Call for Proposals – Giving for Change Programme in Kenya

Deadline: 22-Jan-23

The Kenya Community Development Foundation has announce the the Giving for Change (GfC) programme for community-based and civil society organizations in the six programme implementation counties of Kisumu, Kakamega, Nairobi, Makueni, Busia and Kwale in Kenya.

The Giving for Change programme aims to unlock the collective power of local communities, represented by Civil Society Actors, to express their opinion through community philanthropy through:

Networking and supporting community formations to work collaboratively in the Counties and Nationally
Awareness creation and actual lobby and advocacy initiatives on various policy issues
Formation, and coordination of collaborations through county-based Communities of Practice (CoP)
Local fundraising awareness creation and actual local actions through philanthropy and support through minimal grant matching.

Thematic Focus

KCDFs intention is not to prescribe any thematic focus. Proposed projects should focus on addressing community needs through advocacy and policy influencing (and not typical service delivery activities) while ensuring greater community voice and agency in government planning and governance processes and claiming rights/holding duty bearers accountable. Some illustrative initiatives include:
- Improving access to essential social services for the wider community through lobby and advocacy initiatives at the County level. Includes supporting community participation in county budgeting and project implementation cycles along varied sectors i.e., clean, and safe water, health, agriculture, education etc.
- Advocacy and policy influencing targeting duty bearers and communities for quality service delivery for children in public early childhood development programmes and primary schools.
- Advocacy and policy influencing targeting duty bearers and communities for the benefit of women, and vulnerable children. As a result, Projects implemented by County governments ultimately are aligned to the needs of communities and improve participation of young women and girls in leadership, employment, and income generation for impact on family livelihoods.
- Advocacy and policy influencing for environmental conservation and climate change mitigation interventions. Projects geared toward environmental conservation and enhancing communities’ adaptive capacity to climate change.
- Lobby and advocacy initiatives for the rights and benefits of marginalized communities including persons with disability in the community, youth, women, and key populations among others. Interventions will aim at mainstreaming their issues and priorities in the provision of services by varied duty bearers.
- Lobby and advocacy initiatives promoting access to information, especially at the county level.
- Lobby and advocacy issues to improve public participation in the county budget and planning processes.
- Lobby and advocacy for a conducive operating environment for County Based Civil Society Actors and community members. Includes advocacy and promotion of community/county-level philanthropy/county-level charitable giving.
- Activities that promote and amplify community voices in accountability and governance processes at the county level.
Through this fund, it is anticipated that
- KCDF shall strengthen and build credible institutions to facilitate the sustainable development of Kenyan communities. Applicants are encouraged to propose activities that help them to be stronger credible and more efficient agents of change.

KCDF SHALL NOT award grants to support the following or components:

Political processes
Individuals
Participation in international conferences
Running costs, i.e., a project that seeks to pay workers’ salaries (e.g., teachers, health facility workers, etc.). Running costs should be part of the administrative costs and not the sole purpose of the project.

Funding Information

Grants between Ksh 2,000,000 to Ksh 2,500,000 (being KCDF contributions) will be awarded to successful applicants approved by the KCDF for one year. KCDF anticipates awarding two organizations per county in the six target counties for the 2023 grant period.
Project Duration: Projects must be completed within six (6) to eighteen (18) months after signing the grant agreement for support with KCDF.

Eligibility Criteria

Only County Based organizations/civil society actors based in the six counties of Nairobi, Kwale, Kisumu, Makueni, Busia and Kakamega are eligible. In addition, an applicant should meet any of the three qualifications below:
- County Based Organisations that are currently being trained or have previously been trained by KCDF in the following areas 1). Local Fundraising (LFR) and 2). Advocacy and Policy Influencing is also referred to as Mobilising Support (MS).
- County Based Organizations (not necessarily current or past partners of KCDF) that are currently involved in local/ domestic resource mobilization also referred to as Local Fundraising (LFR). The eligible organizations must be keen to enhance their capacity to fundraise more from within Kenya. The organization(s) are willing to undergo KCDF-delivered training on local resource mobilization also available online.
- County Based Organisations (not necessarily current or past partners of KCDF) that are currently involved in advocacy and policy influencing also referred to as Mobilising Support (MS) under the Change the Game Academy. The eligible organizations must be keen to enhance their capacity to advocate and lobby for quality service delivery by duty bearers, especially at the county level. This includes constructive dialogue with duty bearers and facilitating the engagement of communities in decision-making. The successful organization must be willing to undergo KCDF-delivered training on MS also available online.
In addition to the above, successful applicants should:
- Be legally and locally registered with relevant authorities and demonstrate good governance and accountable leadership.
- Demonstrate a good understanding of the local context and need.
- Demonstrate that the proposed idea is in line with government policy.
- Show that local people have been consulted and will be involved in the work.
- Have a balanced approach, addressing not only immediate needs but also ‘people’s rights to services.
- Demonstrate they are not working in isolation but are collaborating with other organizations and engaging with relevant government departments.
- Help build local people and organizations’ skills, confidence, and capacity.
- Offer some useful lessons for future interventions and show how the applicant will gather information and learn from it.