Funding for Non-Violence TRaining

[Katalin Fabian]

-- 
Katalin Fábián
Lafayette College
Department of Government and Law
Kirby Hall 103
Easton, PA 18042-1780

Tel: (610) 330-5392
Fax: (610) 330-5397



see www.nonviolence.org

A.J. Muste Memorial Institute

339 Lafayette Street, New York, New York 10012, (212) 533-4335

International Nonviolence Training Fund
Grant Guidelines


(Updated March 1996)
The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute has, as one of its programs, the funding
and fiscal sponsorship of projects which promote the principles and practice
of nonviolent social change. Part of this grantmaking program is the
International Nonviolence Training Fund.

In the early 1960s, A.J. Muste was one of the principle architects of the
World Peace Brigades, an effort by a multinational group of pacifist
organizers to encourage the use of nonviolence for social change and to
train people to use nonviolent techniques to oppose nuclear weapons tests
and military interventions, and in African freedom struggles. For a brief
period, the Brigade operated a training center in Dar Es Salaam, in what is
now Tanzania. Over the years, the Muste Institute has followed this
principle by offering support to groups in all parts of the world seeking to
apply nonviolence to social change.

Nonviolence training seeks to improve skills to use nonviolent means towards
social transformation. This is particularly relevant for people facing an
immediately violent situation. How does one resist attack nonviolently? How
does one organize a mass protest? Why is group process important in planning
nonviolence actions? How does one resist an occupation army? Many of the
people being trained are already involved in this kind of resistance.
Tactical errors are sometimes made, and breakdowns can occur within group
structures. Nonviolence training promotes the exchange of ideas,
information, and strategies, through which activists become more effective
at using nonviolent action in their struggles.

In this spirit, the International Nonviolence Training Fund was set up by a
group of donors as part of the Muste Institute's grantmaking program. The
Fund will offer support to projects outside the United States which seek to
build training capacity and leadership development for nonviolent social
change and to actual field trainings for nonviolent efforts, including those
for Native nations with in the U.S. The INTF committee is composed of
representatives from the Muste Institute Board, the fund donors, and
international trainers. The maximum amount considered will be US$3,000.
Groups applying for funding must be small, community-based and with little
likelihood of funding from other grantmaking institutions. The project
budgets must be under the equivalent of US$50,000.

Proposals must be five pages or less. The proposals must contain the
following:


description of the project, including its relevance, targeted community, and
evidence of the group's ability to carry it out;

name and telephone number of a contact person, with fax number if possible;

detailed project budget and annual organizational budget with a list of
other funding sources;

brief relevant biography of project coordinator(s);

list of advisors to the project or organization;

amount requested, preferably a line item from the project budget.

A separate one page summary of the proposal is also required. Additional
supporting material, including printed matter, press clippings, etc., may be
sent but are not required. Please be sure to include the organization's name
and address on the first page of the proposal and in the summary; please
also remember to include the amount requested in both the summary and the
proposal.
The Institute prefers to receive proposals in English. However, if a group
cannot translate its materials, we are prepared to accept submissions in
Spanish, French or Portugese.

Proposals for the International Nonviolence Training Fund can be submitted
at any time. There are no deadlines for requests. The review and decision
process takes approximately eight to ten weeks. In cases where unforseen or
emergency conditions require a faster response, fax a one-page request for
emergency funding--up to a maximum of US$1,000--to us at (212) 228-6193.
Include a contact phone and fax number, and be sure to fax a cover sheet
addressed to the A. J. Muste Memorial Institute. The Institute will attempt
to respond to these requests within four weeks.

Implicit in your request is your willingness and ability to provide a
complete financial accounting for all monies received from the Institute,
demonstrating that they were used in accord with the grant agreement. This
financial accounting is due as soon as the money is spent or within six
months, whichever comes first. If funds from a grant remain unspent after
six months, you must submit an updated accounting every six months until the
complete grant is expended. This financial accounting must include relevant
receipts, copies of materials produced with Institute funds, and a brief
narrative report on the project.

Send your proposals to: International Nonviolence Training Fund, A.J. Muste
Memorial Institute, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012, 212-533-4335. If
you have any questions, please feel free to contact the A.J. Muste Memorial
Institute staff at this address and phone number.