COMMUNE Grants Program
The overall objective of I-ACT is to promote rights-claiming, -affirming, and -seeking behaviors among Filipinos. One way we are doing this is through the INITIATE Grants Program which provides technical and financial support to civil society organizations (CSOs) to design and rollout behavior-based campaigns promoting human rights. Projects under INITIATE are behavior-focused and have a specific and concrete target behavior that address a particular civil/political issue.
Since October 2022, I-ACT has awarded 18 INITIATE grants to CSOs to develop and test behavioral intervention prototypes prompting positive messaging on human rights, specifically on civil and political rights. Most of our INITIATE Partners have already completed the testing phases and there are quite a few promising interventions.
To achieve positive impact on a wider scale, we want to work with communication workers and continue sharpening key messages and target audiences beyond the networks of INITIATE. I-ACT seeks to do this by launching the COMMUNE Grants Program, a smaller scale grants program which will support the expansion of digital communities by scaling up tried and tested I-ACT prototype behavior-based interventions. Through COMMUNE Grants, I-ACT encourages the adaptation, localization, and further iteration of prototypes developed by our INITIATE partners. The COMMUNE Grants Program is currently open to communication workers affiliated with any Philippine Human Rights Organization. I-ACT will provide up to 10 grants with maximum funding support of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (PHP500,000.00) per qualified applicant.
The COMMUNE Grants Program has two communication objectives:
In your proposal, we want the prototyping and scale up activities to be clearly defined. Diagnosis, or research activities, are optional as much of the evidence base has already been gathered by our INITIATE Partners.
Applicants should test at least one of the INITIATE prototypes from the list* below.
Human Rights Facebook Campaigns Targeting Moveable Middle Audience Segments
– Thematic Facebook Page Content Production and Management
– Facebook Ad Campaigns
– Coordinated Facebook Campaign
Across Multiple Page Accounts
– Human Rights and Legal Concerns
Chat Bot
– Human Rights and Legal Concerns Facebook Pages
Online Interventions Targeting Gen Z and/or Internet Users
– Shopee Donation Drive
– Facebook Donation Drive Ad Campaign
– Facebook Page Donation Drive
– Micro-Volunteering Facebook Page Campaign
– Volunteering Buzzfeed Quiz
– Online Multi-Step Campaign
– Online Learning Session/s
– YouTube Video Content
– Short-Form Video Content
– Online Exhibit
– User-Generated Content Campaign
– Educational Online Game
Behavioral Interventions for
Rights-Seeking Mothers
– Conversation Starter and Planning Guide Card Deck
– Story-Based Resource Flip Chart and Materials
– Interactive Printed Resource Materials
– Chat Group Gameshow
*List to be updated with latest batch of prototypes upon completion*
Communication Workers that meet all of the following eligibility criteria are welcome to apply:
Below is a brief outline of the process of awarding grants under the COMMUNE Grants Program. Remember that applicants are individuals affiliated with an organization. Join COMMUNE to receive regular updates and details for calls for application!
- Submission of Grant Application – Please complete the form found here: https://forms.gle/jg2EpfsSyDQPMzVv9.
- Submission of full proposal – Applicants must submit the technical proposal and budget which is found in the Grant Application form in Step #1 above.
- Consultation with the I-ACT Technical Team – To help you further enhance your proposal, we require at least one consultation with our Technical Team.
- Due diligence – While applications are being reviewed, Applicants are required to undergo due diligence review to assess administrative and financial capacity to receive funding under the Program. Applicants must submit the following documents:
- Authorization Letter signed by the board member/s of the organization that the Applicant is affiliated with;
- Curriculum Vitae of the Applicant as the designated contract signatory;
- At least one valid government-issued ID
- Submission of revised proposal – After consultation with the I-ACT Technical Team, applicants must submit a revised proposal
- Signing of sponsorship grants – Once your application has been approved, a sponsorship grant will be issued for signature
- Awarding Ceremony – COMMUNE Grants Program partners will be invited for an awarding ceremony during one of the COMMUNE events to signify the start of your SBC journey!
For application, go to bit.ly/COMMUNEGrantApplication
Download the technical proposal template at bit.ly/COMMUNEGrantTechnicalProposal
Download the budget proposal template at bit.ly/COMMUNEGrantBudgetProposal
COMMUNE is a dynamic program initiated by The Asia Foundation, DAKILA, and Active Vista through the I-ACT Project, which aims to strengthen the human rights community by providing a safe and collaborative environment anchored on social behavioral change-making.
COMMUNE also seeks to build a resilient force of human rights workers dedicated to advancing the Human Rights Sector as a whole.
Contact us
Unit 2001, Greenfield Tower,
Mayflower corner Williams Street, Greenfield District,
Mandaluyong City, Philippines 1603
T: 63 (2) 8722-9999
E: humanrights@asiafoundation.org