
IKI Small Grants for funding institutions
“Funding the funders” – Stronger ownership for locally-led action
IKI Small Grants supports national institutions in countries in executing their own call for proposals for locally-led climate or biodiversity projects. The so-called “funding institutions” that receive support from IKI Small Grants manage all aspects of the call for proposals themselves – from planning and selecting to implementing and monitoring locally-led action. They know best how to achieve national climate and biodiversity targets through local projects, actors and networks. Our partners appreciate this level of autonomy and ownership. Using this type of enhanced direct access, the institutions working with IKI Small Grants can further develop their reputation as reliable partners for effectively channeling national or international climate and biodiversity financing to the local level.
Selected institutions receive capacity development as well as funding of up to 950,000 euros to implement their own call for proposals for small-scale projects and measures at local level. The projects receiving these small grants can represent different sectors and target groups, including civil society, schools, local municipalities, start-ups, researchers and even individuals.
Requirements & eligibility
Our funding institutions are expected to meet the following requirements:
- Based in an ODA-eligible county and older than three years,
- Average annual turnover no lower than 500,000 euros,
- Need internal and external control mechanisms to comply with national accounting principles,
- Experienced in working with or interested in expanding their portfolio to small actors, particularly in the non-profit sector,
- Experienced in managing grants and forwarding funds,
- Experience in implementing similar calls for proposals advantageous,
- The selected institutions are expected to further develop their internal safeguard and gender management systems, if necessary
Selected funding institutions
- Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)
- Fonds National pour l’Environnement et le Climat (FNEC)
- Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad – INABIO
- National Development Bank of Botswana (NDB)
- Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF)
- The Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM)

Additional support to strengthen funding institutions
IKI Small Grants places strong emphasis on offering funding institutions support in improving internal structures and processes and training their staff, known as “capacity development”. The IKI Small Grants team in Berlin and dedicated GIZ focal points staff in partner countries accompany each selected institution for the duration of the collaboration advise them, if needed, on technical and administrative procedures. Partner institutions can use approximately 5% of the grant amount for self-organized capacity development measures.
In addition, funding institutions can receive additional capacity development support from IKI Small Grants in four key areas:
- Managing calls for proposals
- Internal gender & safeguard management
- Project upscaling & sustainability
- Training for small grants recipients
An overview of the funding line can be found here:
Fact sheet “IKI Small Grants for funding institutions”

For general information on IKI Small Grants, please visit About the programme | IKI Small Grants