Deadline: 28 December 2018
The East-West Management Institute’s (EWMI) Advancing CSO Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) project is currently inviting Georgian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to submit concept papers to the Citizen Outreach Grants(COGs) program.
Through the COG program, EWMI ACCESS strives to defend the interest of and empower Georgian citizens by:
- Bringing CSOs and the constituents they serve closer together
- Targeting the most pressing problems faced by local communities, and
- Engaging citizens in addressing these problems.
The program focuses on results in terms of citizen engagement with CSOs to highlight and address their priority concerns. As such, it is measured by clear targets related to citizen mobilization and engagement, not necessarily tied to achieving a specific advocacy goal (i.e. fully resolving the targeted problem) within the grant time frame.
Under this RfCP, EWMI ACCESS invites CSOs to submit brief (i.e. up to 1,000 words)concept papers proposing proven or innovative approaches to implementing civic campaigns on a broad range of priority issues as identified by their constituents. The interested CSOs can propose EITHER:
- Capitalizing on their most effective initiatives (past or ongoing) in terms of citizen mobilization and engagement and using the grant funds to continue or expand them. Although, in general, EWMI ACCESS encourages and supports innovation and creative thinking, if an organization proposes a proven strategy for achieving its objectives, EWMI ACCESS will happily support it to augment or replicate this strategy, as appropriate. The concept paper on the tested strategy must briefly describe the proposed initiative, explain what made it successful, and outline a strategy for building off it to achieve greater/more sustainable results.
- Testing out out-of-box civic initiatives through partnering with other groups, both formal and informal, individual civic activists, and professionals. As old-school methods of communicating with citizens often fail to effectively attract them, it is important to develop and test out innovative ways to reach out to and engage local communities, including the hard-to-reach ones. This can be achieved through tapping into the creative and professional skills of diverse groups and individuals to generate innovative approaches and evaluate and validate ideas from a variety of perspectives. EWMI ACCESS therefore encourages CSOs to submit the concept papers that propose developing and implementing out-of-box strategies through an inclusive process. Such concept papers must briefly describe the problem the organization aims to focus on, propose an innovative approach to address it, and list the groups/individuals that it plans to engage in developing a more concrete action plan.
Grant Information
ACCESS will award up to 5 grants under this RfA. The maximum grant award for each proposal will be $15,000 USD and the maximum grant period will be 7 months.ACCESS reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicant organizations must meet the following criteria:
- Be a Georgian, registered non-governmental, non-profit organization that could qualify for a grant under a Georgian Law on Grants
- Operate as an independent, non-politically affiliated organization
- Have at least one year of operational experience. As a rule, ACCESS will not provide “start-up” funding, although ACCESS may make a rare exception if sufficient evidence is presented to show that the organization’s leadership has adequate prior experience and the organization is capable of filling a niche that has been under served in the past
- Have a governance structure that ensures proper rotation of leadership and delegation of power, including, at least a Board of Directors, a Chairperson, and an Executive Director. The same individual should not hold the position of the Board Chairperson and Executive Director unless the size of the organization precludes this separation. If the above criteria are not met, the applicant must submit a proposed reform process that will work towards meeting these standards
- Have a transparent system of bookkeeping that complies with the Georgian legislation and International Accounting Standards (IAS). If such a system is not in place, the grantee must work closely with the ACCESS office to ensure that accurate financial management and transparent bookkeeping systems are developed
- Must not be a debtor and must have cancelled any debt to the state or arranged for debt collection prior to receiving the first disbursement of ACCESS grant funds Civil servants, political appointees, members of the current parliament, staff of public broadcasting companies, and/or leaders of political parties cannot participate in a grant project as a director or as grant-remunerated participant.
How to Apply
Applicants should submit their concept papers via e-mail at the address given on the website.
Eligible Country: Georgia
For more information, please visit http://ewmi-access.org/citizen-outreach-grants-contest-2/