Open Call for Applications: Consultant Pool for supporting the resilience of Civil Society Organisations

About the initiative

The Thomson Reuters Foundation is launching a new initiative to strengthen the resilience of civil society organisations worldwide.

This tailored, scalable, partner-led programme is designed to enhance the long-term sustainability and impact of CSOs operating in challenging environments globally.

We are now opening our programme to new consultants to help us scale this work to meet the demands of the increasingly challenging environment in which CSOs are operating. The initiative aims to strengthen CSOs’ ability to respond to shrinking civic space, intensifying legal and regulatory requirements, compliance and risk pressures, and declining or shifting funding.

The service combines:

• A diagnostic service identifying strengths, vulnerabilities and support needs
• Targeted specialist consultancy support in seven different business areas
• Access to legal support through our TrustLaw network – the world’s largest pro bono legal service connecting civil society organisations and social enterprises with free legal support.

Support will typically align to one of two pathways:

• Virtual Pathway: Rapid, fully remote support focused on diagnostics, prioritisation, signposting, and light-touch expert input.
• Hybrid Pathway: Deeper support over a longer period, including an enhanced assessment and advisory programme.

Scope of consultancy support: Areas of assessment and advice

Consultants will be engaged to support CSOs across one or more of the following areas:

• Governance: Board effectiveness, decision-making, accountability, risk and issues oversight, policies, leadership and governance structures.
• Financial Management and Fundraising: Financial controls and reporting, budgeting/forecasting, donor compliance, cost recovery, reserves planning, revenue diversification, institutional fundraising readiness.
• Legal and Compliance: Compliance systems, regulatory readiness, organisational risk management, data protection coordination, navigating civic space restrictions, policy frameworks.
• Communications and Marketing: Strategic communications, brand and messaging, stakeholder and donor communications, media strategy, crisis communications, content planning.
• Strategy and Impact: Strategy development/refresh, Theory of Change, impact measurement and KPIs, MEAL frameworks, learning agendas, growth and sustainability planning.
• People and Operations: HR and people systems, organisational structure and roles, operational workflows, safeguarding and duty of care practices, internal communications, performance management, basic operational risk controls.
• Digital Transformation, cybersecurity and AI: Digital maturity and operating models, tool/process improvement, data governance, cyber basics and risk awareness, AI governance and responsible use, change management for adoption.

Sample assignment deliverables

Depending on the CSO’s needs and pathway, consultants may be asked to:

• Review organisational assessment and co-create a prioritised action plan with the organisation.
• Deliver 1-to-1 advisory sessions for selected organisations to improve or develop core assets (depending on the targeted area of support).
• Support practical implementation and light-touch progress tracking against agreed KPIs.

Experience and selection criteria

We welcome applications from consultants with strong technical expertise in one or more of the programme business areas, alongside a proven ability to deliver practical, context-sensitive support for CSOs/NGOs/humanitarian organisations and/or social enterprises.

All applicants

Minimum criteria

• 7+ years’ relevant professional experience in one or more of the seven business areas above
• Demonstrable experience working with CSOs/NGOs/humanitarian organisations and/or social enterprises, ideally including grassroots organisations.
• Strong facilitation/advisory skills: can translate expertise into implementable steps, not only reports
• Ability to produce clear written outputs in plain language
• Comfort working in complex or constrained contexts (legal/political sensitivity, limited capacity, remote delivery)

Preferred criteria (strong advantage)

• 10+ years’ experience and/or recognised specialism in at least one business area
• Track record supporting organisations facing heightened compliance scrutiny (e.g., charity/tax compliance, data protection, governance risk)
• Experience delivering capacity building (training, coaching, mentoring) across diverse contexts and time zones
• Regional expertise and/or language capability aligned to CSO needs (we work globally across multiple regions)
• For Digital Transformation and AI: experience with responsible AI governance, data governance, and risk-aware adoption in mission-driven organisations (not only private-sector deployments)

For legal consultants

Essential criteria

• Licence to practise law in any country (please specify)
• Expertise in one or more of the following areas of law – charity and non-profit law, commercial, corporate, employment, intellectual property, data protection/privacy, tax law (please specify)
• Experience of providing legal services to non-profit organisations

Desirable

• At least 7 years’ post-qualification legal experience
• Experience of advising on management of legal risks
• Understanding of navigating civic space constraints
• Experience of working as in-house counsel or in a similar general legal advisory capacity to non-profits.

Contracting and duration

Consultants will join a pre-vetted pool and be contracted on an assignment basis.

Assignments are typically scoped within 0 to 20 days depending on support pathway.

How to apply

Please submit your application by completing the questionnaire available below.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the deadline of 1st of March 2026 at 12:00 PM UK time.

For more information about the programme or application process, please contact [email protected]