Quattrogatti.info launches a €2500 grant for no-profit, innovative media organizations.

1. Request for Proposals - Terms of reference
Background context
Naos Research and Infographics, better known for its website Quattrogatti.info, is a registered
non-profit company led by a group of social scientists and digital creatives who is committed
to provide an analytical news service on key economic, political and social issues in Italy that
is both well-researched and comprehensible to the general public. Quattrogatti’s distinctive
feature is the emphasis it puts on communication – creating content that is accessed free of
charge. We use animated videos, infographics and interactive presentations to explain
complex issues in a simple and entertaining way, while maintaining high rigour.
From 2008-2015 Quattrogatti has pursued these objectives thanks to a team of over 40
collaborators, including young scholars from leading universities in Europe (LSE, Oxford, UCL,
and EUI) and talented visual artists. Overall, we have produced about 90 presentations and
18 videos and infographics which can all be viewed on our website www.quattrogatti.info.
Despite being run on a voluntary basis and alongside members’ main occupations, we have
gained recognition for our capacity to combine rigour, clarity and multimedia formats.
Over the years, we have also developed a substantial media presence, including several
collaborations with major national newspapers, including la Repubblica, Corriere della Sera and
La Stampa. The group ran a regular blog on the national broadsheet Il Fatto Quotidiano and
our most prominent authors have blogs on the Huffington Post Italy. Similarly, our project has
been supported by commissions or collaborations with third parties, including Open Society
Foundation, the European Journalism Centre and Intelligence Squared.
In 2015, the Quattrogatti team took the difficult decision to shut down its activity, due to the
impossibility to truly honour its mission working only on a voluntary basis and in members’ free
time. In the last Board meeting, we decided to dedicate our existing pot of resources to a project
that is similar in nature and that shares our broad objectives and values. These ToRs reflect
this decision.
Overall objectives of this grant
We believe that a good society is an informed society. We want people to truly understand and
be able to judge what their political leaders and decision makers are doing based on a free
and accurate flow of information. This is fundamental to a democratic society capable of
shaping its future. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "only a well-informed citizenry is capable
of preventing the corruption of power, and of restoring the nation to its rightful course".
There are, however, important obstacles to an informed citizenry:
• Information and knowledge may be influenced by vested interests, while independent
academic insights are often not comprehensible to the general public.
• These challenges are further exacerbated by the increasing mass of information made
available by the web – difficult to navigate and overwhelming to the average
‘consumer’.
• Finally, changing technology is changing the means through which information is
consumed, with written word increasingly giving way to multimedia formats.
We believe these obstacles call for a new way of disseminating and consuming information.

2. We are therefore looking to select an organisation which:
• provides a clear, independent and rigorous (well-researched) commentary on key
economic, political and social issues relevant to Italy which resonates in the public debate
and contributes to improved policy-making;
• enables our citizenry to have a better understanding of current socio-economic issues and
of the ways policy can improve these;
Eligibility requirements
The organisations applying to this grant must:
• be a registered not for profit organisation1
;
• be committed to the advancement of an informed and active citizenship through, inter
alia, the conduct and dissemination of research, information products, and education
on topics of economic, political and social significance;
• focus on issues that are relevant to Italy (though not necessarily exclusive to Italy);
• have at least 2 under-30 year olds involved in the project.
Amount, timeframe and deliverables
The grant money, a maximum of Euro 2500, shall be disbursed and used within a year from
the receipt of the grant. The following milestones will apply:
• an inception report (1 page) shall be submitted within 2 months of receiving the grant,
• an end of year report, detailing how the money was used and impact will be delivered at the
end of the 12 months (3-5 pages)
Proposal structure
The suggested structure for the proposal – to be submitted in English or Italian2
– is the
following (for a total of 5 pages maximum + Annexes):
• Introduction of organisation, with focus on explaining alignment with Quattrogatti values
and objectives (1.5 page max)
• Past experience and achievements (1 page max)
• Proposed ‘project’/use of grant money (2 pages max)
• Proposed team and brief pen portraits (1 page max)
• Annex 1: CVs
• Annex 2: Draft budget (can be very rudimentary)
• Annex 3: Any further important documentation
Deadline for proposals
February 29 2016
1
Being registered as a not for profit company is not strictly required at the time of the application. However it will
be a stringent requirement to receive the grant and the applicant will have to prove within the application that they
have taken the necessary steps to obtain the status required by this application.
2
The language of the proposal will not affect scoring in any way, we have chosen to keep this proposal in English
to target as wide as possible an audience.

3. Scoring approach
Feature Total points assigned
Allignment with
Quattrogatti’s core values
and objectives
20
Quality of the proposed
project
30
Quality of team proposed
(CVs and organisational
past experience)
30
Proposed use of grant
money and draft budget
20