It is only by elevating the experiences, perspectives, and needs of communities closest to harm that we can achieve a full realization of digital rights. This focus guided the work of our Access Now Grants team throughout 2020.
In 2020, the spread of COVID-19 took an especially severe toll on grassroots organizations by further restricting civic space and shrinking direly needed resources. Despite the challenges of the year, digital rights organizations and activists rose to meet the moment. They responded urgently and forcefully to the new threats to digital rights that arrived with the pandemic and rallied to support those most at risk through a crisis that further exacerbated the existing inequality, discrimination, and violence they were experiencing.
We observed several key trends emerging from our grantmaking efforts. We offered more support for local digital security help desks, got more requests for assistance fighting internet shutdowns through grassroots organizing, and helped organizations working to mitigate human rights challenges related to social media platforms worldwide.
Following is a look at the organizations we supported in 2020 that are working on these and other fronts. If you have questions about our grant-making process, check out the Access Now Grants page for details, and reach out to [email protected] if you can’t find the information you’re looking for.
In 2020, Access Now provided $979,059 in direct financial support across 38 grants to 34 separate local and grassroots organizations working across 27 countries.
| Total grants awarded in 2020 | 38 |
| Total grantee organizations | 34 |
| Total number of countries represented | 27 |
| Average grant amount | $25,765 |
| Number of first-time grantees in 2020 | 15 |
| Average grantee organizational budget | $223,981 |
| Percentage of grants going to organizations with $200k or less in their organizational budget | 76% |
In 2020, 76% of our support went towards funding grassroots groups with budgets less than $200,000. Such support has been an increasing priority, as grassroots organizations working in challenging contexts typically face significant obstacles in accessing funds. Many donors perceive risk in such contexts, and organizations working on behalf of marginalized communities can face additional barriers as they traditionally have less access to resources. Our goal is to empower such organizations to increase their profile, strengthen their organization and future sustainability, and achieve greater impact.
We also strategically fund larger and more established organizations. We often support such organizations to help them organize large convenings, work regionally or across multiple countries, improve digital security for human rights defenders and at-risk communities, build digital rights capacity within the broader civil society ecosystem, and help channel funds in high-risk and closed environments.
In 2020, 15 organizations, or 44% of recipients, were first-time grantees. There are no set benchmarks for new grantees. Rather, we seek a balance that enables us to provide sustained, multi-year funding and respond to emerging issues and support the expansion of the digital rights community. In 2020, we awarded funding to new grantees in several countries where we felt there were opportunities to push back on negative trends, or seize new openings for human rights work.