In 2013 the Trustees will particularly welcome international applications in
the following areas:
GUIDANCE FOR
APPLICANTS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
There is a great shortage of funds to support feminist scholars
and activities. This means that the Feminist Review Trust receives a very large
number of applications. Unfortunately we have limited funds and can fund only a
small proportion of the applications we receive. So, before you apply please
note the type of projects we support and please read the guidance on the
completion of the application form.
- What will the Trust
fund?
- The Feminist Review
Trust will not fund the following types of
applications:
- Applications from
students to support them on courses of any kind. This includes
sub-degree, Bachelors, Masters and Doctorates. Nor will we fund doctoral
fieldwork. Very, very exceptionally we might contribute up to £500 to
assist a student from a poor country.
- Applications from
academics to fund work which could be funded by more traditional sources
of funding. This means that we are very unlikely to fund summer projects
for US academics.
- Where we do fund
academics we will not fund overheads, teaching buy-outs or equivalent.
- Applications to
continue doctoral studies. Post-docs can be funded from more
conventional sources.
- Applications from
religious groups.
- The Feminist Review
Trust will fund:
- Hard to fund projects. Some types
of projects are difficult to fund. Typically these projects have no
other obvious sources of funding. This might mean, for example, that
traditional academic sources are either not interested in the area or
that it is an activist project or that it is too feminist for most
conventional funding sources. For example the Trust supported the
writing and publication of the history of Rape Crisis in Scotland and
the translation and updating sections of ‘Women and Their Bodies’ into
Arabic and Hebrew.
- Pump priming activities. This
means that we will provide a small amount of funding to help start an
activity in the hope that it will then be able attract sufficient
funding to continue. For example we funded a project in Argentina
to strengthen the capacity of organisations promoting women’s rights and
a project to provide audio visual equipment for a feminist social centre
in Madrid. In each case these projects have hopefully helped to
create a sustainable activity.
- Interventionist
projects
which support feminist values. It is often difficult for projects around
core feminist concerns such as abortion rights and domestic violence to
find funding. For example the Trust has supported Asylum Aid (an
independent charity workshop with asylum seekers in the UK) to promote
its ‘Charter of Rights’ for Women Seeking Asylum. We supported the 40th
Anniversary Campaign of Abortion Rights in the UK, a documentary about
abortion in Trinidad and Tobago and a feminist art studio in Tbilisi,
Georgia.
- Training and
development projects: we will fund projects which provide training in
relevant areas. For example, the Trust has funded English lessons for
sex workers in London; leadership skills training for women in the
voluntary sector. and volunteer training as Glasgow Women’s Library.
- One off events: we supported Cine25
as part of the celebrations of 25 years of Women’s Studies at the
University of York (UK); a seminar for the Lileth Project (a violence
against women housing related project), and a workshop on the gender
dimensions of Bulgarian Immigration Policy.
- Dissemination: we will fund the
production and distribution of relevant material. Too often wonderful
work has had a more limited impact than it should because it was not
well of fully distributed The Trust will fund dissemination. . For
example we have supported the production of a booklet on Asian women’s
experiences of higher education in the UK and the distribution of
publications by the Rights of Women (a non-profit UK group)
- Core funding: we realise that many
groups struggle to raise core funding. The Trustees are willing to offer
core funding to cover staff costs, accommodation etc.
- Other projects: if your application
does not easily fit into any of the above categories we may still
support it. For example, the Trust has funded a project to capture oral
histories of women’s experience of the menopause. Contact the Trust to
discuss eligibility prior to submitting your application.
- How much funding is
available?
The maximum value of any individual award is UK £10,000 (or its
equivalent). However, the Trustees rarely give out awards of this amount so
when you prepare your application please bear in mind that you may only be
offered partial funding. It is therefore helpful if you can identify different
sub-elements in your application.
- Why do applications
fail?
Applications fail for a number of reasons:
- They fall outside the funding guidelines outlined above
- They are poorly written. There are some typical issues:
- Poor description of the
project proposal. For example not explaining how potential interviewees
will be identified
- Failure to describe in
sufficient depth and details what you want to do. We like to know exactly
what we will be funding and why it is important
- Failure to have
considered the longer term impact of the project. We ask about this on
the application form and it is often poorly answered. You do need to
think about longer term impact.
- Internal inconsistency:
the application contains contradictory information
- What are your chances of
success?
This is, of course hard to answer. Typically we receive
applications to many, many times the value of the funds which we have
available. That said a significant proportion either fall outside our funding
guidelines or are too poorly written to win support. So, a well written and
relevant application is likely to be shortlisted.
- What is the
decision-making process?
The decision-making process has a number of stages:
- All applications are
reviewed internally in the Trust and a short-list is drawn up. If your
application is not shortlisted you are likely to be informed about this
in advance of the announced decision deadline.
- Short-listed
applications are then sent for external review. Your nominated referees
may then be contacted.
- The Trustees, having
received all these reports, then consider each application and reach
their decisions.
- Successful and
unsuccessful applicants are notified.
- Some applications are
asked to provide more information or to modify their applications. If you
are asked to do this it indicates that the Trustees are interested in
your proposal but it is not a guarantee that you will be
funded if you supply the additional information.
If you are successful you will receive two forms and a copy of
the Trust logo. The logo is to be displayed on all material associated with our
project. The first form is the Acceptance Form. You will be asked to provide a
short summary of your proposal for the Trust website, to provide details to
enable the transfer of funds and to provide the date by which we can expect
your Final Report.
The second form is a template for your Final Report. This can
take a number of formats but it must include a careful account of expenditure
together with receipts. We would expect to receive copies of relevant
publications or other materials, photographs or whatever is appropriate for
your particular project.
- If you are
unsuccessful...
You will be notified by the due date. The Trustees do
not give feedback on unsuccessful applications. We
know that this disappoints some applicants. Given the volume of applications we
receive the main reason for rejection is often that we simply don’t have enough
funds to support all the projects we would like to.
- Can you apply again if
you are unsuccessful?
You can apply once more but given that you have been rejected
once you will need to make some refinements to your proposal. Look again at our
guidelines and try to focus your proposal more carefully in line with them. If
you are unsuccessful a second time we recommend that you seek funding elsewhere
or undertake a major rethink of your proposal.
- Can you get more than
one award?
In practice the Trustees hope that for many awards the initial
award will have had some continuing impact such that the project does not need
more funding. This applies particularly to training, development and pump
priming activities. Interventionist projects and one-off support activities
should not need on-going funding. This leaves activist projects which again, we
hope will become self-sustaining. There are, of course, always exceptions so
you can apply again if you think that you can make a convincing case for
another round of funding.
- Can I submit more than
on application?
No, we will only accept one application from the individual or
organisation per round.