Am I eligible to apply?

The Voiceless Grants Program is open but not limited to animal advocacy organisations and sanctuaries; animal lawyers and law educators; humane educators; animal studies academics and creatives, environmental and wildlife scientists; First Nations groups; and diverse community and religious groups. If you do not fall within these groups, you may still be eligible.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES IN PROJECTS:

• Addressing root causes of exploitative animal-based systems
• Transformative and disruptive ideas
• Vegan philosophy
• Promotion of animals’ flourishing
• Out of the box, blue sky, innovative and creative thinking
• Solutions based ideas
• Raising human consciousness beyond speciesism and anthropocentrism.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES IN PEOPLE:

• Aligned with Voiceless’s mission and values
• Passionate about animal protection
• Committed to the animal protection movement
• Tenacious in their approach
• Creative and out-of-box thinking
• Youthful, in age or spirit.

SHARING OUR CORE VALUES:

Core Values are Voiceless’s guiding principles as we strive towards a just, equitable world where animals can flourish.

We work to embody these Core Values and expect them in the organisations, advocates, and projects we partner with and support. Core Values must be demonstrated both in words and in actions, both at the level of organisational governance, communications as well as by the key advocates involved in Voiceless-supported or partner projects.

Please check that you share these Core Values before your application.

WE ARE LOOKING TO INVEST IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

1. Education: humane and animal protection education
2. Law and Policy: legislative reforms and progressive policy/lobbying work
3. Social values: Increasing animal-rights values and reducing speciesism, qualitative and quantitative (academic or grassroots) research that contributes to understanding in these fields
4. Science and Technology: positive solutions-based alternatives to animal use and cruelty
5. Network and coalition building: conferences, symposia, cohort programs, grassroots organizing, organisational alliances, First Nation or faith-based community organising
6. Creativity: blue sky thinking, innovative and visionary initiatives, research, organisations, and efforts that go beyond longstanding and traditional animal advocacy work, expanding the thinking.

VOICELESS IS NOT LOOKING TO INVEST IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES AND / OR AREAS:

• Animal protection issues that are small or localised – in order to see maximum impact for animals, we want to focus on large institutionalised, industrialised, national or international issues.
• Animal welfare: minimising suffering for animals in captivity, minimising suffering for animals that will be used by humans in some way
• Animal care in sanctuaries and shelters: we are however, interested in funding humane and animal protection education run by sanctuaries and shelters
• Conservation: projects including wildlife conservation that works to preserve and conserve species and habitats rather than ending industrialised animal exploitation
• Projects that use animal-derived products (animal-based food, leather, etc.)
• Projects or organisations that benefit, support, or are impartial to animal agriculture or other exploitation of animals
• Anything where the ultimate focus is human well-being versus animal flourishing
• Global animal advocacy groups: it is unlikely Voiceless will fund international organisations that already have access to funding.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF APPLICANTS:

While Voiceless is an Australian-based organisation and primarily funds projects in Australia, we are open to expanding our support for people and organisations internationally / wherever they may be located such as the Middle East, South America and Asia. We are focusing on the outcome for animals and less on the geography of a grant application.

Please note that preference is given to international applicants from areas that traditionally have less access to philanthropic funding. For example, applications from regions such as North America and Europe may be given less priority.

Africa – We are delighted to announce that we are partnering with The Pollination Project to focus on small grant-giving in Africa. We encourage applicants in these regions to apply via The Pollination Project’s website.

ORGANISATIONAL STATUS:

Preference will be given to not-for-profit organisations and/or animal advocates. However, Voiceless may be open to opportunities for ‘impact investing’ with small grassroots companies or start-ups with bright, innovative ideas in the vegan space. Note: All profits will be returned to the Voiceless Grants Program.

SELECTION CRITERIA & PROCESS:

All grant expressions of interest are subject to a standard due diligence process and will be assessed based on a pre-determined selection criteria. Our team of Voiceless Grant Advisors will be involved in the selection process and are comprised of some of Australia’s most prominent animal lawyers, scientists and advocates. Click here to view our 2023 Voiceless Grant Advisory team.

Expressions of interest (EOI) timings and processes:

• Expressions of interest for the Voiceless Grants Program are open for submissions on an ongoing basis (unless otherwise stated on the Expression of Interest Form)
• Voiceless runs an annual grants calendar year based on the fiscal year, so it is advantageous to submit your expression of interest sooner rather than later in the current financial year
• We encourage you to read our EOI step-by-step process below, before making your submission
• Unfortunately, we cannot respond to every EOI submission made, nor are we in the position to provide specific feedback on unsuccessful submissions.