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Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society

Website:

www.fundersinitiativeforcivilsociety.org/
Status:

Project of Global Dialogue
Formation:

2016
Headquarters:

First Floor, 10 Queen Street Place
Location:

London, England
Executive Director:

Poonam Joshi

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Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society (FICS) is a left-of-center donor affinity group that is a project of the London-based philanthropic support program Global Dialogue. 1 The initiative brings together funders to address what the organization claims is a shrinking physical, digital, and legal civic space that enables left-of-center movements and allies to organize, participate, and create change. 2

FICS works to convene dialogues to foster cooperation between external funders and domestic actors for these issues 3 and publishes reports to support the expansion of civic spaces to enable organizing. 4

The left-of-center Ford Foundation has contributed at least $4,245,000 allotted for Global Dialogue programs including the Funders Initiative for Civil Society, since 2014. 5 This includes a six-year, $3,500,000 grant for FICS core support in 2021. 6

History and Leadership

Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society (FICS) was launched in 2016 as a donor affinity group by the American Jewish World Service, Arcus Foundation, Asfari Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders, Ford Foundation, Fund for Global Human Rights, Human Rights Funders Network, Mama Cash, Oak Foundation, liberal financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Wallace Global Fund, and other left-leaning philanthropic organizations. 7

Poonam Joshi is the director of FICS. 8 9 Previously Joshi has worked for Sigrid Rausing Trust, Fund for Global Human Rights, and Amnesty International. 10

Activities and Funding

Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society is a left-of-center donor affinity group that is a project of the London-based 11 philanthropic support program Global Dialogue. FICS is a registered charity and a limited company in England and Wales. 12 The initiative brings together funders to address what the organization says is a shrinking physical, digital, and legal civic space that enables left-of-center movements and allies to organize, participate, and create change. 13

FICS tracks civic space trends, shares its analysis with philanthropic and civic society partners, and incubates initiatives to disrupt trends in left-of-center civil space activism. 14 FICS operates on the assumption that civil society can disrupt, reform, and transform the systems challenging left-of-center organizing. FICS works to convene dialogues to foster cooperation between external funders and domestic actors for these issues. 15 FICS has established two major initiatives to support the expansion of civic spaces to enable organizing, the Narratives Network Initiative and Civic Futures, FICS’s “flagship initiative.” 16

FICS also publishes reports on the civic space. In 2020, FICS published Rethinking Civic Space, which claims that civic spaces have been shrunk by counter-terrorism laws and policy, concentrated economic power, and threats to democracy and pluralism from “regressive political forces.” 17 In 2020, FICS also published a report on civic spaces that claimed widespread acknowledgement of “systemic failures” is increasing interest in radical and dynamic civic spaces. 18

FICS has collaborated with the Fund for Global Human Rights and connected Civic Futures with organizations to oppose what FICS identifies as abuse of security frameworks to criminalize protest, the use of information technologies to surveil actors viewed as a threat, and the promotion of a “security narrative” to foster suspicion of dissent and increase public acceptance of state power. 19

Funding

Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society receives funding from individual donations and foundation grants. 20 In 2022, FICS reported revenue of £3,786,060 ($4,840,080) and expenses of £2,063,862 ($2,638,430). 21

In 2022, FICS received grants of $682,436.76 (£535,713) from the Ford Foundation, $232,211 (£182,286) from liberal financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, $212,770 (£167,025) from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, $71,677 (£56,267) from the National Endowment for Democracy, $38,216 (£30,000) from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, $23,816 (£18,696) from the Arcus Foundation, and $123,766 (£97,157) from anonymous donors. 22

In 2021, FICS received grants of $817,398 (£641,658) from the Ford Foundation, a two-year grant of $300,000 from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, 23 $98,089 (£77,000) from the Oak Foundation, $52,099 (£40,898) from Open Society Foundations, $22,259 (£17,709) from the Arcus Foundation, and $20,661 (£16,219) from the Fund for Global Human Rights. 24

The left-of-center Ford Foundation has contributed at least $4,245,000 was allotted for Global Dialogue programs including the Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society since 2014. 25 This includes a six-year, $3,500,000 grant for FICS core support in 2021. 26

References

  1. “Contact Us.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/contact-us/.
  2. “Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/programmes/funders-initiative-for-civil-society/.
  3. Saskia Brechenmacher and Thomas Carothers. “Defending Civic Space: Is the International Community Stuck?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. October 22, 2019. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/10/22/defending-civic-space-is-international-community-stuck-pub-80110.
  4. “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  5. “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?grantee%5B%5D=global-dialogue&search=%22global+dialogue%22.
  6. “Global Dialogue.” Ford Foundation. April 2021. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/global-dialogue-140141/.
  7. “Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/programmes/funders-initiative-for-civil-society/.
  8. “Our Team.” FICS. Accessed August 6, 2023. https://www.fundersinitiativeforcivilsociety.org/what-is-fics/.
  9. “Our People.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/our-people/.
  10. “Experience.” Poonam Joshi LinkedIn Profile. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/poonam-joshi-b9ba9717/details/experience/.
  11. “Contact Us.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/contact-us/.
  12. “What is FICS?” FICS. Accessed August 6, 2023. https://www.fundersinitiativeforcivilsociety.org/what-is-fics/.
  13. “Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/programmes/funders-initiative-for-civil-society/.
  14. “Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/programmes/funders-initiative-for-civil-society/.
  15. [1] Saskia Brechenmacher and Thomas Carothers. “Defending Civic Space: Is the International Community Stuck?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. October 22, 2019. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/10/22/defending-civic-space-is-international-community-stuck-pub-80110.
  16. “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  17. “Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society.” Global Dialogue. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/programmes/funders-initiative-for-civil-society/.
  18. Ben Hayes and Poonam Joshi. “Rethinking civic space in an age of intersectional crises: a briefing for funders.” Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society. Global Dialogue. Accessed August 8, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/FICS-Rethinking-Civic-Space-Report-FINAL.pdf.
  19. “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  20. “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  21. “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  22. [1] “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  23. “Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society.” Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. May 1, 2021. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.mott.org/grants/2018-04242/.
  24. “Annual Report and Financial Statements.” Global Dialogue. April 30, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://global-dialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Global-Dialogue-Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements-2021-2022.pdf.
  25.  “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?grantee%5B%5D=global-dialogue&search=%22global+dialogue%22.
  26. “Global Dialogue.” Ford Foundation. April 2021. Accessed August 7, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/global-dialogue-140141/.
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