Grantmaking and capacity building

For the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW), grant-making and capacity building are two interrelated processes. We are driven by the belief that comprehensive support for collective action by women, girls, LGBTIQ+ people, and human rights defenders is key to achieving systemic and profound social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental change. These efforts are essential to building a more just and equitable world.

The BFW contributes to the development of social movements, helping to make them coordinated, coherent, and effective. The organizations and activists we support work to transform systems and communities, resisting the shrinking space for civil society.

Our priority is focused on grassroots organizations—those that are led by the communities whose rights they advocate for. We support organizations with small budgets, limited project histories, newly registered structures, and those working in remote areas. We believe that these communities are best positioned to identify the problems and potential solutions but often face challenges in accessing funding.

Our programs are based on periodic needs surveys of organizations, which help us target our efforts effectively. In 2024, we completed our second “Needs Survey of Organizations Working on Women’s, Girls’, and Vulnerable Groups’ Issues in Bulgaria,” covering 108 organizations across the country.

To address the challenges identified, we are adapting our funding mechanisms to be transparent, accessible, timely, and flexible. Through operational support, project funding, emergency funds, and connections with global activist movements, funds are distributed across seven thematic portfolios:

• Invisible Issues and Communities
• Strengthening Social Movements
• Freedom from Violence
• LGBTIQ+ Justice
• Migrant, Refugee, and Asylum Seeker Rights
• Sexual and Reproductive Health and Patient Rights
• Democracy and Civic Participation

BFW provides multi-year administrative and organizational support, ensuring the sustainability of the civil society sector. The Mission: Possible program provides long-term and flexible funding for dozens of organizations.

The Open Opportunities emergency funding program offers funds without delay and without competition. It allows organizations to respond immediately to crises, threats, or emerging opportunities by providing resources for advocacy and raising the visibility of key issues and messages.

Our project funding procedures are quick and easy, making them accessible to start-up organizations. BFW provides funds upfront and does not require match funding, making it easier for organizations with no financial history to participate.

The Emergency Fund for the Victims of the War in Ukraine continues to be vital for organizations supporting people fleeing conflict.

More recently, we have also provided funding for Bulgarian civil society representatives to participate in international events, encouraging connections to global human rights movements and mobilizing collective action.

For BFW, financial support and capacity building go hand in hand. In 2024, we launched the two-day Strong Organizations, High Impact training, which focused on organizational development, advocacy, and community mobilization initiatives under the Strong program.

With the announcement of the Open Opportunities and Values programs, we organized two information days where 270 CSO representatives received guidance and advice on how to apply.

We apply a method called accompaniment—a long-term and adaptive support approach based on trust, solidarity, and shared learning. In 2024, within this approach:

• We conducted 16 visits to organizations and events in different locations.
• We organized 23 one-on-one online meetings with partners for accountability, strategic planning, and resource mobilization.
• We held 3 information sessions with funded organizations to introduce the programs and explain contractual relationships.

In addition, we respond to queries daily through our online helpdesk, providing assistance with technical and procedural issues.

In the framework of the BIRDS in BG project, 409 participants took part in 18 trainings and 31 consultations conducted in cooperation with the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law and Impact Drive Foundation.