Separate application track — limited pilot
Do you have a ready community initiative with clear impact?
We are looking for people leading well-developed initiatives that address a real community problem, and who have the expertise or practical ability to move from idea to execution.
Darb Rezq's project acceptance criteria have not changed, and individual or family livelihood projects are still reviewed under them. Here we are building a separate application and evaluation track for community initiatives with clear broader impact.
Here we are looking for well-developed community initiatives with clear community impact and reasonable readiness to launch.
We do not accept on this page projects that aim only to secure a livelihood for one person or one household.
About this track
What is this track?
A call for specific community initiatives — not for individual or family livelihood applications.
Darb Rezq's core criteria around seriousness, transparency, sustainability, and feasibility still apply here. The difference is that this track gives greater weight to community impact: the initiative must remain ready and sustainable, but its benefit should not be limited to its leader or team alone.
- Led by a person or team with clear expertise or execution capacity
- Addresses a real community problem
- Benefits more than one person or household
- Has a clear, initially well-developed idea
- Has genuine leadership and execution capacity
Who is a good fit?
- A person or team inside Syria with real knowledge of the problem
- Has a clear concept, not just a vague idea
- Understands the problem and knows who will benefit
- Ready to take leadership and follow-up responsibility
- Has suitable expertise, a team, or partners to support execution
- Has an initial view of steps and needs
What do we mean by community impact?
Community impact means the initiative:
- Serves a group of people, not just the idea owner
- Solves a real problem or reduces an existing burden
- Provides a shared service or public benefit
- Strengthens community cohesion and opens space for cooperation between different people or groups
What do we mean by readiness?
Readiness does not mean everything is 100% complete. It means having:
- A clear idea and understanding of the problem
- An initial plan for implementation
- Expertise, people, or partners to work with
- A clear leadership role
- Willingness to provide a simplified feasibility study or financial overview of cost and expected income
- A plan for how the initiative will sustain and fund itself after launch
- Real readiness to begin once support is available
What do we mean by sustainability?
Community impact does not mean the initiative must be fully free or unable to support itself. On the contrary, we prefer initiatives with a clear model for continuing after initial support.
- Offers a service or product people actually need
- Has an initial financial view of how it will cover its costs
- Can generate fair income for its leader or team
- Does not depend on repeated grants to continue
- Balances economic benefit for the leader with broader community value
What does not fit this track?
In this track, we are not currently accepting projects whose main impact is securing income for one person or household, without clear broader community impact.
Examples for clarification only:
- A greenhouse or livestock project aimed only at income for one household
- A small shop serving only its owner with no broader visible impact
- Individual projects whose main goal is improving one person's or family's income only
- General requests such as "any project that suits me" or "suggest an idea for me"
If your project is mainly an individual or family livelihood project, use the livelihood project application track or see project criteria.
Examples of ideas that may fit
These are general headings for inspiration only — not finished ideas or a ready-made list to copy. When applying, explain the full concept: the problem, beneficiaries, implementation approach, required resources, and how the initiative will sustain and fund itself.
- Shared tool depot for artisans: reduces equipment costs for several craftspeople and encourages shared use and coordination.
- Shared water tank for a group of households or farmers: spreads cost and benefit across several beneficiaries and addresses a basic need cooperatively.
- Small food-processing unit linked to a local crop: adds value to a locally available product and connects the leader with several local suppliers or producers.
- Local platform connecting artisans to customers: helps skilled workers reach clients and makes it easier for people to find reliable services.
Is your initiative a good fit?
Your initiative may be a good fit if you answer yes to most of the following:
- Do I lead this idea myself or with a clear team?
- Does the initiative address a real community problem?
- Will more than one person benefit — not just my household?
- Do I have a clear initial plan for implementation?
- Do I have the expertise, team, or partners needed to execute?
- Do I have a clear plan for how the initiative will sustain and fund itself?
- Does the initiative go beyond a purely individual or family livelihood idea?
- Can I explain why this initiative matters now?
If you answer "no" to more than three questions, this track may not be the best fit for you right now.
How to apply
Read the criteria first. When you are ready, go to the application form at the bottom of this page and fill in the key details — they will be copied into a Messenger message automatically.
- Full name and contact number
- Age range
- Governorate / area
- Initiative name
- What will you do, and why?
- Project preparation phases and rough timeline
- Funding / budget required
- How the budget will be spent
- How the initiative will sustain itself
- Willingness to later donate to other local community initiatives
- Who leads the initiative — expertise, team, and your personal contribution
- Consent to store data for application review (privacy policy)
Or by email: [email protected] with "Community initiative" in the subject line.
Important conditions
- Submitting an application does not mean automatic acceptance.
- We will only review initiatives that align with this track.
- Priority goes to the most ready initiatives with the clearest community benefit.
- We may follow up to request additional information.
- We may not respond in detail to applications that do not fit.
Before applying on the Athar track
This page is for community initiatives with clear broader impact — not livelihood projects, businesses, or startups.
- I understand I am submitting a community initiative, not a livelihood project or business.
- I understand that livelihood projects, businesses, or startups submitted here will be filtered out and not reviewed.
- I understand those applications must use the separate project track.
Ready to apply?
If your initiative fits these criteria, complete the form below, then send the message via Messenger.
Fill in the fields below, then tap “Submit and copy” to save your application and copy the details.
Have an individual or family livelihood project? Submit a livelihood project · Project criteria