Agency Fund Open Call 2026

The Agency Fund's 2026 Spring Open Call is closed. Its deadline was midnight Anywhere on Earth on 26 April 2026. The fund's own FAQ says it typically runs one Open Call a year, usually around March or April, and no next date has been announced. This page is a guide to preparing for the next one.

The Agency Fund is a US-based, multi-donor fund that backs projects that expand human agency: the capacity of people to picture the future they want and plan a path to it. It funds tools that offer information, advice, coaching or other decision support, with a focus on health, education and livelihoods. It is open to Indian applicants, but the funding rules for Indian non-profits are specific (see below).

What the program offers

Open Call grants typically range from US$75,000 (about ₹71 lakh) to US$500,000 (about ₹4.75 crore), with an average award of roughly US$230,000 (about ₹2.2 crore). Grants usually last 10 to 24 months. For pilot and demonstration projects the fund generally covers the direct expenses needed to complete the project. Grants come with reporting, but the fund says most reports are informal; outcomes such as socioeconomic impact and scale may be tracked, sometimes publicly. Research projects must follow open standards such as pre-registration, open code and open data, within privacy limits.

Who can apply

Institutions anywhere in the world can apply, and the fund says it highly values applications from low- and middle-income countries. Individuals can apply without belonging to an organisation. Consortia can apply too, through a single lead applicant. Researcher-led projects, including impact evaluations, are welcome if they have a believable path to scale.

For-profit social enterprises are accepted, but because the money must serve charitable and social goals, a for-profit gets funding only for a specific project. That is structured either as a restricted project grant, where you report afterwards that all the money went to the agreed costs, or as a deliverables-based contract paid when fixed milestones are met. General operating support is not available to for-profits.

If you are an Indian non-profit, the FAQ is clear: you must hold an active FCRA registration to be eligible to receive funding. Indian recipients of foreign money should also check FEMA and tax treatment with an adviser before applying.

The 2026 round also set scale conditions. The project had to reach at least 1,000 users already (a firm requirement; the fund may count unique users across all your programmes), with a believable path to 1 million or more, directly or through partners such as governments. A tech-based pilot inside a larger programme is fine, and you do not need a platform at scale yet. This is a poor fit for ideas still at the concept phase.

How to apply

The first step is a short online Expression of Interest. Each separate project needs its own form. Before you submit, read the Call for Proposals, the FAQs, the What We Fund page and the list of past investments. The fund asks you to consider three questions: will your project show socioeconomic impact, do you plan to reach 1 million or more users, and would it fit naturally among its existing portfolio?

How applications are judged and what happens next

After the call closes, two independent reviewers read each application, and five or more reviewers comment on and score finalists. Investment committees made up of the team, funding partners, grantees and external reviewers make the final decisions. The fund aims to reply within three weeks of the closing date, either with questions, a pointer to another funder, or a decline. If you hear nothing in three weeks, it asks you to assume you were unsuccessful. Shortlisted applicants then send a full application, including the project length they prefer.

About the Agency Fund

The Agency Fund is a multi-donor collaborative committed to improving lives by expanding agency. It describes its end goal as an ecosystem of learning organisations that work on impact now while learning how to do better. It reports receiving around twenty times more applications than it funds, and says that to date only a small share have been a substantive fit.

Things to check before you apply

• Count your active users honestly; below 1,000 you were asked to wait for a later call.
• Existing grantees must propose something distinctly new.
• Applicants grant the fund a licence over the intellectual property in their application materials, as a precaution.
• The page still said the window was open when we read it, so confirm current dates on the site before planning.