Qudurat Development Foundation Small Grants Program

Introduction:

In the absence of effective government service delivery, the support of non-governmental organizations (NGO) has become crucial in the provision of essential basic services to vulnerable populations in Lebanon, including the extreme poor, single-headed households, orphans, the elderly, people with disabilities, prisoners and other at-risk groups. The current economic and financial crisis, however, followed by the COVID-19 outbreak, has put many non-governmental organizations, particularly smaller NGOs at risk of program suspension or outright closure.

Qudurat Development Foundation is launching an open call for proposals to all Lebanese NGOs who are providing services to vulnerable populations in Lebanon. Applicants are invited to submit a one-year proposal responding to the Fund’s programmatic focus on reaching the most vulnerable populations. All legally registered NGOs with a budget of less than $400,000 are eligible to apply.

Eligibility criteria:

Application requirements:

1. Administrative documents (including registration number, management board, board of trustees and annual budget.
2. Concept note including project description and proposed detailed budget.

Maximum award grant per NGO:

• $25,000-$50,000 per year

Selection process:

An Advisory Committee will review all applications and short-list NGOs based on:

1. Eligibility of the NGO (including registration documents, annual budget and must be non-political, non-sectarian)
2. Impact, relevance, feasibility and cost efficiency of the proposed intervention
3. Technical capacity of the NGO to carry out the proposed project
4. Capacity of the NGO to reach out to the most vulnerable populations without discrimination
5. Geographic representation
6. NGO’s commitment to capacity and organizational development.

Short-listed NGOs will be invited for an interview to gain a better understanding of the NGO’s proposed intervention and capacity for implementation. Additional field visits to NGO premises will also be conducted to learn more about the NGO’s institutional capacity and scope of work.

Successful NGOs will be enrolled in an Accelerator Program, allowing them to enhance their resource mobilization capacity and organizational development through this grant. The Accelerator Program will be tailored to each NGO’s needs with focus on program development, financial capacity, resource mobilization and sustainability. Selected NGOs will be paired with experts in organizational development who will run a capacity assessment for them and develop a capacity-building action plan and support program accordingly. The support program will include both individual and group trainings.