Partnership grant
The Partnership grant is a new instrument (replacing the Strategic grant). This funding responds to the need expressed by grantees to extend the reach of AmplifyChange and strengthen solidarity and linkages between civil society groups working on the same subject in the same region. This funding will better embed support and advocacy within local settings.
The purpose of Partnership grant funding is to support established organisations from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to build and strengthen civil society movements advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
Partnership grants help strengthen the capacity of a growing constellation of organisations in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to be dynamic regional and global leaders in advocating for SRHR to support more sustainable and resilient local responses. This will encompass the facility to on-grant to smaller local groups to foster their capacity.
Partnership grant funding will enable organisations to provide grants, and organisational support, to smaller grassroots civil society organisations within their movement advocating for SRHR. Partnership grantees can also provide knowledge for advocacy support to smaller grassroots civil society organisations by enhancing the recognition, connections and contributions to the SRHR evidence-base by southern civil society organisations.
Building on our experience since 2014, AmplifyChange will work closely with those organisations holding partnership funding as they develop their on-granting, organisational strengthening and knowledge for advocacy approaches.
AmplifyChange aims to develop long-term partnerships with organisations holding partnership funding, the parameters of which will be decided together with successful applicants.
Partnership grants will initially be between £200,000 to £1,500,000 for up to 3 years (with the potential to extend the grants up to 5 years – and up to £2,500,000 – depending on grant performance and the availability of AmplifyChange funding). The minimum time period Partnership grant applicants can apply for is 2 years.
Please see the specific eligibility criteria listed in the sections below.
Watch our Partnership grant webinar
During this webinar recording, we introduce Partnership grants and provide an overview of the rules and eligibility criteria for this funding round.
Key facts
£200,000-£1,500,000*
*With the potential to extend the grants up to 5 years - and up to £2,500,000 - depending on grant performance and the availability of AmplifyChange funding.
2 - 3 years*
*The minimum time period Partnership grant applicants can apply for is 2 years.
Partnership grants support organisations working on one or more of the SRHR priority themes of AmplifyChange
Which countries are eligible?
The applicant organisation must be a civil society organisation registered in an eligible sub-Saharan African or South Asian country. The proposed project must be also implemented in an eligible sub-Saharan African or South Asian country/countries or region (see map and list below).
For the purposes of this call, ‘region’ may be defined based on the applicant’s interpretation. A region would typically not exceed a continent and would reach deep into a smaller set of countries, rather than widely spread across many countries.
If you cannot see if a country is highlighted on the map, please check the list for confirmation.
Eligible countries
Angola
Bangladesh
Benin
Bhutan
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo, Republic Of
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the
Cote D'Ivoire
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia, The
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
India
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Niger
Nigeria
Pakistan
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Rules and eligibility
- Partnership grant applicants will have a proven track-record of working in at least one of the five priority themes of AmplifyChange;
- The applicant must have a proven track record and capability to provide support to the SRHR movement, with experience of working with or supporting SRHR networks, coalitions, partners or civil society organisations;
- The applicant must be an established civil society organisation with transparent governance structures, and will be required to submit, as part of their full application, their (i) organisational strategic plan and governance structure; (ii) a results framework of expected results and outcomes (linked to AmplifyChange’s Theory of Change); (iii) annual audited accounts for past three years;
- The annual value of the Partnership Grant cannot exceed 50% of the organisation’s average annual expenditure over the past three years. Example: if an applicant applies for £300,000 over 3 years, the annual value of the grant is £100,000. Therefore, in this case, the average annual expenditure of the applicant organisation over the past three years must be £200,000 or more.
Previous or current experience with on-granting to smaller civil society organisations within the SRHR movement is preferable but not required.
International non-governmental organisations based in, or originating from, the Global North are not eligible to lead a Partnership grant application; they may contribute to a project where relevant and demonstrate good value for money.
Organisations may submit only one application as a lead organisation in this Partnership grant round. It is possible for an organisation that is awarded a Partnership grant as a lead organisation to also be indicated as an implementing partner in another Partnership grant application led by another organisation.
All eligible organisations are welcome to apply, including current AmplifyChange grantees. All applications will be considered equally. We strongly recommend that applicants consider this guidance prior to submitting their concept note, and carefully judge whether they are likely to meet the eligibility and scope of activity for a Partnership grant.
What are we looking for?
