This consultancy will facilitate the production of organisational strengthening (OS) plans by and for up to 21 different funded partners, and these plans will be used as a basis for allocating the funds available for OS activities for funded partners. The ultimate aim of the OS support is to leave behind a cohort of strong, effective and sustainable CSO partners able to represent local people’s priorities.
Comic Relief is therefore seeking an external consultant/s to work with up to 21 funded partners to conduct organisational assessments and to develop OS plans by August 2021.
We are searching for individuals or consultancy organisations based in, or from, Sub-Saharan Africa with the following skills and experience:
· Excellent facilitation, listening and analysis skills.
· Demonstrated experience working with civil society organisations of different sizes and capacities in the Global South including small CBOs, small to medium sized local CSOs, national NGOs, and country offices of international NGOs.
· Demonstrated understanding of capacity strengthening/institutional development principles and approaches, including capacity building, institutional strengthening and accompaniment.
· Experience in conducting organisational assessments, and familiarity with a range of organisational assessment tools.
· Expertise in the effective application of capacity strengthening tools and approaches resulting in enhanced organisational capacity and performance.
· Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation and training applying adult learning principles and practices for capacity strengthening and partnership building through formal and informal methods.
· Ability to listen to diverse views and experiences, consolidate, and interpret them.
· Ability to clearly communicate findings and recommendations in an accessible way to a variety of audiences and stakeholders.
· Experience in specified programme countries and themes is desirable.
· Experience delivering meetings remotely in an effective and engaging manner.
Budget available is up to GBP 68,250 including fees, VAT if applicable and any expenses. This work is likely to be completed remotely given covid-19 travel restrictions, but it is possible that at least some of the meetings could be completed in person depending on the location of the consultants and the preferences of the funded partners, as well as the laws and regulations in each country. Please budget for travel and meeting expenses accordingly if you think that it is feasible to complete some meetings in person. Agreed expenses can be claimed against receipts. Value for money will be considered when analysing the applications.
Consultants can bid for work with all 21 partners or with a subset of partners. The maximum budget of 68,250 GBP above is based on working with all 21 partners; if a consultant proposes to work with a subset of partners, or if not all partners choose to participate, the budget is expected to be proportionately lower.
The full ToR is available here: https://comicrelief.box.com/v/ToR-OS-Apr2021
How to apply
If you are interested in applying to complete this work, please provide a response to this document (8 pages of A4 max, excluding Annexes), and include:
- Experience in this area, with a specific focus on organisational strengthening of civil society organisations, and examples of other similar work undertaken. This should highlight organisational assessment tools and methods used in similar work.
- A brief explanation of why you are motivated to apply, why you believe this work is important, and the values you employ in your work.
- A description of your proposed approach and methodology/methodologies for the work, including what areas you expect to cover with the funded partners, key milestones and accompanying timeline.
- A quality assurance plan that sets out the systems and processes for quality assuring the organisational assessment process and deliverables of the project, from start to finish. This plan should include your approach to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
- A summary of how you will mitigate Covid-19 restrictions and your previous experience of delivering engaging online sessions.
- A breakdown of the expected allocation of days for the different deliverables.
- Team composition (if applicable) including roles and responsibilities for this work and their relevant experience.
- Details of two referees:
a. A brief description of your relationship with them/the work you carried out and when
b. Name, job title, organisation, email address and telephone number
c. Please request permission from your referees before you send us your proposal
d. We will not contact your referees unless we intend to contract you/your team
Annexes should include:
- A budget which includes consultancy fees, expenses and VAT where appropriate. Please demarcate fees (e.g. daily rate) from other related expenses.
- CVs of relevant team members (max 2 pages per person)
- Two examples of relevant, previous work by the applicant (ideally previous assessments of a comparable nature/scale)
- Any other relevant information
Comic Relief, at its sole discretion will select the successful proposal and shall be free to:
· Accept the whole, or part only, of any submission
· Accept none of the proposals
· Republish this Request for proposals
Application process
Tenders must be submitted by 5pm British Summer Time (BST) on 3rd May 2021 to c.baker@comicrelief.com with the subject line “Facilitated Self Assessments for OS”. Any applications received after this time will not be considered.
Shortlisted applicants may be invited to discuss their proposals in more detail at Comic Relief’s discretion. Interviews with shortlisted candidates are expected to take place between 11th – 15th May 2021. If you anticipate that you will not be available on any days during this period, please state this in your application outlining your availability, to facilitate efficient scheduling.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that their application is complete and meets the requirements laid out in this Terms of Reference. Failure to comply may lead to your proposal being rejected. Please ensure that you read and fully understand the requirements of this consultancy. If you have any queries in relation to your submission or to any requirements of this tender, please email: c.baker@comicrelief.com
The full ToR is available here: https://comicrelief.box.com/v/ToR-OS-Apr2021