Tag Archive for: International Perspective

Developing International Relationships for International Grants

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By Pat Christian – Executive Director

Caleb Missionary Relief Services in Decatur GA
info@calebmissionaryrelief.org

 

This blog brought to you as part of International Grant Professionals Week, when we focus on how grant professionals “make the world a better place, one grant at a time“.

 

For two decades, I’ve worked in the humanitarian educational sector globally. I’ve had the privilege of being the founder and executive director of a small international nonprofit organization that has impacted thousands of children in Haiti through education. I’ve also served as the grants administrator/writer and successfully obtained grants to improve the quality of education of children in Haiti. These grants built a new school after the earthquake, provided clean drinking water, decreased learning gaps, and established a hunger response program.

 

The guidelines for writing an international grant are similar to a domestic grant, but the grant process is different. Eighteen years ago, I attended a PVO Partnership workshop in Virginia hosted by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that provided pertinent information on their grant programs for the upcoming fiscal year. One consistent point of discussion among the smaller NGOs at the workshop was their ability to compete against the larger NGOs for USAID grant funds. USAID recommended the small NGOs form collaborative partnerships with the large NGOs with organizational capacity to manage USAID grants. This strategy provided access for me to secure international grant awards and brought new investment to our mission.

 

Many large international NGOs have local offices in host countries. These country offices are responsible for the management of grant-funded programs. Also, large NGOs will collaborate with other NGOs to implement their program initiatives. Developing relationships must take place with the NGOs’ Country Offices and Country Directors. This focus on relationships works: I have successfully done so, submitted a grant, and then received a portion to implement the initiative. It’s a win-win-win!

 

The importance of relationships was critical after the earthquake in Haiti and resulted in prioritized funds. This disaster caused collapsed school buildings and deaths. Afterward, the government required school buildings to be more earthquake proof during post reconstruction. The school our organization sponsors was thankfully not in an area affected by the quake, but it was poorly constructed and created a health risk for students. The needs assessment addressed several structural building violations and created a sense of urgency that resulted in a grant eights month later but obtaining this grant was based on several key factors such as:

  • Submitting a well-written grant proposal to the corporate NGO office in the US
  • Developing a relationship with the country office
  • Traveling by car on a bumpy road for eight hours to another section in Haiti to develop a relationship with the NGO grant manager
  • Developing relationships with people in the corporate office in the US
  • Documenting every expenditure

 

The grant was awarded in four phases and took almost an entire year to receive full funding. After each stage of the award, the NGO grant manager would inspect the project. All funds had to be accounted for prior to receiving the next phase of the grant. This type of distribution in not uncommon when working cross-culturally with nationals where there is a lack of accountability in the leadership of the host country.

 

In closing, building effective international relationships can tap significant resources for development and humanitarian response and make the process easier to secure funding.

 

Grant Development: An International Perspective

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GPF Board Member, Becky Jascoviak, MBA

Grant Writer, Kids Alive International

becky@kidsalive.org

March, 2015

I am privileged to serve as the Development Writer for Kids Alive International, a faith-based organization rescuing orphans and vulnerable children from abuse, neglect, abandonment, and absolute poverty. We operate residential homes, schools, care centers, and community programs for over 6,000 children in 15 countries worldwide providing hope for today, dreams for tomorrow and purpose for a lifetime. Kids Alive has been serving the “least of these” for nearly 100 years. www.kidsalive.org

It’s 4:00 am and your Skype ping sounds off from your laptop you left open as it searches through thousands of photos of places you’ve never personally seen. Groggily, you get up to answer the Skype call, just now realizing that the email you sent to set up the call did not indicate the time zone as Central Daylight Time instead of the now-ringing Eastern African Time. Fortunately, the Keurig is only a few steps away.

Writing and managing grants for international programs from a stateside office carries a certain set of worthwhile challenges. Whether it is navigating proper channels of government, tribal councils, or seemingly simple visa documentation, there are always parts that come across as illogical and inefficient to the American norm. What we value in having all the information placed in sequential order with clearly defined references, can be lost on those areas of the world that value relationship over process and where a four-hour phone call replaces a 28-page documented trail of evaluation.

It’s not just the logistics of communication that can be challenging but also language barriers, idiomatic expressions, and cultural relativities as well. Inquisition is the key to discovering real meaning. For instance, it is easy to place my own cultural context on field reports from around the world. Directors provide grades as part of a program evaluation, however they reflect a school year that is based on a calendar year – different implications should certainly be placed on that evaluation. Asking lots of questions, about things that seem mundane have led me to the best cultural discoveries.

This, however, is what makes all the challenges worth writing grants that take three times the amount of time, must be translated, and tell stories about kids I’ve never met. Every day, I get to be part of making an eternal difference in the lives of kids and families who have no hope, no future, and no safety net of any kind. I know I’m helping to not just change a life for a little while but transform a family for generations. And, I get to restore play to children forced to grow up way too soon. That is worth every early morning Skype call, photo library organizational stresses, and the occasional culturally embarrassing flub.

To serving more with excellence … and for all the children who get to sleep in a bed tonight, eat a warm meal or go to school for the very first time…

#IGPW