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Before You Apply: Learning about the United Nations Democracy Fund

The very first step you need to take (even before you begin writing your proposal for funding) is to go the United Nations Democracy Fund website and read the information provided about this specific funding opportunity.

Reading information provided by the United Nations Democracy Fund will give you a complete understanding of the required proposal submission guidelines. It may also give you some ideas to help you develop and submit a successful proposal.

About the United Nations Democracy Fund

What is the UNDEF? Started by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2005, the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDF) supports projects around the world that focus on the following:

Strengthening the voice of civil society
Promoting human rights
Encouraging the participation of all group in democratic processes

Purpose: The purpose of the United Nations Democracy Fund is to financially support projects that support and advance democracy. Projects must come under one or more of the following six main areas:

Community development
Media
Rule of law and human rights
Tools for democratization
Women
Youth

What Types of Projects Are Fundable? The UNDF funds projects related to democracy and civil society empowerment, such as: the empowerment of women, citizen’s access to information, voter registration, civic education, and much more.

Examples of previously funded projects include:

Constitutional Reform: Support to Constituent Assembly in Zambia
Promoting Human Rights through Providing Access to Information for Marginalized Women in Zimbabwe.
Raising Civic Awareness Among Youth: Participation & Community Service in Yemen

Additional examples of previously funded projects can be found by searching the UNDF Projects Database.

Funding Available: Projects range from $50,000 to $400,000. The average project is $200,000.

Where does the funding come from? All funding for UNDEF projects is from voluntary contributions.

Length of Projects: Projects are for two years or less.

Application Dates: Proposals can be submitted between 15 November 2014 through 31 December 2014.

How to Apply: Proposals are only accepted on-line during the application date period. Proposals can be submitted in either English or French.

Where to Apply: Proposals must be submitted on-line during the application date window at the UNDEF websit.

Who Can Apply? The following types of organizations are eligible to apply for funding:

Civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promote democracy. This category traditionally receives most of the funding.
Independent and constitutional bodies such as election commissions, ombudsman institutions, national human rights institutions, and other independent governance bodies.
Global and regional inter-government bodies, associations, and organizations other than the United Nations.
If you are not sure if your organization is eligible to apply for UNDEF funding, go to the website UNDEF website.

If you are a Premium Member, you can instantly access the full information about this funding opportunity, including the link to the original website in a few seconds. Click here to log in! Not a Premium Member? Check out the amazing benefits of becoming a fundsforNGOs Premium Member here. Not interested? Continue reading…

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What are the chances of my organization receiving funding from UNDEF?

The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) is an excellent opportunity for NGOs of all types and sizes (from local, to regional, to national) to apply for funding to support democracy-related projects and programs.

The UNDEF allocates 70% of its budget for projects in a country. This means that local NGOs can apply without competing against large international organizations.

The UNDEF also prefers to fund projects within countries and regions where challenges related to democracy are more critical. These countries and regions include those emerging from conflict, new and restored democracies, Least Developed Countries, Low Income Countries, and Middle Income Countries.

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Steps to completing the UNDEF Application Form

Steps to Completing the UNDEF Application Form:

UNDEF provides an example application form.
You can use this form to complete your application off-line; then go online to the online application form and submit your application.
You need to have a computer with an Internet connection to submit your application form on the UNDEF online application form.
You must register your organization on the UNDEF website by creating a profile before you can apply for UNDEF funding.
Once you have registered your organization, an email message will be sent by the online system (also known as the OPPS system) with a login username and password. Use this username and password to log into the UNDEF website to complete your application form.
You do not need to complete the online application form all at one time. If you do not want to submit your application right away, choose the “SAVE” option located at the end of the online application form.
Once you are confident that your application is complete, click on the “SUBMIT” button. NOTE: Once you hit the “SUBMIT” button you CANNOT go back and edit your application again. So, hit the “SUBMIT” button when you are absolutely sure that your application is complete.

APPLICANT INFORMATION

Section 1. APPLICANT INFORMATION. This section asks for basic information about your organization such as: Name of the organization, organization acronym, type of applicant, first time or prior applicant, prior experience of your organization, operational budget of your organization, prior experience of your organization with the UN (United Nations), and affiliation (list grants your organization has received).

