Incident Response Fund: up to $5,000 within two weeks

The Digital Defenders Partnership keeps its Incident Response Fund open, a rapid response mechanism for human rights defenders, journalists, activists and organisations facing digital threats and attacks. Support reaches up to USD 5,000, and applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

The fund sets no country restrictions, so Ukrainian organisations and initiatives apply on the same terms as everyone else. One caveat decides access: each regional team defines the target groups for its own call, and that list governs whether you qualify.

The fund covers activities lasting up to four months, and the team aims to respond to a request within two weeks.

What the fund covers

Money goes to costs that directly reduce the risk or the impact of a digital attack. That covers replacement of hardware or software taken, lost or stolen, plus purchase of more secure hardware or software together with the costs of installing the new systems.

The fund separately covers technical and non-technical activities responding to urgent issues such as internet blockages, measures improving physical security related to information management, and measures addressing the psychological and psychosocial impacts of digital threats. That last strand is unusual among digital security funders, so it is worth using.

Who can apply

The baseline target groups are women, feminist and LGBTQIA+ organisations, land and environmental rights defenders, and journalists and other actors who make information available to the public.

One clarification matters: each regional team defines the target groups for its own call. So before applying, open the call for your region and check whether your profile appears on the list.

Legal registration of an organisation is not necessarily required, which is a rare condition among international donors. The fund applies its own internal referencing process instead of demanding legal personality, so an informal initiative or group can apply.

Conditions and requirements

Activities have to fit within four months of the start. An application is screened against the mandate first, then reviewed on quality and due diligence criteria.

A practical note. Frame the request around a specific incident and its consequences instead of general security strengthening, because this is a response fund and proposals for planned infrastructure upgrades fall outside its mandate. The date of the attack, a description of it and a direct link between it and every budget line will do more for the application than a general account of organisational risk.

How to apply

Submission runs through a dedicated application platform. The fund offers an eligibility test first, then account creation, then submission of the proposal. A draft can be edited, while a final submission cannot.

The fund processes applications in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Ukrainian is absent from that list, so allow time for translation. For another language the fund invites you to contact the team so they can explore a secure solution together.

After submission a Project Officer screens the application against the mandate. A first response takes up to 14 days. Fund description: digitaldefenders.org. Application: apply.grants.digitaldefenders.org.