Seeing is Believing Grants: Call for Proposals

Deadline: 22 July 2013

Seeing is Believing, a collaborative effort of the Standard Chartered Bank and International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) has announced a new funding opportunity for NGOs working in low and middle-income countries.

Under this grant opportunity, Seeing is Believing Innovation Fund aims to fund grants between $10,000 to $200,000 to projects that develop and test ideas, new technology or operating models for delivering eye care with the potential for high impact or even systemic change. The fund is prepared to target projects with a higher degree of uncertainty around the outcome than traditional grant funding in order to allow space for organizations or individuals to experiment with new ideas and approaches that have the potential to become viable new, cost-effective approaches to helping tackle avoidable blindness.

Innovation Fund will seek to support funding of projects at either of the following two stages:

Stage 1 – Pilot stage: It will provide grant funds to projects that are developing a pilot to test and assess a new approach, operating model or technology with potential for impact.

Stage 2 – Preparing for scale: It will provide grant funds to prepare projects that have had demonstrable success at a pilot or experimental stage to be taken to scale.

If you are an organisation or individual with a great idea or new approach to promoting eye health, or enabling blind and visually impaired people to become more independent, we want to hear from you.

SiB Innovation Fund is open to applications from:

    Non-governmental, not-for-profit groups (NGOs)
    Blindness/Disability Organisations (focused on the technology category stated above)
    Academic institutions and Universities
    Research organisations
    Private sector companies (e.g. technology companies)
    Independent individuals (subject to the provision of two references from a reputed institution or organisation and a 5% funding commitment). Successful “Individual” applicants may be subject to a credit check.
    Applicants do not have to be registered charities.

For more information, visit this link.