How I help
Practical, specific support that gets you funding ready. All of this is grounded in research as well as frontline experience.
Getting funding ready
Pre-funding readiness checklist (FREE)
A clear, scored checklist that shows you what funders, partners and donors expect, and exactly where your gaps are. As you work through it, you build up a percentage score across each area, so you can see at a glance how ready you are and where to focus first.
It does more than get you ready to apply for funding. It helps you pass the due diligence checks funders and larger NGOs run, makes you a far more attractive local implementing partner, and sets out the prerequisites the bigger institutional funders will expect further down the line.
It is tailored to your country, region and area of work, with practical guidance along the way on the funders, partners and opportunities most relevant to you. Designed especially for new and start-up organisations. This one is free, because everyone deserves a clear starting point.
Funding readiness action plan (3 to 6 months)
A practical, sequenced plan built around your checklist results. It sets out what to do, in what order, so you move from 'not ready' to 'ready to apply' with confidence.
Governance and Trustees
Helping your board do its job well, with the structures and policies funders expect.
- • Trustee onboarding, role clarity and induction
- • Governance health checks for small or growing boards
- • The core policies funders expect: conflict of interest, whistleblowing, code of conduct and more
Strategy and Operational Support
Turning vision into something realistic, fundable and built to run well day to day.
- • Turning a big vision into a realistic, fundable strategy
- • Simple strategic plans and annual workplans
- • Operational support: the systems, policies and ways of working that keep a small organisation running
Programme Design and Review
Designing and strengthening programmes so they deliver well and meet funder expectations.
- • Designing or reviewing programmes through a gender, climate and safeguarding lens
- • Strengthening programmes so they meet what funders look for
- • Partner and localisation support, including positioning as a local implementing partner
Gender and Climate Frameworks
Actual frameworks and tools funders look for.
- • Gender mainstreaming built in: gender analysis, gender action plans and gender-responsive indicators
- • Fluent in the recognised donor marking systems for gender equality (such as the OECD-DAC Gender Equality Policy Marker) and the language of gender equality and women's empowerment that runs through EU, FCDO and UN funding
- • Gender and social inclusion action plans of the kind funders like the Green Climate Fund expect
- • Climate integration and climate risk screening, using the frameworks behind climate finance, including the Rio Markers donors use to classify adaptation and mitigation funding
- • Framing your environmental and disaster work in the language of adaptation, mitigation and resilience that funders now use
MEAL and Theory of Change
The monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems expected from the start, proportionate and right-sized for a small team.
- • Theory of change and log frame development
- • Clear indicators and simple data collection tools
- • Feedback and complaints mechanisms
- • Learning systems that help you improve, not just report
Safeguarding and Protection
Protection that works in practice, drawing on frontline experience.
- • Safeguarding and PSEA frameworks that work in practice
- • Child protection policy and case management
- • Survivor-centred and trauma informed approaches, drawing on frontline experience