Call for consultants: Giving for Change programme mid-term review

Background
Giving for Change is a five-year, €24.2 million programme, which sets out a bold vision for transforming how “development is done” by focusing specifically on the recognition and importance of domestic resources in increasing local ownership, unlocking agency and strengthening communities’ ability to express and claim their rights from other stakeholders, including governments and international development institutions. The programme aims to advance the theory and practice of community philanthropy as a development strategy.

Community philanthropy, which itself is an emergent body of work, is based on the premise that all communities have their own assets (money, skills, knowledge, networks, etc.) and that when these are pooled together, they build community power and voice and enable people to become co-investors in their own development. By drawing learning from current theory and practice, supporting and piloting new and emerging models of community philanthropy, and contributing to an enabling environment, Giving for Change seeks to foster the conditions in which public participation, collective action and the expression of rights can thrive. The issue of power is central to programme: in addition to an explicit focus on strengthening communities’ abilities to claim rights and entitlements from public government structures, Giving for Change also seeks to overcome power dynamics and establish more equitable practices within the international development system itself.

Giving for Change is funded under the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Strengthening Civil Society policy framework. Activities are structured around three domains.

• Central domain: Unlock the collective power of local communities, represented by Civil Society Actors, to express their opinion through community philanthropy.
• Domain 2: Influence in-country national state and societal actors to support community philanthropy and domestic philanthropic giving.
• Domain 3: Challenge and change the existing practices of international development donors.

The programme’s Theory of Change can be found here.

The Giving for Change alliance comprises anchor partners from eight countries, and four consortium partners working at the international level, each of which shares the vision of community-led development through community and domestic philanthropy.

The alliance members are:

Country anchor organizations:

• Brazil: Comuá Network and Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviço (CESE)
• Burkina Faso: Association Burkinabé de Fundraising (ABF)
• Ghana: STAR Ghana Foundation and West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI)
• Ethiopia: Development Expertise Center (DEC)
• Kenya: Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF), also consortium member
• Mozambique: Fundação Micaia
• Palestine: Dalia Association
• Uganda: Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF)

International consortium:

• Africa Philanthropy Network (APN)
• Global Fund for Community Foundations
• Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF)
• Wilde Ganzen Foundation

Purpose and objectives of the review
As it reaches the mid-point in the programme, the Giving for Change alliance is seeking to undertake a Mid-Term Review (MTR) to determine progress made so far under the programme and the extent to which it is on track to deliver against its original objectives.

The purpose of the MTR will be to reflect on learnings so far and help identify potential changes or adjustments that will help enhance the programme and increase the likelihood of its success. Information will be gathered to enable alliance members – both individually and collectively – to answer a number of key questions regarding the assets that have been created so far, areas for further development, modification (or abandonment). Findings from the MTR will help frame priorities, plans and activities for the remaining period of the programme and beyond.

An additional objective of the MTR will be to assess and inspire learning and reflection on activities and outcomes at the community and country level, where the bulk of activities are being conducted, while also creating pathways for shared learning and community building across and between countries and the global dimension of the programme, in order to establish a strong connection between practice, policy and advocacy efforts and to produce a global narrative about community philanthropy and community-driven change. To that end, anchor organizations will identify and contract consultants who can consider programme results and outcomes at the community / national level and also contribute to a larger, programme-wide learning community for the MTR.

The review will provide an opportunity for alliance partners – a deliberately diverse set of organizations occupying different positions in the global civil society system, most of whom are working together for the first time – to reflect on the current arrangements, and relationships within the partnership and the extent to which they are fit for the larger purpose of encouraging the development of an emergent system based on the paradigm and principles of #ShiftThePower.

Scope of work
The task of the consultant will be to work with all partners in the programme, as well as the consultants contracted directly by anchor organizations at the national level, to ensure that the activities and focus of the review meet the specific national and contextual requirements of individual anchor partners, and that they can be aggregated, synthesized and considered collectively at the level of the system. The consultant will also take the lead on reviewing work done by the consortium at an international level to influence the international development system and donor / INGO practices.

The consultant will produce an independent report of this synthesized learning that will inform the consortium and the Dutch Ministry about the overall progress of the work, while ensuring that the process of the review strengthens the programme overall and assists national anchors and their partners in delivering on their priorities, revising targets and/or implementing strategies as appropriate, and ensuring that the work is sustained into the future.

Timeframe, deliverables and budget
Deliverables will be agreed by the consultant and the Giving for Change alliance. Likely to include an inception report, draft report (due by mid-August for discussion at a meeting of alliance partners in Kenya) and final report, for submission to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs by 30 October 2023. Budget of €30,000 – 35.000 available.

Location
Most of the assignment will be conducted remotely, with the consultant in regular contact with national consultants and alliance members’ staff through virtual meetings, email etc. International travel to the partners meeting in Kenya in August 2023 is envisaged. Other travel requirements may arise, as agreed between the consultant and the alliance review team.

Methodology
While the review will conform to the requirements outlined by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this does not imply a single prescribed method. Indeed, so long as basic requirements are met, the use of a range of different and intersecting transformational and participatory methods is highly desirable since a creative approach is needed. This is because such creativity is in keeping with the goals and spirit of Giving for Change to contribute to the transformation of development aid, increase local ownership and shift power by emphasizing the role of local assets and local accountabilities, it will go beyond a typical evaluation approach which focuses on the extent to which KPIs are being met. To that end, it will use an inductive, emergent and open-ended approach that recognizes and appreciates on the one hand, the emergent nature of the community philanthropy and #ShiftThePower field and discourse and practice and on the other, the connections within and between the hyper-local, national, regional and global dimensions of the programme. Measuring What Matters offers an overview of the kind of measurement and learning system that Giving for Change seeks to achieve. In particular, the review offers a unique opportunity for mutual learning through all parties in the programme, and so can be in itself a transformational experience.

Skills

• Awareness of or interest in the potential for community philanthropy as a strategy for driving locally-led development and of the #ShiftThePower movement more broadly.
• Recognition of the limitation of simple logic models and well versed in sense-making processes that foster understanding of complex systems in which many factors are involved.
• Ability to bring a creative and developmental approach to the review.
• Ability to work with and coordinate with a team of consultants and alliance staff across different time zones and geographies and to ensure that the review addresses priorities identified by anchor organizations and their community partners while also building an
  overall, global programme picture.
• Strong inter-personal skills: ability to create trusting relationships with programme participants and to help facilitate discussions around and across issues of power and partnership.
• Technical ability to analyze data in a way that is clear and helpful to the process of strengthening the programme.

Language(s)
Fluency in written and spoken English (deliverables will be in English). Portuguese, French and / or Arabic language skills an advantage.

How to apply
Interested candidates are requested to submit a proposal to Reham Basheer (reham@wildeganzen.nl) before 6 March 2023, including:

• Letter of interest detailing the proposed approach
• References to and/or examples of similar work undertaken
• Understanding of the objectives of the assignment (in particular, the emphasis on appreciating / locating small-scale actions in the context of large-scale frameworks)
• Initial thoughts as to methodology and approach
• CV
• Contact information for two references (ideally, with experience or knowledge of applicant’s role in similar types of assignments)
• An indicative financial proposal including daily rates and other expenses

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

Background reading
Giving for Change Multi-Annual Plan 2021-2025
What is Community Philanthropy?