A robust policy process is critical to building open society. It offers a venue for wide public participation, enables a discussion of ideas informed by evidence, and prevents attempts to establish a monopoly on truth. Strengthening such processes is critical to Open Society’s mandate of ensuring justice, advancing human rights, promoting transparency, and ending discrimination. Out of the many participants in the policy process, we focus on think tanks because they strengthen democratic processes by: 1) identifying political, economic, and social problems, 2) researching them in a nonpartisan and scientifically rigorous manner, and 3) providing policy alternatives that enrich public debate. Think tanks are vital not only because they advocate specific remedies, but also because these remedies are informed by carefully accumulated and analyzed data, making them harder to ignore than emotional normative appeals or isolated instances of abuse.

The majority of donors operating in the field of policy research provide project funding for analytical materials on specific topics. As a result, both public policy centers and their funders focus almost exclusively on particular policy outputs and their immediate advocacy at the expense of pursuing deeper institutional development of think tanks. This creates a niche for the Think Tank Fund to assist the overall development of grantees in three specific areas: quality of research products, communications and advocacy capacity, and internal development and governance. Our mission is to contribute to building strong think tanks that produce high-quality policy analysis, deliver it to a wide range of audiences to galvanize public interest and debate, and operate as sustainable and internally robust nonprofit organizations.

Organizational development grants aim to provide support for improvement in the three specific areas of think tank activity and operation mentioned above. An organizational development grant can cover from one to all three areas for a period between one to two years based on an applicant’s demands, merit of the proposal, and the time needed for implementing necessary changes.

Purpose and Priorities  

Financial & Grants Management

Budget Preparation	Steps to be taken while Applying for Grants
Bank Reconciliation	Letter of Intent
AdvancesÂ	Capacity Building
Cost Effective Analysis	Concept Note
How to choosea Bank	Bank Accounts
Cash and Fund flowÂ	Asset RegisterÂ
Financial Statements	Cash and Acrual based AccountingÂ