Section 1. HEAD OF ORGANIZATION. This section requests that you provide the name of the head of your organization, their professional title, telephone number, email address, and website address.

Section 1: KEY CONTACT. Provide the name of the key contact person of your organization. (This can be the same name as the head of your organization.); title of the key contact, phone number and email address of the key contact person.

PROJECT INFORMATION. This section asks you to provide: the title of your project. The title of your project should be short and self-explanatory. For example:

“Empowering People Through Citizen’s Journalism Tirana/Albania Europe”

“Strengthening Transitional Justice Processes in Burundi”

“Spaces and Information for Citizens’ Engagement in Columbia”

“Educating Rural Women in Democratic Citizenship in Haiti”

If you need more ideas for your title, search the UNDEF Project Database where all previously funded projects are listed. You can read through the list of projects for ideas to create your own unique title.

You will be also asked to provide: the location of your project, the country of your project, (for local projects: the location in the country where the project will take place), (for regional projects: select a value on the Application Form from the Geographic Scale), a summary of the project (no more than 255 characters), the amount of funds you are requesting for the project, your organization’s own contribution to the project (cash or in kind), the main feature of the project, and previous initiatives or innovations.

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Project Description, Objectives and Outcomes in UNDEF Application

PROJECT DESCRIPTION. In this section, describe the problem to be addressed by the project. Include such information as: the overall democratic context and underlying causes of the problem. Justify why this project is necessary. (Maximum number of characters is 1,000.)

Giving a background of the situation, you can provide justification in this section as to why you need financial support for your project intervention. You may need to analyze your problem to the root and provide a final solution offered by your project. For example, in conflict regions, if you want to involve youth to network through social media for promoting democratic ideas, you can explain how you would want to empower and education the youth that would ultimately lead to spreading democracy through social media. Similarly, if your NGO is promoting voter education, you need to explain how your target group has been politically isolated resulting in the lack of democratic participation and your project would empower them by providing education on democratic principles and increase their participation in voting processes.

Section 3: WHY UNDEF? In this section, describe why UNDEF funding is particularly strategic for the proposed project. (Maximum number of characters is 300.)

In this section, you need to explain why the fund from UNDEF would be relevant for your project. Here you can explain some of the advantages of UNDEF like it is available worldwide and anybody can apply and it covers broad democratic concepts and your project clearly connects with its ideals.

Section 3: PROJECT OBJECTIVE. In this section, explain the objective to be achieved through implementing the project’s activities. (Maximum number of characters is 255.)

Define a specific goal or objective you want to achieve by implementing your project. In most cases, your project title indicates your goal and so you can refer back and forth for this. If you are promoting human rights, then the goal would be to increase human rights awareness in your target group.

Section 3: RESULTS/OUTCOMES: In this section, describe the intended results of the project and/or the outcomes you expect. (Maximum number of results or outcomes is 3). What are the positive changes expected to occur within the timeframe of the project? (Maximum number of characters is 500.)

Mention the top 3 results you would like to achieve from your project. For example, in a project about spreading the ideas on democratic freedom, the target group exercising its democratic rights like voting or contesting elections; the target group critically analyzing policies and programs; and the target group organizing lobbying activities to influence government decisions.

Section 3: OUTPUTS: In this section, describe the outputs to be produced by the activities. Make sure that the outputs are measurable products or events. (Maximum number of characters is 1,000.)

Under Outputs, you can mention short-term results that can be achieved from your project like improved understanding of democratic principles and concepts. For example, if a project activity is to ‘educate women on human rights issues’, the output could be: ‘25 women gained an increased understanding about human rights issues.’

Section 3: KEY ACTIVITIES: In this section, describe the key activities that will take place for each output mentioned above. (Maximum number of characters is 1,000.)

List out the activities you would like to perform in your project. For example, conducting training workshops on providing education on democratic principles and concepts to your target group.

Section 3: MONITORING and EVALUATION: In this section, describe how the project results/outcomes will be measured. Include: what measurements will be used (e.g., outcomes indicators, baseline, targets, monitoring tools, etc.). Indicate who will be responsible for measuring each result/outcome. (Maximum number of characters is 500.)

