Criteria to Apply
for a Loan

Criteria for applications to the CDT-EED Small Grants Fund

Revised, August 2008

Below we set out the preferred characteristics of applications supported by the Fund. There is a measure of flexibility in reviewing applications, but by and large the Awards Committee would follow the preferences set out here.

  1. The applicant organization should not already be supported by EED.
  2. We see the Small Grants Fund as providing a one-off grant, designed to help
    1. Projects that are starting;
    2. Organizations that are running well, but need help to achieve a new level of operations, or initiate new activities;
    3. Established organizations that are doing sound work but which are going through difficulty. In this situation, the Small Grants Fund will provide minimal funding for specific interventions designed to improve organizational health.
  3. There is a strong preference for Community Based Organizations, or organizations that support community-led developmental process.
  4. The Small Grants Fund seeks to support innovation for social change. It will view favorably requests to support projects that can lead to new initiatives, or that will catalyze further
    organization. This may include activities such as action research, exchange visits, programme formulation exercises, and other activities that do not easily attract funding from established grantmakers.

Although there is an upper limit of R360 000 for applications to the Small Grants Fund, the awards committee would prefer to support a number of small initiatives/organizations rather than making fewer large grants.

The Small Grants Fund will not participate in ‘portfolio funding’ i.e. where more than one donor combine to support a programme or organization.