Global Changemakers is a pioneer in supporting youth-led development projects and we are proud to be one of the few organisations globally that offer the opportunity to apply for grant funding to young people. 

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Our approach is to develop the skills and build the capacity of young people to create their own solutions to the social and/or environmental challenges they experience in their communities. We then provide support in the form of mentoring and building strong networks; trusting the young changemakers to execute their solutions. This approach has proven highly effective and the projects we have supported have had a combined impact on over 15 million people!

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​Our grants programme was launched in 2009 and allows young people who have been through our training or completed the Project Management for Changemakers course to apply for funding to implement or scale their own initiatives.

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We host an open call for grant proposals bi-annually. Please click here to subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know when we open applications. 

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General Regulations for Grants

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Who is eligible to receive a grant?

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Unless specific requirements are stipulated by our funding partners, we provide grants to youth aged 18-30 who have been selected and trained in-person as a participant at a Global Changemakers event, or who have been trained online by completing our online course “Project Management for Changemakers”. If you are applying as a student of Changemakers School, please note that you need to apply for a grant within one year of completing the course, and only one grant is available per graduate.

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What kind of Projects do we support with grants?

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Unless specific requirements are given by our funding partners, we support Community Action Projects (CAPs) that: 

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• Align with our mission and lead to measurable, positive change in your community.

• Develop mutual trust and understanding within and between different groups in society. 

• Help to foster positive attitudes and behaviours in society.

• Create greater awareness of important issues and problems.

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What kind of Projects do we NOT support with grants? 

 

• CAPs whose main beneficiary is an individual. 

• CAPs where the majority of the grant is used to fund salaries, travel, and/or technical equipment. 

• CAPs serving or promoting the values of a specific faith or denomination. If you are working with faith-based organisations, or if your project has an inter-faith approach, you may submit your project if it does not specifically promote one religion or its values in particular.

• CAPs serving or promoting a specific political party. 

• Research projects and grants to purchase equipment are rarely funded. 

 

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Grant Support

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Financial 

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Generally, grants of up to 1000 Swiss Francs (CHF) will be available to anyone under the age of 30 from the GCM network (people who have been selected for and trained at one of our in-person summits) or those who have successfully completed the online Project Management course. In certain cases, our funding partners may allow us to offer grants of larger amounts.

Depending on the availability of funds, we will host a call for applications for grants twice yearly and the details will be communicated with those eligible to apply.

 

We will not open or review unsolicited grant requests that do not go through the official channels or meet the eligibility criteria either by completing the Project Management for Changemakers course or by being selected as a Global Changemaker. 

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Coaching

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CAPs requiring specific coaching or mentorship will be put in touch with relevant professionals or organisations to further receive support on a case by case basis. 

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Selection of Projects

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What makes a grant application successful?

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The success of an application for any Global Changemakers grant depends on: 

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• How many people your CAP plans to reach 

• Your capability to implement your CAP

• The quality of the implementation plan that you submit

• The relation of your CAP to our areas of interest and alignment with our mission 

• The local context in which the CAP will be implemented. 

 

 

Monitoring and Evaluation of Community Action Projects

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What happens after the grant is paid out?

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We will make individual agreements with successful applicants outlining the terms and conditions of each grant. The implementation of the CAPs who are awarded grants must start within six months of the awarding of the grant. 

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We expect to be kept informed about the progress of your CAP. You will be required to submit an interim and a final report, where you account for and prove how the grant was spent.

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You will also need to provide evidence of the activities associated with your CAP (e.g. pictures/videos).
 

Please note that we need high-resolution photos (for printing purposes) that need to feature the Global Changemakers logo either in posters, projections, or a simple print of paper to verify this project was supported by our organisation. If available, we appreciate video footage of the projects. These do not need to be edited.