|
|
|
 About |
 |
Title: Project GRANTED
Location:
Global
Categories: Education
Environment
Health
Status:
In Planning
Timeline:
September 19 09 to September 19 09
Description:
Last year during my CIDA Internship, my partnership with Friends of AIDS Support Trust (FAST) resulted in the procurement of a 3-year women’s empowerment project funded by USAID. This was an organizational milestone for FAST, as it was able to prove to a major government funding agency that FAST, a grassroots, community-based organization, does, in fact, have in place the organizational capacity and financial management systems required to effectively oversee large-scale projects. The project also more than doubled the FAST annual budget as compared to the previous year.\r\n\r\nUpon my return from Malawi, I thought to myself: what if I could continue to help FAST and additional SAT CBO partners in building their capacities to expand their funding base? \r\n\r\nI got home, did my research and found that CBOs normally receive little external funding, despite evidence suggesting they have a comparative advantage over international NGOs in delivering services to the most beneficiaries in the most cost-effective manner (Save the Children, 2005). One study conducted in Malawi attempted to understand the obstacles faced by CBOs in accessing funds (Save the Children, 2005) and found that the challenges included producing “professional” proposals, mainly because CBOs do not have the required technical capacity.\r\n\r\nThis project addresses the needs of those CBO partners of SAT to meet the proposal standards required. This project seeks to empower eligible CBO partners to access increased funding by enhancing their technical capacity in proposal writing through the provision of proposal development and organizational profile improvement services, including a proposal development toolkit. Though many toolkits do exist out there, most are not accessible or tailored to the needs of Southern African CBOs, are not comprehensive enough, or do not use CBO-friendly terminology. The toolkit being prepared for this project will address these challenges so CBOs can use the resource effectively.\r\n\r\nMany CBOs do have adequate organizational and financial management capacity to handle larger amounts of funding and large-scale projects, but still cannot broaden their funding base – building proposal development capacity in this way would be an effective method to close this gap and demonstrate, just as FAST did, that they too are able to handle large-scale projects and funding. This will improve the status of CBOs so they are perceived by donors as equally eligible recipients of funding and be able to enhance their performance and provide direct, higher-quality services to a greater number of community members.\r\n\r\nLet’s work together to support community responses to HIV & AIDS in Southern Africa!\r\n\r\nThis project\'s stakeholders include: Friends of AIDS Support Trust, a grassroots organization providing HIV/AIDS prevention, support and care services in Nsanje District, Malawi. It also includes Southern African AIDS Trust, a regional capacity-building organization that works with CBOs to support community responses to HIV & AIDS in Southern Africa.
Background:
Problem Statement:\r\n\r\nCommunity-based organizations (CBOs) are local, grassroots organizations that rely almost exclusively on volunteers, and normally receive little external funding. Despite this, however, evidence suggests that they have a comparative advantage over international NGOs in delivering services to the most beneficiaries in the most cost-effective manner (Save the Children, 2005).\r\n\r\nIn recent years, international funding for HIV/AIDS programs has increased; however, this has rarely translated into enhanced funding at community level. Even despite growing national commitments from governments in southern Africa, for example, the majority of children are still cared for within their own communities with meager resources. Out-of-pocket spending by households, most of whom are poor, is the largest single component of overall HIV/AIDS expenditure in African countries (Save the Children, 2005), reminding us once again that the economic burden is borne by those least able to cope. In a World Bank study in Tanzania, 90% of material assistance provided to help AIDS-affected households came from relatives and community groups, many of whom are already living in extreme poverty themselves (Mutangadura et al., 1999). Due to inadequate funding, local organizations are not able to maximize their full potential to assist their communities. They cannot reach all those that require support and the range and quality of services offered is limited. Clearly, blockages exist that prevent resources from reaching local communities.\r\n\r\nOne study conducted in Malawi attempted to understand the obstacles faced by CBOs in accessing funds (Save the Children, 2005). The results indicated that, although responding to needs at local levels is one of the strengths of grassroots organizations, producing “professional” proposals is a weakness. Few CBOs can meet the standard required by donors in proposal formats, as they do not have the required technical capacity. In addition to this, identifying funders or calls for proposals and establishing contact are often hard for small, rural CBOs that do not have constant access to modern technology. Donor perceptions also play a major role. Many favor larger, more established NGOs, as they believe community-based groups lack the capacity to account for funds. Evidence suggests, however, that CBOs actually have similar levels of capacity in terms of governance and financial systems to NGOs (Save the Children, 2005).