Guidelines to Funding in Specific Areas
On Civic Engagement Funding
We believe that grassroots and community-based initiatives play a vital role in fostering democratic participation and strengthening civic life. Many of these efforts—such as youth committees, participatory governance models, and local dialogue with public institutions—offer meaningful opportunities for people to engage in decisions that affect their communities.
At the same time, the Euphrosine Foundation does not typically fund initiatives whose primary focus is on delivering or sustaining civic participation within a single community, organization, city or municipality.
Our funding is focused on efforts that extend beyond a single local context—initiatives that can be adapted, scaled, or that contribute to broader shifts in civic participation, public discourse, or democratic culture. This may include developing models that can be replicated elsewhere, influencing wider audiences, or building infrastructure, tools, or narratives that strengthen participation across communities.
On Journalism Funding
We recognize that local journalism is essential to healthy communities and a functioning democracy. While we deeply value the role of local media, the Euphrosine Foundation does not directly fund local journalism initiatives at the moment.
Our own funding in this space is focused on supporting organizations and initiatives that operate at a systemic level, particularly those whose core mission is investigative journalism and accountability reporting, as well as efforts that strengthen the information environment, press freedom, access to data and information and public discourse. We also support the broader journalism ecosystem through strategic investments in initiatives such as the Journalism Futures Fund.
On “Fostering Diverse Participation”
We recognize that many organizations play an essential role in supporting inclusion, representation, and the well-being of diverse communities. Strengthening civil society and reducing barriers to participation are important contributions to a more equitable society.
The Euphrosine Foundation’s “Foster diverse participation” priority is specifically focused on participation in democratic life. We do not typically fund initiatives whose primary objective is to support or enable the participation of a specific group through services, community programming, or capacity-building alone.
We prioritize initiatives that directly shape, expand, or transform participation in democratic processes and public life—such as voting, civic engagement, elected office, public dialogue, or decision-making—particularly where the primary focus is on influencing systems, institutions, or broader patterns of participation, rather than supporting individuals’ participation on a case-by-case basis.
On Human Rights Funding
The Foundation’s human rights-based funding is focused on rights and freedoms that shape democratic participation and the relationship between individuals and public institutions. Our interest in this area is rooted in strengthening the conditions necessary for an open, pluralistic, and democratic society.
This includes work related to fundamental freedoms, civic participation, equality rights, Indigenous self-determination, institutional accountability, and the protection of democratic space.
Because our focus is specifically tied to democratic functioning and participation, the Foundation does not typically fund initiatives primarily centered on socio-economic rights (e.g., housing, environment) or criminal law matters. We also do not generally support individual representation or case support unless the work is designed to produce broader systemic or precedent-setting impact.
On Tax & Fiscal Governance Funding
The Foundation may support work related to tax policy and fiscal governance where it directly contributes to democratic accountability, institutional integrity, or the functioning of public institutions.
We are more likely to support initiatives focused on issues such as transparency, anti-corruption, access to information, illicit financial flows, or the democratic implications of concentrated economic power.
We are less likely to support initiatives primarily focused on advocating for specific redistributive or fiscal policy outcomes, particularly where the work is strongly associated with partisan or ideological economic positioning.