Inter-American Foundation

Organizational profile: The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) is a nimble and transformative U.S. government agency that invests in community-led development across Latin America and the Caribbean. They directly engage local leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs in underserved areas to create more prosperous, peaceful, and democratic communities. As funders of sustainable development, they offer small investments directly to civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Because many of these groups are at the beginning stages of their growth, they also facilitate opportunities for building capacity and organizational strength.

At the IAF, they support community-led solutions that focus on strengthening resilience and improving environmental outcomes through sustainable natural resource management. Their work prioritizes a holistic approach to development.

Financing Instrument: Grants, Technical Assistance

Project scale: Their average grant is US$280,000 and lasts four years. Recent grants have varied from US$50,000 to US$400,000 over one to four years. Currently, they do not fund requests for amounts under US$25,000 or for more than US$400,000.

Eligible recipient countries regions/country groups: Latin America, Caribbean. The high priority region includes Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua and Peru.

Eligibility Criteria: IAF is currently unable to fund organizations located in Venezuela or Cuba. The IAF looks for projects with the following characteristics:

Are inclusive

• Involve many community voices in developing, carrying out, and evaluating the project, including those who will benefit from the project
• Engage partners in local government, the business community, and other civil society organizations

Use community resources

• Include counterpart resources like money, land, supplies, infrastructure, labor, and office, storage, and meeting space. These resources can come from your organization, those who will participate in the project, and other sources.
• Identify a path to become sustainable after the IAF grant ends

Focus on results

• Impact the community in a positive and measurable way
• Show potential for strengthening all participating organizations
• Enhance participants’ capacity to govern themselves

Application guidelines: IAF invites proposals for its grant program on a rolling basis. There is no deadline. Applications in Spanish, Portuguese, English, French or Haitian Creole are accepted throughout the year. Applications can be emailed to proposals@iaf.gov.

The IAF’s application has three required parts:

Part 1: Cover Sheet

- Complete with the requested information.

Part 2: Narrative

- Keep your responses no longer than 10 pages (total for all questions) double-spaced, and in 12-point Arial font.

Part 3: Budget

- Follow the model in the application posted at the official website of Inter-American Foundation.