New organisational development grants from the Think Tank Fund

4 December 2015
The Open Society Think Tank Fund has launched a call for proposals for organisational development grants from independent, multi-issue think tanks working in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine.

The Open Society Think Tank Fund has launched a call for proposals for organisational development grants from independent, multi-issue think tanks working in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine.

Organisational development grants aim to provide support for improvement in the three specific areas of think tank activity and operation:

  • Quality of research productsencompasses mechanisms for external and internal review of written output, and development and choice of various research methods and formats for producing analysis.
  • Communications and advocacy capacity: deals with how organizations deliver their findings to the public, who they target as key audiences, and what approaches and tools they use for that purpose.
  • Internal development and governance: is concerned with how think tanks function as a nonprofit organization and includes staff recruitment and retention; composition and functioning of governing bodies (like a governing or advisory board); and issues of strategic planning, fundraising, and sustainability.

An organisational development grant can cover from one to all three areas for a period between one to three years based on an applicant’s demands, merit of the proposal, and the time needed for implementing necessary changes.

Last year, Gjergji Vurmo, Programme Director at the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) in Albania, wrote a series of posts on organisation development funding:

Developing a think tank: first hand experience with core funding 

Gjergji Vurmo, Programme Director at the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) in Albania, shares his experience in preparing an application for core funding from the Think Tank Fund. He reflects on the process and offers advice to others planing to follow a similar path. He argues that core funding cannot be treated as business as usual project funding.

Core vs. project funding for think tanks: Managing development

In this second post, Gjergji Vurmo, Programme Director at the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM) in Albania, shares his experience in managing think tank funds. It is not about spending the money in existing or new researchers, he argues, but about developing the right skills and capacities that the organisation needs to deliver in the future -without core funding support.

Life after core funding

In this last post, Gjergji Vurmo, Programme Director at the Institute for Democracy and Mediation, in Albania, offers a final reflection on life after core funding. He discusses the effect that core funding has had on the organisation’s governance, staffing decisions, and research agenda.

These posts could be read alongside a reflection on organisational development in Latin America.

To find out more about this opportunity visit the Think Tank Fund’s page.