Call for concept proposals to TMF for the development of Small Grant Facilities

Call for concept proposals to TMF for the development of Small Grant Facilities

1. INTRODUCTION

The Table Mountain Fund (TMF) was established in 1998 with funds from local and international sources. TMF is a significant partner of C.A.P.E. (Cape Action for People and the Environment), the multi-stakeholder conservation partnership that drives fynbos conservation efforts. Furthermore, the fund aims to cement partnerships, in particular those between civil society and the state, and places emphasis on experimenting with new approaches towards solving conservation problems.

Vision

The Table Mountain Fund is a world-leading Conservation Trust Fund– initiating, developing and providing seed and catalytic funding to projects that restore and protect the natural wilderness of Table Mountain, the Cape Peninsula and the entire Cape Floristic Region (CFR) as a valuable heritage accessible to all South Africans and other citizens of the world.

Mission

The Table Mountain Fund will establish itself as the premier fund for achieving significant conservation interventions in the CFR through supporting the C.A.P.E. strategy and other priority conservation interventions locally and nationally.

TMF now calls for concept proposals that are in line with the stipulated strategic focal objective outlined below. The total amount of funding available for all projects for this financial year is R 1 230 000.

2. THE FOCUS OF THE CALL FOR CONCEPT PROPOSALS

The 2013 – 2018 TMF Conservation Strategy has a total of eight strategic objectives. The focus of this call is to provide catalytic funding for novel projects addressing one of these objectives, namely:

 Inclusivity in conservation: To support the growth and development of new entrants to the conservation sector and/or the C.A.P.E. partnership, and to facilitate the inclusion and involvement of a wider range of stakeholders in conservation.

TMF is now inviting concept proposals from organisations wanting to implement a TMF-funded small grant facility.

The objectives of such a TMF-funded small grant facility are to:

 Facilitate the entry of new organisations and/or individuals into conservation; and

 Convene and facilitate a connection between local communities and municipalities.

This must be achieved by the facility by providing project support and opportunities in the form of mentorship, project development and capacity building.

TMF will provide an overarching convening function in order to foster a community of practise for all TMF-funded small grant facilities by sharing lessons learnt and strengthening local project management capacity. This will likely be through workshops, guidelines on review criteria and sharing of templates and processes across the facilities.

Who can apply?

Registered organisations in good standing and with a specific interest in developing and coordinating a small grant facility in the CFR are encouraged to apply. Under exceptional circumstances, organisations not yet registered as NPOs may be considered.

Preference will be given to the establishment of new small grant facilities.

Assessment of applications

Small grant facilities must meet the above highlighted objectives of a TMF- funded small grant facility. They must also be of an exemplary and catalytic nature and demonstrate value for money. Finally they must demonstrate strong convergence between Rural Economic Development and conservation.

In addition to these mandatory criteria, small grant facility applications which meet the following criteria will be favourably considered:

 Applications by organisations that have a strong community conservation focus;

 Projects lead by civil society;

 Projects that are well supported by partners in conservation; and

 Projects that have attracted significant co-finance.

Applications will be considered on the basis of the above criteria and guidelines included in this document, by the Project Review Panel. Given the competitive nature of the call, even projects which meet all stipulated criteria may not be awarded funding. Short-listed applicants will be invited to develop their concepts into full applications based upon comments received from the Project Review Panel (which may also ask for independent review of any application). All applicants, whether successful or not in their application, will be provided with feedback by the 30th June 2017.

Grant size

A maximum amount of R 300 000 per annum for a maximum period of three years (i.e. grants may not exceed R900 000 in total). Grants offered by the facilities themselves to the small grant recipients are to range from R15 000 to R 50 000 per grant.

As laid out below, at least 70% of the total TMF grant (i.e. R 210 000 per annum) must be directed to the small grant recipients themselves. At least 60% of this must go to supporting new entrants into conservation while the remaining 40% can support small grant projects that will benefit the

Recommended annual TMF project budget

 50% of a project manager’s salary. It is believed that 20 hours a week is sufficient time for a manager to successfully manage a facility. It is important that the project manager plays a strong mentorship role to the small grant recipients.

 An operational budget of R 10 000 to cover office expenses such as telephone costs and printing.

 A travel budget of R 25 000 to conduct project site visits. Experience has shown that the small grant recipients need a fair amount of mentorship and it is therefore essential that the manager conducts a number of site visits for each project. It should also be noted that the distance between projects can also be vast and this will obviously increase travel costs.

 A workshop budget of R 10 000. Workshops have proven to be vital in creating an understanding within the communities around the purpose and aim of the small grant facility as well as building capacity in terms of better proposal writing and project management.

 A small grant budget of at least R 210 000 to be awarded to small grant recipients.

Budget line item	Yearly	Description
Project Manager Salary	R 45 000	R 3 750 x 12 months (The facility to fund other half of the salary).
Operating expenses	R 10 000	Printing and telephone costs
Travel expenses	R 25 000	Travel to service projects
Workshops	R 10 000	The hosting of one or two workshops, e.g. to advertise the call or assist with proposal writing and budgeting.
Small grantees	R 210 000	Funds ranging from R 15 000 – R 50 000 per project. An average of R 30 000 would result in seven projects per year.
Total	R 300 000

3. THE CONCEPT PROPOSAL

Concepts are envisaged to outline details of the project at a high level and should be no more than three A4 pages in length. The following headings must be addressed in concept proposals (please note that incomplete concept proposals will not be considered for funding):

Section 1: Project Name

Section 2: Information about the organization (name, status, date of establishment, registration)

Section 3: Project location and map

Section 4: How would a TMF-funded small grant facility align to the organisations vision and mission?

Section 5: Project objectives

Section 6: Conservation benefits

Section 7: Budget (state TMF and other contributions separately)

Section 8: A summarised implementation schedule with timelines (maximum of 3 years) in a log-frame format

Section 9: Partners or collaborating organizations (indicate whether relationship is already active or proposed)

Section 10: Project team members (name, position and experience)

Section 11: Potential risks and responses for developing a small grant facility (risks, likelihood (high, medium, low), consequences, risk management approach)

4. APPLYING FOR A GRANT

Applications should be emailed to the contact details provided below, by midnight on the 30th April 2017. Applications received after the closing deadline will not be accepted. Please ensure that you receive acknowledgement of receipt of your proposal. All applicants, whether successful or not will be provided with feedback by the 30th June 2017.

To: Carla Wood

Project Coordinator: Table Mountain Fund

Centre for Biodiversity Conservation

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Tel: 021 762 8525

Email: cwood@wwf.org.za

For a copy of the 2013 – 2018 TMF Conservation Strategy, please visit https://thetablemountainfund.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/TMF-Conservation-Strategy-2013-2018.pdf