Small Grant Program for Community-based Projects in Malawi

Deadline: 30 November 2019

The Friends of Malawi Association (FOMA) Charitable Trust Fund is seeking applications for its small grant program which favour community-based projects aimed at sustainable development and those that promote a degree of self-help within the community.

The objectives of the charity are the relief of poverty and the advancement of education amongst Malawians and other such healthcare, welfare and social improvement measures to benefit the community in Malawi.

They help with the relief of poverty through projects aimed at the improvement in areas such as, but not limited to, health, education and agriculture and they hope that projects will act as pilots for wider replication.

Aims

• The aim is to fund a complete small project or a defined component, such as the purchase of equipment or materials, within a larger project.
• In general, they do not fund general project expenditure as part of a larger consortium nor do they fund day-to-day running costs unless there are special circumstances and the costs are essential to the success of the project.
• They will not fund under any circumstances individual education sponsorship, salaries, allowances and travel expenses, day-to-day consumable materials, projects that are for the benefit of a single individual or small group of people, any project that harms the environment, or any project that has political associations.

Project Proposals

Project proposals may be one of two types:

• An application for specific item(s): is regarded as a one-off purchase of goods or equipment to be financed by a single grant.
• An application for a specific project: A proposal for a specific project may be for an activity over a period of time (normally up to one year but not exceeding 3 years) requiring one or more grants from FOMA to completion.

Grant Information

• Grants are generally for up to £1,000 in any one year to any one organisation and for not more than three consecutive years. However, in certain circumstances support may be extended for a greater amount or for longer, subject to project evaluation and review.
• They need to be satisfied that the project sponsoring organisation and its activities are legitimate and funds are properly accounted for. On completion of the project they require a completion report and a financial summary of expenditure (and may ask for documentary evidence of expenditure) together with relevant photographs of the project activity.

Eligibility Criteria

They make grants to carefully selected small projects in Malawi where they believe their contribution can make a distinctive difference in ways that other bigger charities and organisations may not. They encourage applications from charitable organisations, registered either in the UK or Malawi, working at community level and particularly from those with connections to FOMA members or people known to them.

How to Apply

• Applications for support should be submitted using the pro-forma application form (no more than two pages, excluding any attachments) to the FOMA Charities sub-Committee by email. They should contain the following:
  • the type of project proposed (i.e. 1) specific item or 2) specific project
  • a brief description of the proposed project
  • a short summary of the aims of the project and the expected outcomes on completion
  • the expected total cost of the project, indicating the total amount of funds requested from FOMA and other participating sources of finance
  • an itemised budget of how a FOMA grant would be spent
  • the name of the beneficiary organisation, whether there are other partner organisations involved in the project and who will benefit directly from the project works or activities
  • the names and postal address of the senior management of the sponsoring organisation (the Chairman or President or Manager, the Secretary, the Treasurer or financial officer
  • the name and address of the bank where the organisation has an account a copy of the accounts of the organisation for the last completed financial year
  • a statement of plans to sustain the viability of the project after the FOMA grant has been spent.

For more information, please visit https://www.foma.org.uk/grants/