Apply Now — LFI Round Two GMS

LEVERAGE FUND INSTITUTE (LFI)

Round Two Funding Call: Resourcing Community Power, Local Ecosystems and Collective Action

What Round Two Supports

Round Two will provide flexible funding primarily for organisational resilience, community-level capacity and collective action for the period March 2027 – February 2029. Funding may support:

• Core operating costs and essential staffing;
• Organisational systems, governance and financial management;
• Community organising and mobilisation;
• Strengthening relationships with community-based organisations, formations and local actors;
• Mutual aid, care and community support structures;
• Leadership development and intergenerational organising;
• Advocacy, legal empowerment and policy engagement;
• Peer learning and knowledge exchange;
• Strengthening local referral and support pathways;
• Collective approaches to economic inclusion, food sovereignty and livelihoods;
• Community-led alternatives and systems-change work.

Who Can Apply?

Applicants must meet all of the following core criteria:

• Be a South African civil society organisation, formation or not-for-profit actor;
• Apply in one province;
• Demonstrate active and substantive work across at least three districts within that province;
• Demonstrate meaningful and ongoing relationships with communities, community-based organisations, movements, local formations or other relevant parts of the ecosystem;
• Demonstrate that people affected by the work have meaningful influence over priorities, activities or accountability;
• Present a credible plan to strengthen the applicant organisation, its partnerships and/or community-level capacity;
• Have governance and financial stewardship arrangements appropriate to the applicant's size and form; and
• Be willing to participate in LFI's learning, peer exchange and light-touch reporting processes.

An Anchor Can Apply on Behalf of a Wider Constellation

We recognise that important work is often distributed across several organisations and formations rather than housed within one institution. An anchor organisation, formation or civil society actor may apply where it plays a substantive coordinating, convening, resourcing, organising or support role within a wider constellation of community actors.

An anchor does not need to claim ownership of this work. We do not require a formal consortium agreement simply because actors collaborate—we are interested in the substance of the relationship rather than its paperwork. Where funding is intended to support several partners, explain how decisions will be made, how resources will move and how accountability will be maintained.

Demonstrated Footprint & Relationships

What Do We Mean by a Demonstrated Community Footprint?

We are deliberately asking for evidence rather than claims. Census numbers do not demonstrate reach; we want to understand the people you actually reach, organise with, serve, support or are accountable to. Useful evidence might include:

• Membership registers or numbers;
• Advice-office client registers, cases handled, or people supported;
• Attendance registers from recurring activities or community assemblies;
• Referrals received or made;
• Numbers of fieldworkers, volunteers or community organisers;
• Evidence of community-led committees or representative structures;
• Letters or references from community-based organisations or trusted local actors.

We will not require applicants to manufacture bureaucratic evidence that does not reflect how their work actually happens. Tell us what evidence exists and why it is meaningful.

Relationships and Ecosystems

You do not need a formal "network" to be eligible. A long list of logos or a once-off event is not evidence of an ecosystem. We are looking for organic, active, reciprocal relationships: advice offices referring people to movements, informal groups sharing space, cooperatives linked through economic activity, or grassroots formations uniting around shared struggles.

How Applications Will Be Assessed

We will consider your application against eight core areas:

1. Community Legitimacy: Is the applicant trusted and accountable locally?
2. Demonstrated Reach: Is there clear evidence of an active community footprint?
3. Provincial Rootedness: Is there substantive work across at least 3 districts in the chosen province?
4. Collective Capacity: Does the work strengthen relationships beyond your organizational boundaries?
5. Community-Led Change: Do affected people have meaningful influence over decisions?
6. Systems Transformation: Does the work address underlying conditions of exclusion?
7. Stewardship: Are arrangements for governance and finance proportionate to your size?
8. Potential for Learning: Is the applicant willing to share practice and learn with others?

What We Will Ask in the Application

The online form will ask you to briefly describe:

1. Which province you are applying for, and which 3+ districts you work across?
2. What communities, struggles or issues you organize around?
3. What your organisation or formation actually does?
4. What evidence demonstrates your reach and footprint?
5. Who you work alongside and how those relationships function?
6. How affected communities are involved in decisions and accountability?
7. If applying as an anchor, your role and how funding benefits the wider ecosystem?
8. What is currently limiting your work?
9. What meaningful, flexible funding would make possible?
10. What amount you are requesting and main expenditure areas?

Note: Applicants may respond in plain language and attach short video or voice submissions for selected questions.

Evidence and Due Diligence

LFI uses proportionate due diligence. A community-rooted formation should not have to professionalise into something unrecognisable simply to become fundable. Governance and financial arrangements will be considered in relation to your size, history, and structure.

Shortlisted applicants may be asked for basic founding/registration docs (where applicable), confirmation of leadership, bank account details, and local community references.

For inquiries or support with the application process, please contact:
📧 yoko@actubumbano.org