Community leadership

**Call for proposals closed

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Documental Ambulante, A.C. invites all of the organizations of the civil society that meet the eligibility criteria to present a financing proposal to the Levantemos México fund within its line of action: community leadership.

OBJECTIVE

To strengthen the capabilities of local organizations that are playing a central part in the reconstruction processes of the communities and that work from a human rights perspective.

JUSTIFICATION

The Community leadership call arises from the international experience in response to disasters, and from the results of the needs mapping and assessment carried out by Levantemos México. According to these learnings:

• The most appropriate strategy to contribute to the reconstruction process in the affected communities is to reinforce leadership and capabilities of the local actors who will continue with the actions over time.
• The reconstruction may take more than one decade and most of the external actors retire in the first three years.
• There is a great range of grassroots and first-floor organizations with local roots playing a central role in their communities, serving as guide for the national and international efforts and working in a participatory and respectful manner with the communities to which they belong.
• These same organizations are supporting and can strengthen the citizen initiatives, groups and organizations which arose from the earthquakes.
• These organizations are also the ones feeding field information to the efforts of transparency and incidence on the country, so strengthening their capabilities offers an opportunity to boost the impact not only of the local efforts, but also of the national ones.
• In spite of the key role they play, these organizations have received few resources in comparison with the national or international organizations.

Thus, the line of action of Community leadership invites all the local organizations with an outstanding work in response to the earthquakes to present funding proposals for the reconstruction of the communities where they work.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• To be legally incorporated as non-profit organizations and to count with current authorization by the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit to receive tax-deductible donations. [1]
• To attest a satisfactory financial situation when submitting the application.
• To previously have worked in the communities or regions where the project is presented (three or more years, prior to the earthquakes in September).
• To have carried out actions as a volunteer in response to the earthquakes in the affected communities.
• To be actively working in the reconstruction in a participatory manner and from a human rights perspective.
• To work in collaboration with other actors, promoting the linking and coordination of efforts.
• To prove that the communities where the actions are taking place suffered major affectations due to the earthquakes.
• To look for the benefit of the communities and not only of the members or associates of the organization.
• Not to be subject to any partisan, political, electoral or religious interest.

NO FUNDING WILL BE GIVEN TO:

• Individuals or grant programs
• Governments or institutions affiliated to governments
• For-profit organizations or companies
• Universities or research centers
• Cooperatives that only look for the benefit of their associates
• Organizations which emerged due to the earthquakes (see the call for New social actors)
• Organizations without local rooting where the project is proposed
• Organizations which have not actively responded before the earthquakes
• Organizations which do not count with the technical or administrative capacities to carry out the project proposed

GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

Levantemos México will receive proposals of projects to be carried out in one or more communities or neighborhoods located in the municipalities, delegations or boroughs [2] declared as disaster or emergency areas due to the earthquakes on September, 2017. The states with municipalities thus declared are: Chiapas, Mexico City, State of Mexico, Guerrero, Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Veracruz.

Due to the lack of reliable information on many affected communities, Levantemos México will also consider projects that are outside said municipalities as long as they can prove they have suffered major affectations from the earthquakes. All of the proposals shall present evidence of the affectation suffered in the communities where the project is proposed, as described in the requirements. Priority in selection will be given to all of those projects aimed at the most affected places.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROJECTS TO FUND

The projects to fund:

• Strengthen the leadership of communities in their own reconstructions processes.
• Promote the regeneration of the social fabric and community organization.
• Strengthen the local capabilities in central reconstruction matters.
• Base the actions proposed on the evaluation of damages and participatory reconstruction plans [3]—projects may include within their activities, or even entirely consist of, the realization of damages evaluation and community reconstruction plans.
• Propose appropriate solutions for the most relevant problems in the communities according to said evaluations and plans. They may address one or several subjects, such as housing, water and sanitation, livelihoods, education, health, emotional care, community spaces, environment, culture, among others.
• Stem from a foresight, with specific prevention actions.
• Contemplate collaborative actions at a local, state and national level.
• Incorporate a clear human rights and gender perfective.
• Respect and protect the cultural heritage, the environment and the natural resources of the communities.
• Clearly define the expected results, identifying what will be different at the end of the project.

EXECUTION PERIOD

We invite you to submit proposals for projects to be executed in a period of two years, with starting date on June 1, 2018.

FINANCING AMOUNTS

• Maximum amount: The donations may be of up to $3,000,000.00 MXN for two years of execution ($1,500,000.00 MXN per year, for both years).
• Minimum amount: There is no minimum amount established.

