Circle of Sisterhood Foundation Grants

Our Purpose

For too many girls and women around the world, access to quality education is often limited. Two-thirds of all illiterate adults in the world are women, and not even seven percent of the world’s population has a college education. Ultimately, more and more educated girls will mean stronger and healthier villages, communities, and entire countries. And education will eradicate poverty.

Quality schooling can serve as an emancipator from poverty and lead to a better life for a woman and her family. The Circle of Sisterhood exists today to help make that better life possible by removing barriers to education and creating sustainable change for girls and women around the globe.

Grants

The Circle of Sisterhood seeks to support entities working worldwide to remove barriers to education for girls and women.

Impact Categories

• Adult Education
• Community Programming
• Early Childhood Development
• Health & Medical Supplies
• K-12 Education
• Life Skills/Vocational Training
• Menstrual Hygiene Management
• Mentoring
• Reintegration from Sex Trafficking
• School Supplies/Infrastructure
• Teacher Salaries/Education

Our Areas of Interest

The Circle of Sisterhood Foundation (CofS) will fund programs or projects that remove barriers to education for girls and women, thereby improving their lives and those of their families. We value requests that advance long-range plans to improve the well-being of communities in sustainable ways.

Through relationships with our Grantees, we seek to:

• Ensure opportunities for girls and women to achieve education, by focusing on readiness for, access to, and performing well/persisting in school (e.g., providing tuition/school fees and necessary materials to succeed in school, enrichment/study groups, innovative approaches to education, awareness of the importance of education, parent involvement, menstrual health and hygiene, improving infrastructure, funding teacher salaries, etc.); and
• Improve the livelihood of girls and women (e.g., training to learn income-generating skills, business and vocational training, capacity-building, etc.).

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• We grant only to U.S.-based 501c3 organizations operating domestically and/or internationally.
• Circle of Sisterhood grantees must meet the following eligibility criteria:
  • Operates exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Code.
  • Has financial systems and oversight in place and reasonable overhead costs.
  • Is committed to providing the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation an interim report within six months of grant award and a final report at the conclusion of the grant year.
  • Is able to present specific, feasible plans of action to accomplish well-defined objectives and measurable results.
  • Demonstrates the positive impact of programs and/or services on girls and women.
  • Integrates program into the local infrastructure and respects local culture and traditions.
  • Demonstrates sustainability (i.e., provisions for ongoing funding).
  • Plans to spend funds within one year of grant being awarded.
• In addition to the general criteria outlined above, applications will be reviewed for:
  • The involvement of women in leadership and decision-making at the organizational and program/project levels.
  • Alignment of organization’s mission with Circle of Sisterhood’s mission of removing barriers to education for girls and women;
  • Applicant’s ability to define educational barriers and how they will be removed;
  • How program/project to be funded will uplift girls and/or women from poverty and oppression;
  • How the proposal centers local leadership and programs/projects that are co designed with the individuals and/or community impacted;
  • How program/project to be funded contributes to systemic change in the community/context in which it will be implemented;
  • Documentation of identified community need; and
  • Ability to demonstrate measurable outcomes.
• Grant recipients must wait one year before reapplying for support.

Ineligibility

• Please note that Circle of Sisterhood does not currently fund research.