Tips to apply to the Keepers of the Earth Fund

The Keepers of the Earth Fund has opened its call for applications for their grant program. The fund supports indigenous peoples worldwide. The deadline for applications is June 7^th 2019, and the maximum amount one organization can apply for is 5000 US$ in the first stage of applications. In this article, we will give you some tips on this opportunity.

The Keepers of the Earth Fund – Who can apply?

The Keepers of the Earth Fund exclusively supports indigenous peoples groups – for a definition of what indigenous peoples are, please check their website. They work with projects worldwide, but the geographical focus is on the Americas, Nepal and Northern India, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

An organization needs to fulfill a specific set of characteristics to be eligible for the grant. Organizations need to be indigenous led, be a non-profit grassroots group, traditional Indigenous government, or broad-based cooperative with collective ownership and decision making, have a budged under 150,000 US$ per year and have a bank account.

What can be funded with this grant?

The fund wants to support different kinds of projects that are of importance to communities. Their thematic focus is on the following areas though:

free, Prior, Informed Consent, self-governance
the rights of Indigenous women
economic sovereignty, land rights
environmental and biodiversity protection
Indigenous language and knowledge retention
movement-building
equitable distribution of resources
Indigenous participation in international, national, regional and local spaces

If your project addresses indigenous communication or a community radio program, the organization has a different kind of grant for that.

How to apply for the Keepers of the Earth Fund?

The application process has two steps. In the first steps, all applicants have to submit concept notes until June 7^th 2019. The fund will invite shortlisted candidates to submit full proposals after that. The maximum amount one organization can apply for is 5000 US$. If this first project is implemented successfully, organizations can apply for two subsequent grants for an amount of 10,000 US$ each.

The concept note should be a maximum of two pages and should answer the following questions:

Who are you, and what is your role in the proposed project?
Which Indigenous Peoples, Tribe, Nation, or culture does the project serve, and where will the project take place?
What do you want to do, how long will it take, and how much does it cost?
Who is currently supporting this work? (describe support from community members, funders, collaborators, or other stakeholders)

Instead of a written concept note, applicants can also submit up to 3 minutes of audio or video. The applications can be submitted in many different languages.

For more information and the email address for submission, please check the website of the Keepers of the Earth Fund.

What to look out for?

The fund gives you the opportunity to submit a first concept not in the form of video or audio. You can use this to your advantage and be creative with it to show what your project will be about and catch the attention of the donor. Be careful though that you do not get carried away and still answer the questions, that need answering.

It is extremely important for the donor, that your organization is indigenous led. Make sure this is clear in whichever form of application you chose. The donor should be able to see immediately that your organization has the community support and is based within it.

Best of luck with your applications!

About the author

Eva Wieners

Eva is based in Germany and has worked for nearly a decade with NGOs on the grassroots level in Nepal in the field of capacity development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Before that, she worked in South America and Europe with different organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in geography and her field of research was sustainability and inclusion in development projects.