It is recommended for the annual budget of proposals not to exceed 50% of the total budget the organization employed last year (2016-2017). However, due to the magnitude of the disaster and the diversity of needed actions, proposals which do not meet this requirement may be considered as long as the organization can certify that it will take the necessary actions to manage the funds effectively and transparently.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMITTING PROPOSALS

To participate in the call, the requesting organizations shall fill an application format online, following the filling guide and attaching the documents requested in the corresponding sections. All the materials are available at the end of this page.

*Fill the form here

If your organization does not count with the means to fill the application form online, we ask you to contact us at levantemos@ambulante.org or by phone to +52 (55) 5511 5073 Ext. 902 to explore in which way we can help you.

RECEPTION OF PROPOSALS

This call will be open from February 15 and will close on March 15, 2018. No proposals will be received after the call’s closing date or out of the established formats.

SELECTION OF PROJECTS

Given the great need and the limited resources, not all of the proposals which meet the requirements will be able to be funded. Levantemos México will carry out the following three selection stages to allocate the donations.

Stage 1: The team of Levantemos México will decline proposals which do not meet the criteria and requirements of the call and will identify the group of finalists.

Stage 2: A technical committee, composed of members of the affected communities and key actors in the reconstruction processes identified during the needs mapping and assessment stage [4], will review the finalists and grade the proposals according to their merit and relevance.

Stage 3: Taking into consideration the grades of the technical committee, the driving group [5] will make the final decision regarding the projects to fund.

During the whole selection process, Deloitte will participate as the office responsible for the accounting audit of the Fund.

RESULTS

The results of the call will be released on Wednesday, April 25, 2018 on the website of Documental Ambulante, A.C.

Materials of the call

• Community leadership call in PDF
• Application form online
• Form filling guide in PDF
• Modifiable filling guide (word)
• Example of support letter of the allied organization (word)
• Format and instructions to submit the project’s budget (excel)
• Guide to make a video showing the earthquake’s affectations in PDF

MORE INFORMATION

If you have any doubt or question about the requirements mentioned herein, please contact us:

Contact: Blanca Jiménez, member of the Levantemos México Fund

Mail: levantemos@ambulante.org

Phone: +52 (55) 5511 5073 Ext. 902

OTHER ASPECTS TO CONSIDER

COMMITMENTS UPON RECEIVING A DONATION

If selected, your organization will receive an agreement for a review with the commitments of both parties to ensure the effective and transparent handling of resources. Among others, by accepting a donation, your organization undertakes to:

• PARTICIPATE IN STRENGTHENING ACTIVITIES

Along with the financial donations, the Levantemos México fund will promote the strengthening of the organizations and the projects funded through periodic face-to-face and virtual meetings, training workshops, visits between organizations, among others. By receiving a donation, your organization undertakes to actively participate in said activities, as long as they are announced with due anticipation. All the costs related to participating in these activities will be covered by the fund.

• CARRY OUT MONITORING AND EVALUATION ACTIONS

As part of the monitoring and evaluation of each project, your organization undertakes to send a report of activities at the end of the first year and a final report at the end of the second year. The requirements for these reports will be sent with months in advance. Additionally, your organization undertakes to send one video every three months to facilitate the follow-up and make visible its work. All the selected organizations will receive training to send these video-updates in a free-of-charge and simple way. Finally, by receiving a donation, your organization accepts to receive visits by the Levantemos México team, its donors or allies—prior notice and without this representing any cost for your organization.

• CONTRIBUTE TO THE DOCUMENTATION AND VISIBILITY OF ACTIONS

In addition to sending quarterly updates, some organizations may be chosen to appear in videos or other means. Upon accepting a donation, your organization undertakes to actively participate in these efforts—prior notice and without the activities representing any additional cost for the organization.

• GENERATE FINANCIAL REPORTS AND AUDITS

Finally, all the organizations shall submit final and annual financial reports along with their narrative reports. The financial reports shall be backed by proofs of expenses and may be audited. The guidelines for the reports will be included in the report guide they will receive with the agreement.

The interpretation of the present Call corresponds to Documental Ambulante, A.C., as well as the resolution of any matter unforeseen therein.

List of references

• If your organization doesn’t count with deductibility but can prove it has worked in the communities where it intends to implement the project for three or more years and has carried out important actions in response to the earthquakes, it may submit its proposal identifying an incorporated organization with tax deductibility to its guide. If your organization stemmed from the earthquakes, you can nominate your group to be invited to the call for New social actors.
• The municipalities declared as emergency or disaster areas as a result of the earthquakes of September are available in the open data website of the government of Mexico.
• Directly prepared by the affected communities or with their active participation
• Once the selection of projects has concluded, the members of the technical committee will be published to ensure a transparent selection process.
• The driving team of the fund is composed by Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Paulina Suárez (Director of Ambulante).