Deadline: 30 June 2020
Right Sharing of World Resources provides seed grants to small grassroots organizations to implement women-led, income-generating projects.
RSWR is a Quaker organization supported primarily by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the United States.
RSWR supports income-generating, self-employment projects for poor women who are members of a self-help group. The project must include a revolving loan component. RSWR believe that small scale income-generating projects offer a means of establishing self-sufficiency to very poor people. By requiring that the project include a revolving loan program, They can multiple the impact of their grant as the funds are revolved many times to many different women within the community.
Note: The RSWR administration has recently limited the area in Kenya from which they can receive proposals. Projects must be located no more than 200 kilometers from where their Kenyan Field Representative is located in Kapsabet, Nandi County.
RSWR Goals
- Provide grants for women in the developing world to begin small income-generating businesses so that they may help themselves and their families out of poverty.
- Help Quakers in the United States learn about the negative effects of poverty in the developing world and the negative effects of materialism in North America.
Funding Information
Up to US $5,500 for a one year project. Each group may receive only one grant. Exceptions can be made to this only if it is clearly shown that a second grant will support a different group of women.
Eligibility Criteria
In Kenya, all groups must be self-directed by the women beneficiaries themselves. The leadership and management must come from within the group. The group cannot be formed or managed by outside coordinators.
What does RSWR look for in a project?
- A clearly described proposal for an income generating activity which will improve the quality of life for project participants. An income generating activity proposal must include the following:
- Number of participants. An optimal project will serve between 20 and 40 women.
- An economic plan showing anticipated income and expenses of the business or businesses the women will undertake. It is expected that the women will be able to earn a net income of at least $1.25 per day from their businesses after all expenses and savings are deducted.
- A loan repayment plan for the repayment of the seed money back to the group. The loan repayment plan should tell the interest charged and the monthly repayment amount. Currently, RSWR expects interest charged to be between 12% and 24% per annum or 1-2% per month. This covers the current cost of inflation and administrative expenses necessary to carry the project into the future.
- There should also be an explanation of how the group will revolve the funds and use them to benefit the larger community. It is expected that, at the very least, the group will take in new members and the new members will also receive loans from the group fund to start their own businesses. Each group needs to understand that a grant from RSWR carries with it the expectation that the group will be good stewards of the funds and will use them, not only for their own needs, but also to help others in the community, beyond the current members of the group.
- A savings plan to encourage the beneficiaries to begin the discipline of saving some money each month for family emergency needs.
- An explanation of how the work can become self-supporting or can find local sources of support after RSWR funding ends.
- An understanding that the project is compatible with the three principles which guide RSWR:
- Local Self-Reliance – Businesses should be locally-based. Production should be geared toward local consumption and should serve the local community.
- Sustainability – Economies should be sustainable in a number of ways including environmental, fiscal, social, political, and cultural.
- Mutual Support and Accountability -Beneficiaries must be part of a group which offers support and accountability to its members.
- The project beneficiaries must be only women and the beneficiaries themselves must be the ones who design the project, choose the businesses, and set the repayment terms and interest rate. The project beneficiaries must be only women and the beneficiaries themselves must be involved in designing the project, choosing the businesses, and setting the repayment terms and interest rate.
- Budget categories must be within the following guidelines: at least 60% for seed money, no more than 15% for training, no more than 5% for travel, no more than 15% for administration.
How to Apply
- Applicants must write up a proposal describing their project. Be sure to follow the guidelines so that your proposal fits RSWR criteria. If RSWR receive a proposal after the deadline, they cannot consider the proposal until the next funding cycle. Make your proposal as short as possible but respond to all the items on the enclosed checklist. In addition to your proposal, send your detailed project budget and your group’s last annual financial report.
- Proposals should be submitted via email at the address given on the website.
For more information, visit https://www.rswr.org/proposal-criteria-and-guidelines