Volunteerism has always been a central feature of Global Voices. Just as authors write their stories for the Global Voices newsroom on a volunteer basis, so do translators with their translations of those stories to the Lingua project. At the heart of these contributions is the desire to foster understanding across divisions of country, culture and language, to build a world with more curiosity and respect – each story and each translation furthers this mission.

As such, it has been and will continue to remain true that anyone can self-organize to start a new Lingua language community or revive a Lingua language community that has gone dormant, giving as much or as little as they can on a volunteer basis. (Learn more by consulting the Lingua Translation Managers Guide and the policy on Creating Global Voices Sites in New Languages.) As well, anyone is welcome to apply to contribute as a volunteer translator.

However, financial support when available is a powerful tool for encouraging participation and ensuring that a certain level of publication is maintained in a language. We also believe that translation managers deserve financial support for their complex work, and that supporting multilingualism however we can, financially and otherwise, is a crucial part of fulfilling the Global Voices mission. Historically, such funding has been put towards things like modest compensation for a translation manager; stipends for volunteer translators to cover the costs of their internet connection; and meet-ups amongst a language community. 

This document aims to explain how funding comes to Lingua and how decisions are made around the prioritization of such funding. It is based on the results of a survey conducted in late 2025 amongst translation managers, the results of which can be viewed here. 

Where does Lingua funding come from?

As an organization, we do not have a large or permanent pot of money that we can draw from flexibly. Global Voices is a non-profit organization, and the current status of the non-profit funding environment is tough, even more so for non-profit organizations that focus on journalism and media. 

Furthermore, multilingualism and translation is a difficult space to fundraise in – Lingua as a standalone project has rarely successfully received funding on its own merits and usually received funding through other Global Voices sections such as the Newsroom or Rising Voices. 

Finally, institutional funders are generally drawn to projects that focus on one specific topic (e.g. digital rights) – it is hard to find support for projects like ours in which contributors are free to select the stories they translate based on their own personal interests and priorities. 

When we do have money available that can be used to support Lingua language communities, it comes to us from the following avenues: 

• A portion of Global Voices’ yearly operating budget has been set aside for Lingua. This will change from year to year, based on what the organization has been able to fundraise, and relies on unrestricted funding – that is, grants and donations that are free to be used as Global Voices sees fit, instead of being restricted to a specific section or activity. 
• A special project has been supported by a funder, and it includes funding specifically for Lingua. Special projects run for a select period of time (e.g. one year) and usually come with specific deliverables – things that a Lingua language community might not normally produce, such as a targeted training or a special report – that must be met in order to fulfil the terms set by the funder.
• Individual donations have been made to support a specific language community or the Lingua project as a whole. This could be the result of a public fundraising campaign undertaken independently by a language community or one undertaken jointly with other language communities or sections across Global Voices. 

We wholeheartedly welcome any Lingua community to organize their own donation campaign! Such initiative and resourcefulness have a long history within Lingua and is part of what makes Global Voices so special. Don’t worry if you’ve never run a fundraising campaign before. Global Voices can provide fiscal sponsorship, tools and mentorship to Translation Managers wishing to launch local campaigns. If you are interested or you have an idea for a special project, please get in touch with the Lingua Director.

How do we prioritize funding? And what is it used for?

The nature of non-profit organizations and fundraising – funders come and go, and the budget is never static – makes it so that when we do have funding possibilities for Lingua, it is not enough to support all of our language communities at once. This means that it will often be the case that some languages have funding at a given time and others don’t. Moreover, over time, one language that received funding one year might not receive any the following year. 

Our aim is to get as much funding for as many of our languages as possible, and in the meantime to be transparent about how funding is allocated. Money is of course important, but we know from Lingua's history that it is not the most important factor in making a language community successful. Volunteerism, community building and supporting people’s passion for promoting their language are always going to be fundamental. Still, we hope these funds, when available, can help our work reach more people.

Deciding which languages should be prioritized at any given time requires responding to the following questions and considering the sum of the answers, which are based on the results of the survey conducted in late 2025 amongst Lingua’s translation managers: 

• Is the language in question related to any current crises or urgent developments in the world? Our translations of Global Voices stories, given their subject matter and perspective, could make a positive contribution to crisis situations, depending on the circumstances. 
• Is the language in question aligned with the strategic goals of the Global Voices newsroom? We aspire for our translations to have impact in the world, and we can better ensure that they do by intentionally collaborating with the newsroom as a team. 
• Is the language in question endangered, considered at risk or in need of revitalization after a history of oppression? We support efforts to preserve and promote languages, and we recognize that making Global Voices available in an endangered or at risk language is one way to do so.
• How active is the Lingua language community in question currently? We want to encourage communities which manage to maintain a large presence, as well as communities which are small but mighty in output. 

Which language community receives funding and exactly what funding is used for within a language community will depend on 1. the nature of the funding itself (e.g. Is it restricted or unrestricted? Is it part of a special project?) and 2. the outcome of conversations amongst Global Voices management and the language community’s translation manager(s). Options include but are not restricted to:

• Subsidies to support the complex work of the translation manager
• Subsidies to cover volunteer translators’ internet costs or other incentives, such as subscriptions to media outlets, memberships in translation-related platforms, paid-for training opportunities, etc. 
• Support for increasing readership in your language, such as subscriptions to social media management tools, budget to contract a part-time engagement person, etc. 
• Support for organizing a formal in-person or online meetup amongst volunteer translators 

Communication and transparency around Lingua funding

When funding becomes available and is directed towards a particular Lingua language community, the Lingua Director will ensure the following:

1. At least the wider Lingua community (and the whole Global Voices community, if appropriate) is made aware in an accessible and timely manner that a Lingua language community has received funding and the reasoning behind why it was prioritized.
2. At least the wider Lingua community (and the whole Global Voices community, if appropriate) is made aware of any progress updates and/or lessons learned throughout the course of whatever initiative is being supported with funding. 

The exact ways that these communications (e.g. email, webpage, video call) are made can change, but no matter the medium, the purpose remains the same: Funding prioritization within Lingua must be treated transparently so that everyone within Lingua knows which languages are receiving funding and for what.   

If you have any questions about this policy, ideas for fundraising or special projects, or other suggestions, please get in touch with the Lingua Director.