Fonds Demokratie verteidigen (Defend Democracy Fund): First International Grants (2026 Updates)

The “Defend Democracy” fund by Effektiv Spenden pools donations for particularly effective democracy promotion. The evidence base is provided by Power for Democracies, or P4D. The independent evaluator examines which countries face particularly serious threats to democratic institutions, which countermeasures appear most promising, and which organizations could use additional funding most effectively.¹

For funds raised in Germany, the Common Good Fund Germany, or CGFG, now plays an additional role. It reviews the legal and tax requirements and allocates the German fund’s resources in line with P4D’s recommendations. This structure keeps evaluation, fundraising, and the legally compliant administration of international grants organizationally separate.²

According to Effektiv Spenden, around €1.2 million was donated to the fund in the second half of 2025, following the end of its beta phase. The current grant round includes funding for organizations in Argentina, Turkey, and Italy.²

Further information about the “Defend Democracy” fund is available here.

The global state of democracy

The latest report by the V-Dem Institute paints an alarming picture. For the average person worldwide, the level of democracy has fallen back to that of 1978. This means that the advances of the so-called third wave of democratization, which began in Portugal in 1974, have been almost entirely reversed.³

According to V-Dem, around 74 percent of the global population, approximately 6 billion people, now live in autocracies. Only 7 percent, around 600 million people, live in liberal democracies.³

The following map from Our World in Data shows the global distribution of closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies:

Political regimes worldwide according to the Regimes of the World classification. Data from V-Dem, processed by Our World in Data.⁴

The development over time also shows how many people continue to live under autocratic systems:

Share of the global population by political regime. Data from V-Dem, processed by Our World in Data.⁵

Europe is also affected by autocratization. V-Dem identifies seven European Union member states as countries experiencing democratic decline. In 2025, the United States lost its status as a liberal democracy for the first time in more than 50 years.³

At the same time, Hungary demonstrates that such developments are not irreversible. In the April 2026 parliamentary election, the Tisza Party led by Péter Magyar ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year period in government and won a two-thirds majority of seats.⁶ Rebuilding independent institutions will nevertheless remain a long-term task.

The current grant round

Of the approximately €1.2 million raised, €158,000 from the Swiss fund was awarded to the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales in Argentina.

The resources of the German fund are transferred to the Common Good Fund Germany. Under its current plans,

• €205,000 will go to the Media and Law Studies Association in Turkey, and
• €400,000 will go to the Associazione Antigone Onlus in Italy.

A further €448,000 is awaiting the completion of legal reviews of additional recommendations.²

The CGFG may use a limited share of future incoming funds for its legal, tax, and administrative work. The maximum is 4 percent, while the currently agreed rate is 2.5 percent. The corresponding review costs were previously covered directly by Effektiv Spenden.²

Argentina: Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales

The Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, or CELS, was founded in 1979 during Argentina’s military dictatorship. Today, it is one of the country’s leading civil society organizations working on strategic litigation.

Since President Javier Milei took office in December 2023, the separation of powers, the judiciary, protest rights, and press freedom have come under increasing pressure. CELS responds through strategic litigation, research, public communication, and international advocacy.⁷

Since the beginning of Milei’s presidency, CELS has been involved in more than 30 legal proceedings challenging authoritarian measures. These include cases concerning the appointment of judges by decree, restrictions on the right to protest, and the expansion of state surveillance.⁷

Funding of €158,000 was provided at the end of May from the Swiss fund’s resources.²

Turkey: Media and Law Studies Association

The Media and Law Studies Association, or MLSA, defends press freedom and freedom of expression in Turkey. Journalists and civil society actors increasingly face arbitrary arrests, politically motivated proceedings, and travel restrictions.

MLSA combines direct legal representation with strategic litigation, trial monitoring, international advocacy, and legal training. In 2024, the organization monitored 641 court hearings. In the first half of 2025, its work contributed to seven releases.⁸

Funding of €205,000 for MLSA is planned through the Common Good Fund Germany. Only activities that qualify as charitable under German law will be supported, including trial monitoring, reporting, training, and public education.²

Italy: Associazione Antigone Onlus

According to Power for Democracies, Italy is in an early but increasingly serious phase of democratic decline. Risks include the criminalization of nonviolent protest, the expansion of state coercive powers, and reforms that could alter the balance between the executive, parliament, and the judiciary.⁹

The Associazione Antigone Onlus was founded in Rome in 1991. It combines strategic litigation with legal analysis, parliamentary advice, public communication, and civil society coalition building.

The grant is intended, among other things, to support the creation of a Constitutional Defence Hub. The hub will bring together legal expertise and enable rapid responses to new threats to constitutional democracy. A public case database and training programs for legal professionals and civil society actors are also planned.⁹

Funding of €400,000 for Antigone is planned through the Common Good Fund Germany.²

Freedom2Vote in the United States

For the United States, Power for Democracies recommends the Freedom2Vote initiative. It identifies unregistered eligible voters from underrepresented groups and supports them in registering and participating in elections through data-driven programs.

An independently verified randomized experiment conducted for the 2024 US presidential election found an increase of 3.72 percentage points in voter registration and 2.14 percentage points in voter turnout compared with the control group. The cost was approximately $94 per additional vote cast.¹⁰

Due to its specific focus on voter registration and mobilization, Freedom2Vote cannot currently be funded with sufficient legal certainty through Effektiv Spenden or the Common Good Fund Germany.²

Individuals can, however, support the initiative directly through Notley Impact. Such direct donations are not eligible for a donation receipt recognized in Germany or Switzerland.

Sustainable funding for Power for Democracies

With its initial research, Power for Democracies has created an important basis for the fund’s international direction. As a relatively new evaluator, however, P4D does not yet have a secure long-term funding base.

Effektiv Spenden therefore plans to examine whether up to 20 percent of future incoming fund resources could be used to support P4D itself.² This could enable the systematic evaluation of additional countries, interventions, and organizations.

For now, this is a proposed upper limit subject to further review, not a fixed allocation for future grant rounds.

Further information about the fund

This article summarizes the latest developments and the currently planned use of the fund’s resources. General information about the “Defend Democracy” fund and its approach is available on the Geld für die Welt website.

Footnotes

1. Power for Democracies, “Our recommendations”. powerfordemocracies.org ↩

2. Effektiv Spenden, current update on the “Defend Democracy” donation fund, based on information provided by Effektiv Spenden. General fund page: effektiv-spenden.org ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

3. V-Dem Institute, “Democracy Report 2026: Unraveling the Democratic Era?”. v-dem.net ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Our World in Data, “Democracy, 2025”. ourworldindata.org ↩

5. Our World in Data, “People living in democracies and autocracies”. ourworldindata.org ↩

6. Reuters, “Magyar's parliamentary majority in Hungary increases after final count”. reuters.com ↩

7. Power for Democracies, “Defending democracy through legal action in Argentina: Evaluation of Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales”. powerfordemocracies.org ↩ ↩²

8. Power for Democracies, “Securing civil society through targeted legal action in Turkey: Evaluation of MLSA”. powerfordemocracies.org ↩

9. Power for Democracies, “Evaluation of Antigone: Protecting democracy through legal support and advocacy”. powerfordemocracies.org ↩ ↩²

10. Power for Democracies, “Securing democratic representation and accountability in the United States: Evaluation of Freedom2Vote”. powerfordemocracies.org ↩