Under this section, include processes that your organization will use to review and monitor the progress of the project such as: board meeting, project review meetings, reports, and field visits. Evaluation can include a mid-term and an end-of-project evaluation.

UNDEF will keep aside 10% of the total project cost for monitoring and evaluation purposes. Monitoring and Evaluation costs are capped at $25,000.

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Writing about Sustainability in the UNDEF Application Form

Section 3: SUSTAINABILITY: Describe how the achievements of the project will be maintained after the UNDEF funding period ends. (Maximum number of characters is 300.)

“Sustainability” refers to what mechanisms the organization will put in place to continue the project once the UNDEF funding ends. Mechanisms may include: network-led or community-based organizations-led activities that are supported by other donors or internal funds.

Section 4: PARTNERS and SPONSORS: In this section, indicate who the implementing partner or partners are of this project. Provide the complete name(s) of the implementing partner(s) organizations. (Maximum number of characters is 255.) Also provide proposed implementing partner(s) if they are different from the applicant.

If you are engaging in partnership with other organizations or groups, this can be mentioned here. Remember that partnership with community-based organizations could add up to the success of your project. Besides, if there is matching fund available from other donors, there are good chances of winning this grant.

Section 4: EXECUTING AGENCY: This section is in regards to different management arrangements.

This section is about how the project would be managed by the NGO and who would be responsible for implementing activities identified under the project.

Section 5: BUDGET: Provide your project budget.

Detail how the requested grant amount will be used for items listed in Section 2: Project Information. NOTE: You will need to provide the budget in two different ways: 1.) By activity and 2.) By item activity. Round the dollar amounts to the nearest thousand dollar. Each budget must add up to the same figure. Section 5: BUDGET provides you with more detailed information. Dollar amounts must be in US dollars.

The budget component of your application is easy to follow. UNDEF funds salaries and support costs, however these costs must be very modest and you must justify the costs in your project.

You are allowed to request a minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $400,000 for a period of two years.

Section 6: COMMITMENTS: This section provides a list of statements that must be answered by the applicant.

Submitting Your Application On-Line

After you have drafted your proposal offline on paper or on a computer, visit the UNDEF online application website and begin completing the on-line application form. The UNDEF application system, also known as OPPS, opens on 15 November 2014 and closes on 31 December 2014.

Once you have submitted your application you will only be able to view it online until 31 December 2014. It is strongly recommended that you keep a copy of your application as UNDEF is unable to send submitted applications back to applicants.

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Best Practices for Creating a Successful UNDEF Application

UNDEF shares the following best practices to help you create a successful application:

1.) Presentation: High quality applications result in higher proposal scores. High quality applications: have all information completed, do not exceed character limits, provide accurate information, avoid jargon or acronyms, provide correct website addresses, uses plain English or French, and uses succinct sentences avoiding repetition of content.

2.) Clarity: Your application should be clear and concise. Someone who is not familiar with your organization or your project should be able to read your application and understand completely what you are trying to accomplish. The application should be laid out logically meaning that the reader should be able to follow your goals, activities, budget, and outcomes step-by-step.

3.) Scoring and Criteria: UNDEF assesses all proposals against the following 10 criteria. Make sure that your proposal meets the following criteria:

Does your organization have a strong track record of excellence?
Does the proposal make sense in terms of conception and presentation?
How does the proposed project promote the objectives of the UNDEF?
How does the proposed project make use of the United Nations’ and the UNDEF’s comparative advantage?
How does the proposal make a significant impact?
Does the proposal represent good value for the funding requested?
Does the proposal demonstrate strong prospects for successful implementation?
Does the proposal have strong prospects for continuing after UNDEF funding ends?
Does the project encourage inclusiveness?
Does the project enhance gender equality?

4.) Innovation: How innovative is your project? Innovation refers to something new at the same time being effective. For example, including men in a women’s rights project could be considered innovative.

5.) Democracy: UNDEF funds projects that promote democracy. Your proposal must show how funding will advance some form or cause of democracy. The more direct the link is between the proposed project and how democratic processes will be strengthened, the stronger the proposal.

