Democracy and Media Fund
We provide grants for initiatives that contribute to our mission.
Innovative perspectives
One of the ways we fulfil our mission is to provide grants (financial support) to projects and organisations that work within our focus areas. Our aim is to boost relevant developments in these areas. For this reason, we prefer to support initiatives that bring innovation, change or fresh perspectives. In doing so, we do not shy away from initiatives that may cause tension. We also provide grants to initiatives that cannot, or hardly, find support elsewhere, for instance due to the progressive, innovative or uncertain nature of the solution they seek. The initiative’s quality and potential are always the main focus: that is why we give grants to everyone – from established organisations and informal collectives to individuals. Our focus is on initiatives with an impact in the Netherlands.
Our approach
We have a proactive approach, which means that we ourselves seek or help to create initiatives that have the greatest impact. We invite parties from our network or beyond to apply, put out theme-based applications to which expert individuals or organisations can respond, and bring together relevant parties – such as civil society organisations or researchers – to work together on new initiatives.
Wij nemen geen ongevraagde voorstellen in behandeling.
Types of grants
We provide different types of grants:
Project support
We support both small and larger projects, short-term or multi-year, from the exploratory phase to implementation. The added value of our contribution in boosting relevant developments is decisive here.
Support for partnership
We provide separate support to organisations and individuals who wish to work together to increase joint impact or initiate new solutions in the area of our strategic priorities.
Organisational support
We provide multi-year, general support to a small group of organisations whose work is closely aligned with our values and goals. We maintain close relationships with these organisations.
Focus areas
Our current strategy has three focus areas. Periodically, a specific topic within these focus areas is highlighted. This allows us to work flexibly and deliver targeted impact where and when we can add value. You can stay up to date through our newsletter
Vigorous democracy
In a vigorous democracy, accessible and inclusive public debate is the basis for shaping our society. This is why we provide grants to:
- Initiatives that give a platform to underserved, vulnerable or forward-looking interests and perspectives in the public debate.
- Initiatives that help democratic decision-making to find a basis in equitable public debate.
- Initiatives that fight the undermining of public debate or democratic decision-making.
Future-proof journalism
Independent, diverse journalism is indispensable for well-functioning, democratic rule of law. This is why we provide grants to:
- Journalistic productions or platforms that give a needed and structural boost to the diversity of the independent media landscape in the Netherlands and, occasionally, beyond.
- Initiatives that encourage reflection on the position of journalism and strengthen it within the democratic rule of law.
- Initiatives that seek to create relevant, contemporary journalism that also reflects diversity in our society.
NB: The DMF upholds the importance of independent media and a pluralistic media landscape. That is why we support a wide range of media initiatives, always without exerting influence on content or compromising editorial independence. To maintain high standards of journalistic professionalism, the DMF requires that supported journalistic productions adhere to the generally accepted basic principles of journalism, as articulated in the Bordeaux Code.
Resilient rule of law
A resilient, democratic state must be able to arm itself against threats. This is why we provide grants to:
- Initiatives that work towards systemic protection of groups of citizens whose fundamental rights and freedoms are under threat.
- Initiatives that proactively defend the rule of law against harmful narratives that undermine the fundamental rights of certain groups of citizens.
- Initiatives that vigorously and innovatively promote the values on which our rule of law is based.
- Initiatives with a historical focus on periods in Dutch history when certain groups lacked fundamental rights and freedoms, in particular World War II and the Dutch colonial and slavery past.
Grounds for exclusion:
- We do not fund initiatives with a party-political or religious motive
- We do not fund initiatives by government agencies or government-affiliated executive agencies
- We do not fund initiatives with a purely commercial objective
- In principle, we do not finance purely educational projects and curricula.
Supported initiatives
Foto: Anne van Zantwijk