Grants for Investigations and Anti-Corruption Projects for Regional Media and NGOs

Media Development Foundation, together with the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative (EUACI), launches Local Watchdogs — a program of small and flexible grants aimed at supporting projects with a clear anti-corruption focus. The initiative is designed to support regional media and anti-corruption non-governmental organizations that monitor daily developments in their communities, investigate abuses, and oversee decisions of local authorities, often operating under pressure, with small teams, and limited resources. The main objective of the program is to help these organizations initiate new investigations, successfully complete ongoing cases, and achieve tangible, practical results in countering corruption at the local level by providing both financial and comprehensive expert support.

The call is open to:

• Regional investigative media;
• Anti-corruption non-governmental organizations.

Organizations from all cities of Ukraine are eligible to apply (taking into account the priority cities outlined in the evaluation criteria).

The program provides both financial and expert support:

• Financial Grants:
  • Regional media can receive up to €5,000;
  • Anti-corruption NGOs can receive up to €4,000.
• Expert Support (Non-financial component): Organizations will receive free assistance directly tailored to their project execution, including:
  • Expert consultations on investigation methodology;
  • Consultations on editorial work for specific investigative pieces;
  • Pre-publication legal review of materials;
  • Consultations on digital and physical security during investigative work;
  • Support with communications and the dissemination of final results.

Grant funding and project efforts can be directed toward:

• New anti-corruption journalism investigations and monitoring projects;
• Completion or scaling of ongoing anti-corruption investigations;
• Monitoring and analytical research identifying corruption risks in priority sectors to drive practical policy changes locally.

• Application Deadline: 05 November 2026 inclusive.
• Project Implementation Period: 3 months.

To participate in the program, applicants must prepare the mandatory documentation package and submit their application by 05 November 2026 inclusive.

Proposal evaluation will be based on alignment with the program's defined priorities:

• Priority Topics:
  • Food catering procurement in educational institutions;
  • Corruption risks in mobile/temporary retail and small architectural forms (MAFs);
  • Municipal parking management;
  • Integrity and revenue transparency of municipal enterprises;
  • Lease of municipal property;
  • Financial support to NGOs from local budgets;
  • Amendments to master plans of settlements;
  • Funeral services;
  • Protection and use of cultural heritage.
• Priority Geography: Preference will be given to organizations operating in the following cities: Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi, Sheptytskyi, Nikopol, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Fastiv, and Trostianets.

The application must include:

1. Project Proposal Template.
2. Project Budget Template.
3. Extract from the Unified State Register (EDR).
4. Extract from the Register of Non-Profit Institutions and Organizations.
5. Resumes (CVs) of key project personnel.