6.) Budget: The budget must relate to the outputs provided in the narrative part of the proposal. Note that UNDEF rarely funds proposals for purchasing vehicles. UNDEF also looks for an element of volunteering in the proposal. UNDEF understands that the budget figures are estimates and expects budget amounts to be rounded figures (in the thousands or hundreds is acceptable).

7.) Value: Remember that the maximum grant amount for any one proposal is $400,000. Only a few projects have been awarded this amount in over 400 applications implemented to date. The average grant amount is $200,000. A realistic budget should result in a better score under the ‘value for the money’ criterion.

8.) Timing: The time available to submit your proposal is 6 weeks. It is strongly recommended that applicants give themselves plenty of time to develop, review, and then submit their proposal. Do not wait until the last few days prior to the deadline date of 31 December. Bad Internet connections, electricity blackouts, or other explanations for why a proposal was late are unacceptable, so start early!

Ready to apply for UNDEF now. Just visit this link or learn more at UNDEF website.

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Download a Great Sample Proposal on ‘Women’s Livelihood Development’

Building livelihoods through microenterprises for women is one of the remarkable ideas for developing sustainability, improving household income and creating jobs in the poorest regions of the world. A lot of donor agencies including the USAID, the World Bank and the United Nations emphasize upon enhancing the business development skills of women for sustainable development. However, not all NGOs are able to develop effective project ideas for successfully requesting funds from such donor agencies for improving the livelihood development of women through enterprises.

Here is a sample proposal that can guide you on how to develop a great proposal on ‘Women’s Livelihood Development through the use of microenterprises.’ If you are a FundsforNGOs Premium Member, you can freely download this sample proposal by logging in here. If you are not a Premium Member, you can SIGN UP NOW! Apart from downloading this proposal freely, there are dozens of other reasons for you to subscribe for our Premium Membership. Learn more here!

Sample Proposal on “Women’s Sustainable Livelihood Development through the use of Microenterprises’

Geographical Area: Palestine

The first part of any proposal is give an overview or a brief introduction to the project and how it will be implemented. Check the sample text below that opens up the proposal:

Across the West Bank, recent <Organization Name> (ORG) projects have resulted directly in the creation of hundreds of jobs and significant increases in income for women. These successes have given many women their first job and the unprecedented ability to add to and often be the only source of family income. Despite this progress, there is tremendous unrealized opportunity to create additional opportunities for sustainable economic and entrepreneurship for women in the West Bank. ORG’s experience has underscored significant capacity and motivation among Palestinian to break the cycle of poverty and build a better life through microenterprise development.

Our goal is to help Palestinian women in the northern West Bank achieve financial independence and security by helping them build skills and resources to start microenterprises. ORG respectfully seeks funding from the <Foundation Name> to provide training for over 200 women entrepreneurs, help establish 100 new businesses, and create 300 new jobs for women.

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Writing the Project Context: A Sample Proposal on ‘Women’s Sustainable Livelihood Development’

The project context of any proposal not only gives an introduction to your project but it also builds up a justification process to help the donor agency convince as to why it is important to start this project and how can your organization resolve the ‘problem in question’ by implementing the proposed activities. In this sample proposal, you will see that the context and justification process has been broken up into 3 parts: ‘The Challenges’, ‘The Opportunity’ and ‘Why Now?’ It is a wonderful way of drawing attention of the reader and also give enough reasons as to why you require this funding to implement the project.

The Challenges

Palestinians in the West Bank face significant economic challenges—mobility, access to capital, and access to markets and technical information. Israeli security measures, particularly the separation barrier, have put unprecedented burdens on Palestinians, 46 percent of whom are unemployed. For Palestinian women, the challenges are even greater…(Full text is available in the downloadable version)

The Opportunity

Since 2005, ORG has helped Palestinian women increase their income through training in job skills, business management, and income diversification. During this time, ORG has developed a proven model for creating permanent jobs and income—based on business management training, small grants, and microfinance.

