One of the ACCESS tools to increase citizen engagement with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) initiatives is the Citizen Outreach Grant (COG) program. The COG program helps Tbilisi-based and regional CSOs to increase civic engagement on a broad range of topics in the regions of Georgia. COGs aim to bring CSOs and the constituents they serve closer together in addressing priority community issues. The grant projects under COGs might include  awareness raising, advocacy campaigns, training focused on expanding civic engagement on an important local issue, citizen mobilization efforts that bring public concerns to decision makers and promote changes that resolve community issues. Project topics should be of priority interest to local communities and provide opportunities for citizens to take action to address these local issues. Projects should engage as many citizens as possible through activities like petitions, community actions, community meetings, volunteer recruitment initiatives, media events, meetings with local and central government officials, and other relevant actions.

Every year ACCESS announces two open and one closed (limited) Requests for Applications (RfA) under the Citizen Outreach Grants program. The maximum grant award for each proposal is $15,000 USD.  Every operational year ACCESS awards around 8-11 COGs. At least 8 projects are awarded through the open competition.

During the first operational year (November 1, 2014 – October 30, 2015) ACCESS awarded 8 projects under the open COG competition. Full list of awarded projects can be found at http://ewmi-activism.org/ongoing-grants/