NetGain Year Five Small Grants: Request for Proposals

Opened: October 21, 2020
Closed: January 11, 2021
Region:  No regional limitation

This call for concept notes opened on October 21, 2020 and closed on January 11, 2021.
The NetGain Partners are currently reviewing submissions and will invite a smaller group of submitters to a grant application process.

The NetGain Partnership is a philanthropic collaboration seeking to advance the public interest in the digital age. Most recently, NetGain has focused on the theme 'Digital Threats to Democracy' to understand the impact of dominant platforms. The scale of platforms’ influence and increasing number of harms to society continue to represent a considerable challenge for policymakers and civil society, where there is no single solution, but rather a number of different approaches and issues that have to be tackled in parallel.

The NetGain Small Grants Fund is managed by Media Democracy Fund. It will support projects that catalyze or build on ideas that emerged from NetGain years Four and Five around digital threats to democracy, mis/disinformation and public interest research on the platforms. This includes:

  • Projects that investigate, reveal and/or explain the extent and impact of mis/disinformation facilitated by the platforms, or other projects that advance knowledge on societal harms caused by platform companies.

  • Projects that provide policy, legal, public education or technological interventions as counterweights to growing platform power. 

In addition, particular priority will be given to projects that:

  • Will be led or directed by organizations that have not historically received significant amounts of funding from the NetGain Partnership; and/or

  • Involve collaboration among multiple organizations leveraging their unique expertise in service of a common aim.

Activities eligible for support may include:

  •   Research

  •   Collaborative projects and/or campaigns

  •   Virtual convenings

  •   Creative interventions (i.e., tech tools, art, or cultural projects)

Requests of $25,000 to $100,000 will be considered. We will permit a timeline of up to 12 months, with a mid-term progress and final report.

Following review of the concept note, organizations may be invited to submit a full proposal to Media Democracy Fund. Funding is not guaranteed.

FAQ

Q: Can I submit more than one idea?
A: Yes, as long as the ideas meet the criteria.

Q: Are there any geographic restrictions?
A: Generally there are no geographic restrictions on this fund, however, there might be some country-specific restrictions that we must adhere to.

If you have other questions about the application process, please contact Media Democracy Fund.