\r\n\r\nThis project will attempt to address the above mentioned problems by offering capacity-building and proposal development services to local, grassroots organizations that are conducting effective work and have adequate management systems in place. The project will target organizations within the region of Southern Africa initially, with the anticipation that an effective operational model will allow for adaptation to different regions that exhibit similar needs.\r\n\r\nBy working in this capacity, the project will empower local CBOs to access increased funding from donors, as well as act as a liaison and inform CBO partners when funding opportunities arise. Lastly, the project aims to improve the status of CBOs so they are perceived by donors as equally eligible recipients of funding, when compared to more established NGOs. In this way, local, grassroots organizations will also be able to enhance their performance and provide higher-quality services to a greater number of community members.\r\n\r\nReferences:\r\n\r\nMatangadura, G., Makurazita, D. and Jackson, H. (1999). A Review of Household and Community Responses to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the Rural Areas of sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS Best Practice Collection: Geneva. http://www.unaids.org/publications/documents/economics/agriculture/una99e39.pdf\r\n\r\nSave the Children, 2005. Bottlenecks and Drip-feeds – Channeling resources to communities responding to orphans and vulnerable children in southern Africa.\r\n\r\nProject Purpose:\r\n\r\nThis project addresses the needs of those CBOs in Southern Africa with adequate management systems in place to meet the proposal format standards required by potential donors.\r\n\r\nProject Mission:\r\n\r\nThis project seeks to empower CBOs to access increased funding through enhancing technical capacity in proposal writing and the provision of proposal development and organizational profile improvement services.\r\n\r\nProject Vision:\r\n\r\nCBOs have improved status among international NGOs and are perceived by donors as equally eligible recipients of funding.\r\n\r\nProject Scope:\r\n\r\nThis project will focus on the provision of technical services because that is how my strengths, skills and experiences can be best utilized to improve the current funding circumstances for CBOs. It is also the most cost-effective approach.\r\n\r\nCapacity-building services (in proposal-writing):\r\n- Production of a “Proposal Development Toolkit for CBOs”\r\n\r\nOrganizational improvement services:\r\n- Website concept development (layout, themes, major headings, etc.)\r\n- Documentation of services offered and program/project successes\r\n\r\nProposal development services:\r\n - Development of written proposals for CBO partners
Objectives:
Project objectives include:\r\n\r\n1.Conduct on-line research to develop a donor database of 15 relevant potential funding sources for Southern African CBO partners by August 31, 2009.\r\n\r\n2.Work with Friends of AIDS Support Trust (FAST) via e-mail to improve their organizational profile through researching and developing a website concept by August 31, 2009.\r\n\r\n3.Work with FAST via e-mail to identify 3 potential sources of funding to apply for by September 30, 2009.\r\n\r\n4.Work with FAST via e-mail to prepare 2 written proposals by November 30, 2009.\r\n\r\n5.Work with Southern African AIDS Trust (SAT) to identify 3 eligible CBOs within Malawi to cultivate donor development relationships with by November 30, 2009.\r\n\r\n6.Monitor the need for a “Proposal Development Manual for CBOs” through communication with SAT and potential CBO partners via e-mail as project progresses by November 30, 2009. (i.e. need among potential CBO partners, feasibility, potential benefits/limitations)
Milestones:
Action Plan Table\r\n\r\nProject Schedule\r\n\r\nProject Deliverables:\r\n\r\n1. Donor Database for CBO Partners (Excel Doc) - Aug. 31, 2009\r\n2. Ecosystem Analysis: Website Concept Tips/Info (Word Doc) - Aug 14, 2009\r\n3. Website Concept: List of Brainstorms (Word Doc) - Aug 21, 2009\r\n4. Final Website Concept (Word Doc) - Aug 31, 2009\r\n5. FAST Priority Areas Requiring Funding (Word Doc) - Sept 15, 2009\r\n6. FAST Funding Contacts (Word Doc) - Sept 30, 2009\r\n7. 2 Proposal Technical Applications (Word Docs) - Oct 31, 2009\r\n8. 2 Proposal Budget Applications (Excel Docs) - Nov 15, 2009\r\n9. CBO Eligibility Criteria (Word Doc) - Sept 30, 2009\r\n10. Final CBO Partners List (Word Doc) - Nov 30, 2009\r\n11. Needs Assessment for Proposal Development Manual (Word Doc) - Nov. 30, 2009\r\n\r\nProject Milestones:\r\n\r\n1.Donor Database developed – Aug 31, 2009\r\n2.Website concept for FAST developed – Aug 31, 2009\r\n3.3 potential donors for FAST identified – Sept 30, 2009\r\n4.2 written proposals prepared for FAST – Nov 30, 2009\r\n5.3 CBO partners identified with clearly outlined collaborative activities – Nov 30, 2009\r\n6.Informational document re: need for Proposal Development Manual completed – Nov 30, 2009
Budget:
Budget Table
Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Menu
