Request For Proposals: Fundraising Consultant

Request For Proposals: Fundraising Consultant(Africa-based)

About Namati

In the face of environmental collapse, entrenched inequality, and grave threats to democracy, we need to forge a just world from the ground up. We have found great possibility when using in tandem two of the most potent tools ordinary people have: the power of law and the power of people.

Namati is an environmental and social justice organization that is building a global movement of people who understand, use, and shape the laws that impact their lives. Founded as a 501(c)(3) in 2011, we have grown from a small group of big-hearted justice seekers to a global staff of more than 170 people across 6 countries.  

Across three continents where Namati works directly, paralegals have helped communities achieve remedies to grave injustices; those remedies have directly improved the lives and livelihoods of over 1.5 million people. Families from discriminated minorities have obtained ID documents for the first time. Overburdened communities have compelled factories and mines to comply with pollution regulations. Forest dwellers have protected hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest from unlawful destruction. Patients have prevailed upon their health facilities to install running water and working bathrooms, and to implement other measures to ensure dignified care. 

Moreover, in all five countries, paralegals and communities have come together from across their specific cases to win big changes in laws and systems, including, in Sierra Leone, one of the most progressive laws on land and environmental justice in the world, and, in Mozambique, a new nationwide-system for ensuring community participation in the governance of healthcare. 

Project Overview

Namati maintains offices in three African countries: Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Kenya. Namati Kenya is an affiliate of Namati Inc., our U.S.-based entity, while Namati Moçambique and Namati Sierra Leone are nationally-registered entities in their respective countries. 

In these three countries, our offices and base of operations are located in the capital cities of Freetown, Maputo and Nairobi.. While Namati has a robust set of global funding partners in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, we have not to date had the personnel capacity to develop fundraising-focused relationships or pursue funding opportunities that may be locally available in each. 

Namati is interested in systematically analyzing, developing relationships and pursuing funding opportunities in these three cities, with a primary focus on grant opportunities available from across the community of foreign embassies and international development organizations located in each city. Foreign embassies and the local offices of international development organizations typically offer smaller, flexible grants funding for NGOs in many countries.

We are especially interested in understanding where a multi-pronged approach may position us for even stronger relationships with a foreign embassy’s home office — for example, concurrently building relationships with the embassies of a country in Freetown, Maputo, and Nairobi in ways that better position us to pursue funding from the country’s main development agency located in the home country.

In short, Namati aims to (1) understand the landscape of foreign embassies and development agencies in each of our three program countries; (2) build relationships with key staff, or otherwise engage with those embassies, towards understanding and accessing local grant opportunities as they become available; and (3) emphasize relationships with embassies and development agencies offering grants across multiple Namati program countries, so that we can best position ourselves to graduate towards a broader funding partnership with the home office. 

Scope of Work

We are seeking a consultant to conduct both desk research and relationship-building outreach, including potential in-person meetings alongside Namati staff or attendance of relevant events, focused on grant funding available from foreign embassies in Sierra Leone, Kenya and Mozambique. 

The consultant will:

1. Using online resources, develop a comprehensive list of the foreign embassies and development agencies that offer local grant funding, in the capital cities of each of our three program countries: Sierra Leone, Kenya and Mozambique. This should include an overview of the general thematic priorities/ funding focus areas for each of these embassies, average grant sizes, any known restrictions or cyclical deadlines, and a listing of recent prior grants if available. The consultant will place an emphasis on cross-country analysis, whenever a certain country’s embassies offer similar grants on similar themes in more than one of our program countries, as we would like to prioritize embassies that offer grants across multiple countries. 

2. For each embassy and development agency, to the extent possible, identify staff members in charge of grantmaking programs; then, work with program leads at each of our country sites to outreach to those staff members, secure meetings, and otherwise build relationships with key contacts who may be able to apprise us of funding opportunities and otherwise assist us in securing funding from these institutions.

3. Using the above information, prepare a final report providing an analysis of the foreign embassy grantmaking landscape in each of our three African program countries, with recommendations on which embassy relationships to emphasize and which may be less relevant.

We expect that most of this work can be conducted virtually, but Namati will support travel to one or more of our program sites where there is a clear justification for doing so. 

We expect a duration of 6-8 weeks for this consultancy.

Qualifications

The consultant should have the following qualifications:

1. Experience with researching, analyzing and presenting fundraising-oriented information — either through a fundraising or grantmaking role at another institution or NGO, or through a similar contract.

2. We would prefer to engage someone with a home base in Nairobi, Freetown or Mozambique, to allow for more direct contact with at least one of our program teams.

3. Experience documenting, analyzing, and synthesizing key learnings.

4. Strong written and oral communication skills in English.

Proposal Submissions

Please submit your proposal and any questions to Caitlin Sislin, Director of Partnerships, by May 31, 2024, at [email protected]. Please include the following:

• Your proposed high-level approach to this scope of work, including key questions you would want to address at the outset, as well as your preliminary work plan with timeline to achieve the scope of work. 

• Your relevant skills, experience, and qualifications, including example(s) of previous client organizations, and results from those consultancies.

• Your rate or fee. If you are interested in continuing on a retained basis following the completion of the initial scope of work, please let us know and include total costs and proposed payment terms.

• 2-3 references that can speak to your qualifications.