Criteria: Small Organizations Making Big Impacts
GoPhilanthropic focuses on assisting smaller organizations to become stronger, healthier entities so that they can scale the impact of their work. Generally speaking, our partners have annual budgets of $150,000 or less. What they may lack in funding and exposure, they make up for in drive and belief in a better future for the people they serve. While our granting model has small programs as a core focus, our work often involves caring for the health of the “whole network.” This involves providing grants to larger, highly functioning organizations with proven success. Facilitating cross learning across networks of organizations working at all levels of a social issue is an essential element to our development model.
General guidelines for partner eligibility:
- Providing access to education, health and human rights for vulnerable populations
- Community-based initiatives, working at the grassroots, managed at the local level
- Desire to learn, collaborate, network and communicate regularly
- Willingness for transparency in operations and finance
- Registered as a local or national non-profit.
We give particular priority to organizations:
- Applying unique, innovative and creative solutions to tackling problems
- Displaying strength and courage to stand-up against harmful traditional orcultural practices.
A Wholistic Approach
Our partner programs are on the front-line, offering services in villages and communities lacking access to healthcare, education and human rights. GoPhilanthropic believes in investing in the growth and health of the organization as a whole. Once a program has been fully vetted and a trusting relationship has been established, we provide grants to fund their most critical needs based on their priorities. These range from daily food and medicine, to salaries or training for qualified staff, to basic operational costs such as electricity and internet services. In many cases, these are the unattractive, “hard to fund,” yet fundamentally important items on an organization’s budget.
We then consider the strength and weaknesses of a program’s core competencies. Through a series of on-site assessments conducted over a period of time, we are able to identify the skills and knowledge needed to scale and develop on a healthy trajectory and in some cases help to identify additional resources to assist in their development.
We assess the following core competencies:
- Organizational basics: defined and shared mission, vision and core values
- Leadership and staff management capabilities
- Budgeting, finance & fund management
- Measurement & program management
- Communications & grant writing
Application Process & Guidelines - PLEASE READ
GoPhil provides grants, capacity building and access to learning opportunities to vetted and approved NGO partners, based on applications submitted.
- Only approved partners can apply for grants.
- Becoming a partner is on an invitation only basis and requires the completion of a thorough vetting process over several months that includes, conversations, Skype, site visits (where possible) and an official partner application process. If you would like to be considered for partnership please review our guidelines and areas of focus and contact [email protected].
- Applications for partnerships are reviewed quarterly and require board approval.
- Applications for funding are reviewed monthly with new projects greater than $20k requiring board approval.
- Upon grant acceptance, an MOU is signed with each partner, outlining roles, reporting and responsibilities.
Once an organization has been vetted and approved as a partner, they can then apply for a grant.
