(Click here for the Arabic version .)

Call for applications

Civic organizations and initiatives across the Arab region are navigating profound shifts in their operating environments. In Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia, these shifts are particularly visible as funding landscapes are shrinking, becoming more politicized, and increasingly disconnected from the rhythms and accountability structures of local communities. At the same time, many organizations and initiatives are re-examining their strategies, roles, and relationships with their constituencies, including communities, audiences, or groups connected to their work, and how these relationships contribute to sustaining their mission.

The Reimagining Resourcing Initiative (RRI) creates space for this moment of questioning. It invites civic actors to explore how their work might be resourced differently—in ways that strengthen autonomy, deepen community accountability, and support longer-term organizational resilience.

The RRI does not assume that organizations and initiatives can or wish to exit existing funding systems instantly, but recognizes the need to explore alternative pathways gradually, thoughtfully, and in ways that are grounded in real organizational context and can contribute to diversification of resources.

About the initiative

RRI is a learning and experimentation initiative supporting civic organizations and initiatives in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia to explore alternative approaches to resourcing their work. Rather than starting from predefined models or expectations, the initiative centers learning, reflection, and experimentation as pathways toward more sustainable approaches to resourcing.

The RRI is designed to support organizations that are critically examining how their work is sustained, how power and accountability are shaped through funding, and what might need to change - organizationally, relationally, or structurally - to move towards greater agency and alignment in how their work is resourced.

The initiative is based on the understanding that exploring alternative resourcing is not only a financial question. It is also about how organizations and initiatives relate to their constituencies, how decisions are made, and how work is sustained over time. Through experimentation, reflection, and shared learning, participating organizations and initiatives are supported to identify forms of resourcing that strengthen their mission while remaining accountable to their constituencies.

What we mean by “resourcing”

Resourcing is widely understood. It is not limited to generating income or developing business models. It may include community-based support, volunteer time, in-kind resources, shared infrastructure, cost reduction, collective ownership, organizational restructuring, and other context-specific approaches to sustaining civic work.

This may involve both financial and non-financial strategies, as well as shifts in how resources are mobilized, governed, and connected to constituencies. There is no preferred or prioritized pathway. The RRI supports organizations and initiatives in identifying approaches that are most aligned with their mission, values, constituencies, and context.

What this call invites

Through this call, RRI invites organizations and initiatives to propose ideas they wish to explore, adapt, or further develop in relation to how their work is resourced. These may include early-stage concepts, prototypes, or experiments, as well as previously tested initiatives that require refinement, restructuring, or thoughtful scaling in order to strengthen their sustainability and alignment. Proposals may involve one or more of the following elements:

• Exploration and experimentation around alternative resourcing
• Organizational learning and reflection connected to these experiments
• Iterative processes that allow adaptation over the course of the experimentation
• Participation in collective learning and exchange with peers from other civil society organizations

This call is not intended to fund routine project implementation or general operational shortfalls. It is not structured as a competition for ready-made solutions. Instead, it supports experimentation and adaptation, including the further development or reconfiguration of existing ideas when they contribute to rethinking how civic work is resourced.

What kind of ideas fit within the RRI

Ideas supported through RRI should share some of the following qualities:

• They ultimately seek to reduce structural overdependencies and explore more balanced approaches to resourcing.
• They respond to a real organizational or contextual challenge related to resourcing.
• They are connected to the organization's mission, values, and constituencies.
• They involve learning through experimentation, reflection, and adaptation.

There is no preferred model and no expectation that experiments will succeed in conventional terms such as predefined outputs, rapid financial return, or fixed performance indicators.

To read more about alternative resourcing, we have curated the following reading list.

1. Spring Strategies – Mapping Alternative Financial Models Beyond Grants
   A global overview of alternative financial and resourcing models, with case studies from different contexts
2. ARCS Knowledge Hub A collection of case studies and practical examples from organizations experimenting with different resourcing approaches
   
3. AWID – Feminist Resourcing Library
   Set of tools, reflections, and practices on feminist approaches to resourcing and sustainability

Who the RRI is intended for

This call is open to non-governmental, nonprofit civic organizations and initiatives working in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, or Tunisia. Organizations and initiatives operating regionally may apply if a substantial portion of their work takes place in at least one of the four focus countries. Diaspora organizations originating from the Arab region and working on Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia are also invited to apply.