Through its West Bank School Feeding Program (2006-2010), ORG worked with 24 women’s associations across the West Bank to provide daily nutritionally fortified snacks for more than 50,000 schoolchildren in nearly 200 schools. ORG trained and mentored members of these associations to become both businesswomen and effective partners for children’s nutrition, creating jobs for 2,000 women in the process.

During this process, ORG established very close relationships with women and women’s associations…(Full text is available in the downloadable version)

Why Now?

Timely action is important for two reasons. First, with the peace talks at an impasse, it is a critical time to help Palestinians find ways to survive. Our local partners want to move beyond the political impasse. ORG is ready to work with them at this juncture to build lasting solutions to poverty and hunger by securing financial freedom for Palestinians.

Second, the women ORG has trained have reached a point where independence is within reach; yet they need additional coaching to become self-sustaining…(Full text is available in the downloadable version)

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Project Goal and Objectives: A Sample Proposal on ‘Women’s Sustainable Livelihood Development’

The overall goal of the project of the sample proposal on ‘Women’s Sustainable Livelihood Development through Microenterprises’ is given below:

ORG aims to provide microenterprise development training and support systems to help members of women’s associations in the northern West Bank create micro

Through enterprise development and microfinancing that will create jobs and generate incomes, ORG aims to reach out to new and existing women’s associations. ORG will build upon the successes of the pilot group of 10 associations and reach out to the 14 remaining women associations, and reach out to other associations in the region

The project objectives of the project are given below:

Objective 1. Conduct Regional Economic Assessment

To initiate the project, the ORG team will lead members of each target community – particularly members of community women’s associations – in an assessment to…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

Objective 2: Build women’s skills in microenterprise development

Based on the economic assessment outcomes, ORG will invite applications individuals and small groups from women’s associations (not limited to current partners) to participate in trainings in microenterprise development and business management. The aim of this training is to…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

Objective 3. Increase access to microcredit for microenterprise start-up

ORG will facilitate relationships between women entrepreneurs and existing micro-credit lenders and will help aspiring women entrepreneurs develop “bankable” business plans to help them secure…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

Objective 4. Introduce microfranchises for women’s business development

Based on opportunities identified through the regional economic assessment, ORG will also develop a pilot microfranchise – or network of small…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

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Project Activities: A Sample Proposal on ‘Women’s Sustainable Livelihood Development’

The activities of the project from the sample proposal on ‘Women’s Sustainable Livelihood Development through Microenterprises’ are given below:

Objective 1. Conduct Regional Economic Assessment

Activity 1.1. Cluster workshops. ORG will organize 4 1-day workshops (1 per cluster) to assess economic constraints opportunities in target clusters.
Activity 1.2. Microenterprise identification. On the basis of the assessment, community members will identify promising areas for microenterprise development by women – either businesses that fill gaps…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

Objective 2: Build women’s skills in microenterprise development

Activity 2.1. Training workshops in microenterprise development. We will work with and through ORG’s partner women’s associations to organize…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 2.2. Develop business plans. Microenterprise development training is structured around the development of a business plan. In each module, participants develop sections of their business plan. The business plan follows a simplified, standardized template including: (1) description of the business; (2) description of the product…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 2.3. Support microenterprise start-up. The primary vehicle for promoting new business start-up will be through existing…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 2.4. Establish women’s business support network. While we help trainees grow their businesses by introducing sound business practices, we will also…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

Objective 3. Increase access to microcredit for microenterprise start-up

Activity 3.1. Mobilize review committee of civic and business leaders. We will mobilize a committee of local banking, business, and civic leaders to…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 3.2. Facilitate microenterprise start-up financing. Based on reviews from the committee, ORG will work with women entrepreneurs to complete…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

Objective 4. Introduce microfranchises for women’s business development

Activity 4.1. Develop at least microfranchise model. Based on the regional economic assessment and preferences identified…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 4.2. Recruit and train microfranchise owners and employees. In targeted communities, ORG will recruit aspiring entrepreneurs who have…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 4.3. Provide microfranchises with financing and launch support. Using the same approach as individual microenterprise development, ORG will facilitate…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).
Activity 4.4. Provide monitoring and ongoing support. Project beneficiaries, business mentors, and project staff will meet regularly…(Full text is available in the downloadable version).

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