposefulA pooled, participatory fund that moves money directly to girls' and young feminist-led groups responding to acute and protracted crises, covering safe housing, legal support, psychosocial care, and accompaniment and learning work.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- Advisor-Nominated Grassroots GrantsParticipatory grantmakingGlobal Greengrants FundSmall grants to grassroots environmental justice groups, chosen by volunteer advisors from the affected regions rather than by staff. The fund describes this as participatory grantmaking.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Global Innovation FundPilot / seed fundingGlobal Innovation FundAn impact-first fund deploying grants, equity, and debt to early-stage innovations serving underserved communities in Africa and Asia, with an explicit commitment to generating evidence and learning alongside the money.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- 100&ChangePrize or challengeJohn D. and Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationOpen competition for a single $100 million grant to fund one proposal that promises real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time; proposals must set out both a problem and its solution, judged as impactful, evidence-based, feasible, durable and just.up to $100M · Periodic calls
- Stockholm Prize in CriminologyPrize or challengeStockholm Prize in Criminology FoundationAnnual international prize for outstanding criminological research and its application to policy, covering the causes of crime, effective and humane criminal justice policy, alternative prevention, victim support practices and reducing abuse of power within justice systems.Amount not published · Annual cycle · May
- Pro Bono Statistical and Data Science ProjectsIn-kind resourceStatistics Without Borders (American Statistical Association outreach group)Volunteer statisticians and data scientists provide free survey and experimental design, statistical and data analysis, forecasting, dashboards and visual presentations to not-for-profit organisations, helping them understand their data, show the impact of their work and build their own analytic capacity.Not a cash award · Rolling / open
Other clusters
- Adolescent and Youth Development
- Aging Services and Gerontology
- American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Global Indigenous Populations (Indigenous Cluster)
- Asian and Asian-Pacific Islander Focused-Research
- Black and African Diaspora Focused-Research
- Child Welfare
- Communities and Neighborhoods
- Crime and Criminal Justice
- Disability
- Gender
- Gender-Based Violence
- Health
- History
- Inequality, Poverty, and Social Welfare Policy
- Immigrants and Refugees
- LatinX Focused-Research
- Mental Health
- Military Service Members, Veterans and Their Families
- Organizations and Management
- Race and Ethnicity
- Research Design and Measurement
- Research on Social Work Education
- School Social Work
- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- Social Work Practice
- Substance Misuse and Addictive Behaviors
- Sustainable Development, Environmental and Climate Justice
- Work and Work-Life Policies and Programs