What do we mean by civic organizations or initiatives

By civic organizations or initiatives, we refer to actors engaged in areas such as social justice, human rights, arts and culture, and broader social or civic life, whose work is rooted in collective concerns rather than private or commercial interests. This may include registered organizations, initiatives, collectives, campaigns, or networks. Different legal and organizational forms are welcome, provided the work is not primarily profit-driven and maintains accountability to a broader constituency.

How the RRI will unfold

The 2026 cycle represents one full round of the Reimagining Resourcing Initiative. Selected organizations and initiatives will engage in experimentation alongside reflection and learning over an extended period. A subsequent call is expected to be announced in 2027, building on the learning generated in this first round and reflecting any adjustments that emerge from the process.

Timeline:

• Public call launched in April 2026
• Deadline for submitting proposals: June 14, 2026
• Selection decisions made by mid-August 2026
• Grants disbursed in September 2026
• Collective learning, reflection, and in-person convenings starting in 2027 and continuing through 2028.

Grant size and duration

Grants of up to USD 50,000 will be awarded for a period of up to 24 months.

If an organization applies on behalf of a collaboration between multiple organizations exploring alternative resourcing together, the requested amount may slightly exceed USD 50,000 where clearly justified. Applicants should explain the collaborative structure and ensure that the requested amount remains reasonable and proportionate to the scope of the proposed experimentation.

To ensure that the grant remains proportional to the organization's financial scale, the requested amount should normally not exceed approximately 33% of the organization's average annual budget over the past two years.

Learning and participation

The RRI consists of two interconnected components:

1. the experimentation grant
2. participation in structured learning processes

Organizations and initiatives supported through this call are expected to engage in collective learning activities that accompany their experimentation. These include participation in regional convenings organized by iac Berlin, as well as national and peer learning exchanges with other participating organizations and/or learning advisors.

The costs of regional convenings will be covered by iac Berlin. Organizations and initiatives may choose, if they find it useful, to allocate part of their grant budget to support national or peer learning activities connected to their experimentation. These may include mobility, small gatherings, reflection sessions, or other context-appropriate formats. Including such activities is entirely optional. Organizations and initiatives that wish to organize them should integrate the related costs into their overall grant budget at the application stage.

Selection criteria

Applications will be assessed by a jury based on the following criteria:

• Clarity of the resourcing idea or direction: The application clearly describes the organization's current resourcing situation and the idea or direction it wishes to explore.
• Mission alignment: The proposed resourcing exploration is meaningfully connected to the organization's mission, values, and long-term purpose.
• Awareness of constituency and ecosystem: The proposal reflects awareness of how the exploration relates to the organization's constituencies and the broader civic ecosystem in which it operates.
• Organizational readiness: The organization demonstrates the capacity and internal support needed to engage in the proposed exploration.
• Feasibility of the exploration: The proposed exploration is realistic within the timeframe, resources, and organizational context described in the application.
• Learning orientation: The proposal demonstrates openness to experimentation, reflection, and adaptation throughout the process.
• Overall strength of the proposal: The jury may also consider the overall integrity, originality, and potential contribution of the proposal to the collective learning of the initiative.

There is no preferred model and no expectation that experiments will succeed in conventional terms such as predefined outputs, rapid financial return, or fixed performance indicators.

How to apply

Interested organizations and initiatives are invited to complete the application form in English or Arabic . You can preview the application questions here , which gives you the opportunity to review them in advance and prepare your answers before filling out the online submission form.

Read RRI at a glance for a brief overview of the initiative.

For more information, see the FAQ .

You are also invited to join our Questions and Answers session on May 6 at 13:00 Berlin time. Please register here to receive the Zoom link by May 4, 2026.

The deadline for submitting proposals is June 14, 2026 at 23:59 CEST.

This program is implemented by iac Berlin and funded by Ford Foundation .

Contact

If you have questions about the RRI, the application process, or about alternative resourcing more broadly, please contact the team at iac Berlin:

RRI@iac-berlin.org