OPEN — deadline 30 October 2026 at 11:59 p.m. AEDT. Does your registered nonprofit work with schools, community groups, education systems or other partners to improve learning opportunities for disadvantaged people in the AI era? The Atlassian Foundation’s 2026 Open Call for Proposals is inviting registered nonprofits worldwide, including eligible African organisations, to propose collective-action initiatives. This is a targeted education partnership call, not a generic AI-project grant.
Funding snapshot and eligibility
- Funder: Atlassian Foundation.
- Maximum request: US$1 million per partnership over two years. The foundation describes an overall US$8 million commitment across the next two years; this is not a grant amount for each applicant.
- Location: global. Eligible applicants must be registered nonprofit organisations.
- Deadline: 30 October 2026, 11:59 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT), as stated by Atlassian.
- Primary route: apply through the official call’s Goodstack Causes portal, following its application guide and eligibility checklist.
- Other support: selected partnerships may participate in a learning cohort and receive access to Atlassian tools and expertise.
What the foundation is actually looking for
Atlassian sets out three tests, all of which matter. First, an initiative should directly relieve poverty or disadvantage for a clearly identified beneficiary group. Second, it should demonstrate collective action: multiple organisations contributing through shared goals, delivery and learning to solve a challenge that cannot realistically be addressed by one group acting alone. Third, it should help education evolve in the AI era so that technological change does not widen existing learning inequalities.
This does not mean buying AI software is enough. The foundation explains that even where AI is not used in a project, applicants should articulate why that decision fits the educational challenge. Where it is used, the rationale should be deliberate and should address safeguards and risks. Applicants should read the funder’s own definitions of collective action and eligibility rather than treating a normal subcontracting arrangement as proof of a coordinated initiative.
Best fit for African nonprofits
An education organisation working with disadvantaged students may be interested if it can document a real, functioning partnership and a credible theory of how the partnership will make educational opportunities more accessible or effective. Illustrative possibilities could include teacher capacity-building coalitions, education-access partnerships, or coordinated programmes helping excluded learners gain relevant future skills. These are illustrative ideas from Africads, not donor-approved project categories.
An applicant proposing a stand-alone school refurbishment, a single organisation’s normal training budget, or an AI tool without a direct disadvantage-relief and collective-action case should not assume it fits. Registration and genuine collaboration are material requirements; the amount of funding available does not override eligibility.
Practical application preparation
- Build the partnership evidence: identify the organisations involved, their roles, shared decision-making arrangements, contributions and experience working together.
- Define the learners: name the disadvantaged target group, barriers faced, baseline evidence and how improved learning access or outcomes will be measured.
- Make the AI-era argument specific: explain what technology changes in the education context, the human safeguards and why the proposed approach is appropriate.
- Budget for joint delivery: align partner responsibilities, work packages, learning activities and organisational capacity with the two-year request ceiling.
- Use the official application route: check the Atlassian call’s application guide, eligibility checklist and Goodstack instructions before submitting.
These preparation points are Africads editorial guidance, not a substitute for the funder’s eligibility checklist or the documents requested inside the Goodstack portal. Review the complete application requirements before committing staff time to a complex proposal.
Five frequently asked questions
1. Can a Kenyan or other African nonprofit apply?
Yes, the announced call is global for registered nonprofits. The applicant must still satisfy the beneficiary, collective-action and education criteria.
2. Is US$1 million guaranteed to each selected initiative?
No. The foundation says eligible partnerships can request up to US$1 million over two years. The final funding decision and approved amount are not guaranteed.
3. Does an organisation need to use generative AI?
Not necessarily. Atlassian says the initiative must respond meaningfully to how education evolves in the AI era; applicants should consider why and how AI is or is not used and the relevant risks.
4. Is one organisation acting alone enough?
A standalone project without meaningful multi-actor collective action is unlikely to meet the foundation’s stated collective-action requirement.
5. Where should applicants submit?
Through the application route linked by the official Atlassian Foundation call, following its Goodstack Causes instructions. The published closing time is 11:59 p.m. AEDT on 30 October 2026.
Conclusion and next steps
The most important decision is not whether an organisation could use US$1 million; it is whether it already has the right collaboration model, direct beneficiary focus and evidence of the systemic education problem. Read the official eligibility material first. Before developing the application, African nonprofit teams can use the Africads Grant Funding Toolkit to organise readiness, evidence, donor fit and timelines. To receive other researched opportunities, subscribe to Africads Grant News.
Official source and application: Atlassian Foundation 2026 Open Call for Proposals. Last source review: 13 October 2026. Status: Open at last review; confirm against the official portal immediately before submitting.