We welcome all applications that address at least one of our five priority themes from the AmplifyChange Theory of Change:
- Eliminating gender-based violence, including sexual violence, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage
- Addressing the causes of unsafe abortion including decriminalisation of abortion
- Challenging stigma and discrimination, attitudes and laws that undermine human rights, including based on gender or sexual orientation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals
- Improving sexual health of young people and girls, including comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), promoting menstrual health and youth-friendly service delivery
- Increasing access to comprehensive reproductive health services for poor, vulnerable and marginalised people
Across AmplifyChange, we encourage applicants to consider the wider intersections of issues within our aim to attain SRHR for all. These include all locally relevant approaches to gender norm transformation, sex positivity, and menstrual health as cross-cutting issues.
Partnership grant funding is part of a growing portfolio of southern-led SRHR advocacy grants that AmplifyChange has already awarded. We will consider the current composition of the AmplifyChange portfolio and the underrepresented themes in it.
We therefore especially encourage applications from organisations that aim to support regional or national work on the following issues within the 5 thematic areas of AmplifyChange. Our terminology of ‘especially encourage’ means that if there are high-quality applications that are equal in all other respects, we will moderate for the following:
- Building momentum for increased safe abortion rights: Approaches that strengthen advocacy for safe abortion, including responding to the intersections between safe abortion and other movements.
- Challenging stigma and discrimination: Within approaches that strengthen the pursuit of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all, we especially encourage those advocating for LGBTI individuals and communities.
- Sexual health of young people: Approaches to mainstreaming comprehensive sexuality education, including its systematic implementation within schools and out-of-school approaches with wide reach in regions with the weakest commitment to comprehensive sexuality education.
In this Partnership grant round 1, applicants will be able to apply for grants that last up to 3 years. AmplifyChange’s support will be based on regular grant performance reviews and the availability of funding to AmplifyChange. All awarded contracts will reflect these clauses and timings.
AmplifyChange is seeking to establish long-term relationships with Partnership grant holders and potentially extend the grants up to 5 years (with a maximum of £2,500,000 grant support over the entire grant period). The extension will depend on grant performance and the availability of AmplifyChange funding to continue support.
We anticipate awarding approximately 5 Partnership grants in this round, depending on the applications received and our available funding envelope. Subject to successful completion of due diligence and all other grant related processes, selected Partnership Grants are expected to be able to start in quarter 4 of 2021.
What can Partnership grant funding be used for?
The proposed project can include:
- Providing advocacy grants to smaller grassroots civil society organisations within the SRHR movement (compulsory part of a Partnership grant)
- Organisational strengthening support to smaller grassroots civil society organisations within the SRHR movement (compulsory part of a Partnership grant)
- Knowledge for advocacy support to smaller grassroot civil society organisations within the SRHR movement (optional part of a Partnership grant)
- Support to the Partnership grantee’s ongoing organisational strengthening excluding any significant capital or infrastructure expenditure (optional part of a Partnership grant)
Frequently asked questions
Application process
How will Partnership grants be assessed?
Partnership grants will be awarded on a competitive basis. AmplifyChange utilises an independent Technical Review Panel (TRP) to review applications, and reserves the right to balance recommended applications based on the wider AmplifyChange portfolio considering SRHR needs and geography.
All submitted concept notes will be screened by AmplifyChange for compliance with eligibility criteria. Compliant eligible concept notes will be reviewed by the AmplifyChange independent TRP. Recommendations will be provided to the AmplifyChange Board of Directors. The Board will approve applicants to be invited to submit a full application. The submitted full applications will be also reviewed by the AmplifyChange independent TRP and the Fiduciary Risk team. Following this process, the Board of Directors will make their funding decision. The Board’s decisions are final.
The eligible concept notes will be assessed against key criteria that relate to:
- Track-record of working in at least one of the five priority themes of AmplifyChange
- Track record and capacity to provide support to the SRHR movement, with experience of working with or supporting SRHR networks, coalitions, partners or civil society organisations;
- Experience with on-granting and/or reasons for engaging in on-granting to smaller civil society organisations within the SRHR movement
- Experience with and/or reasons for engaging with organisational strengthening and knowledge for advocacy (if any) support to smaller civil society organisations within the SRHR movement
- Demonstrated role of the applicant organisation within the SRHR movement
- Demonstrable potential of project to add-value to the SRHR sector and respond to the specific needs of the current SRHR context in the chosen country or region
- Clear articulation of the approach, roles and responsibilities of the project to support a wider and more inclusive SRHR movement through on-granting, including engagement with future on-grantees
- Vision about the future collaboration with AmplifyChange as partners to further the interests and profile of the SRHR movement
