Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, is a nonprofit that works to “build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.” As part of that effort, it awards grants to organizations working against hate. Those interested in applying can join a conference call on December 8 or 13 to learn about the process.
Above, Justin Normand of Dallas stands outside the Islamic Center of Irving with a message for those rightly afraid of the Islamophobia unleashed by the Donald Trump campaign. Anti-Muslim hate crimes have spiked since the 2016 election.
The details below are directly from the Open Society Foundations’ website.
This rapid-response initiative of the Open Society Foundations aims to support, protect, and empower those who are targets of hateful acts and rhetoric. The initiative is designed to bolster communities’ ability to resist the spread of hate and strengthen protections for their most vulnerable neighbors. We applaud the many local and national leaders, community-based organizations, and families who are rising to this challenge and reaffirming core American ideals.
We expect that this initiative will serve direct resources quickly to organizations that are well positioned to provide support, services, technical assistance, and outreach to individuals and organizations dealing with acts of hate. We intend this program to respond to what communities believe is of greatest value to address the rise in hate incidents and other threats to vulnerable groups and thus intend to remain flexible and support an array of responses. We expect that they will include: direct services including legal, social services, and mental health supports such as those related to posttraumatic stress; protection of vulnerable nonprofit staff and organizational assets (e.g., data and communications security); efforts to work collaboratively across communities; collection of hate-incident data to further effectiveness in response and promote awareness of the issue; litigation; and public education and training programs.
We believe that community organizations are the front line in supporting and protecting targets of hate, preventing such incidents from occurring in the first place, and strengthening and empowering communities to be places of generosity, hope, inclusion, and tolerance.
Projects must be:
- responsive to a specific incident, threat or risk and benefit frequently persecuted populations; and
- timely, urgent, and concrete—the event or situation you are responding to requires immediate action that is well thought out with a clear set of goals and outcomes that can be achieved within six months.
Applicants’ organizational strengths must include the following:
- positioning in their community as a trusted resource, led by the communities they serve and, responsive and accountable to those communities
- commitment to serving persecuted populations and the values of inclusion, diversity, fairness, and equal protection
- longstanding track record of serving persecuted populations, protecting civil rights, and/or fighting against racism and discrimination
Individuals and single-person LLCs are not eligible.
See complete guidelines in the Download Files section of this page. Please download and fill out the application form and use the Open Society Foundations Grant Portal to upload your application as an attachment. Three additional supporting documents are required and can be submitted as attachments via the portal: 1) a brief budget for the project you are looking to fund; 2) current and previous year organizational budgets for your organization; and 3) if applicable, your organization’s most recent audited financial statement or IRS Form 990. Before you start the online application process, please review these instructions that explain how to register and apply through our online grantee portal.
We have scheduled several conference calls to provide prospective applicants with information and answers to their questions. The first two conference calls are scheduled for December 7, from 1 to 2 p.m. (EST), and December 15, from 2 to 3 p.m. (EST). Additional calls will be scheduled in January. Participants must register online to receive dial-in instructions for these conference calls.
Rebecca Barrett-Fox 
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