Global Development Alliance has four steps:
- Step 1 – Consult and Clarify.
- Step 2 – Submit a Promising Idea for Consideration and Development.
- Step 3 – Formulate Prospective Alliance Activities, Roles and Responsibilities with USAID.
- Step 4 – Finalize an Appropriate Alliance Agreement with USAID.
In this guideline, we shall only discuss about the first two steps and our examples will focus on NGO sector organizations rather than private sector organizations. In this section we will discuss, how to complete a concept note for traditional partners (NGOs) following an illustrative example. In order to submit a concept note you first have to identify the USAID Mission as a priority in your working area that matches your organizational mandate and at the same time have potential to serve core business market oriented purposes. First, let’s see some examples:
Example 1:
Suppose your NGO is working for education and workforce training in a developing country, where woman education is higher than any other developing country or, say, your country has a large number of unemployed educated women. Now, keeping in mind that these days there is a growing demand for outsourcing in IT sector and there are a large number of IT outsourcing firms emerging in your country. So, if you adopt a training program for women on “outsourcing in IT Sector”, then you can serve
(a) USAID priority- “Expanded economic opportunities created through equitable economic growth”.
(b) Core business purpose – “Skilled Labor Force in IT Sector” for business expansion.
(c) Your organizational mandate – “Education and Workforce Training”.
Example 2:
Suppose you are a Bangladeshi NGO, working for promoting sexual and reproductive health rights and women empowerment. You can develop a Global Development Alliance by integrating sexual and reproductive health (SRHR) and a women livelihood development program together. Now suppose, in your locality, there are established/emerging export oriented industries for homemade/handmade products which need continuous supply of homemade/handmade products. Then there is a chance for you to develop a Global Development Alliance. In your project you can partner with the private sector, establish women’s groups. In each group set a revolving loan fund/micro-credit fund, which may be at a lower rate than other organizations, provide women training on handmade/homemade products and at the same time provide basic reproductive health services to the women. You can also include pharmaceutical industries for social marketing of contraceptives at a lower cost and also partner with philanthropic foundations that provide support for micro-credit projects especially for women such as Stomme Foundation. In this way you can serve:
(a) USAID priority- “Expanded economic opportunities created through equitable economic growth”.
(b) Core business purpose- “Continuous supply of homemade/handmade products”.
(c) Your organizational mandate- “Women Empowerment” and “Reproductive Health Rights of Women”.
In the above two examples, you can also include relevant government departments of your country if there is commitment from the government to “Empower Women” or “Expanding the IT Sector”, “Facilitate Export” etc. and mobilize resources from them. If possible, you can also seek financial support from other private grant making foundations, local chamber of commerce and CSR fund from other private institutions, such as banks etc.” Please don’t forget to ensure sustainability of your project. In the above two examples the activities are highly sustainable as they are market oriented.
Once you have identified your program and have reached a consensus with your prospective alliance partner, move ahead with the application process. The first stage is to consult with the respective USAID Mission/Agency.
Step 1: Consult and Clarify
Global Development Alliance (GDA) is very different than other USAID/USG grant programs. In other programs, USAID publishes a Request for Proposal (RFP) document. Interested organizations review the document and send their questions to the mission. The mission/agency then gives answers to the questions. Program priority, grant amount, goal, objective, intermediate result etc. are identified by the agency. In terms of communication, USAID only answers questions that come from the participants. But in GDA, an applicant has the opportunity to consult with the mission. If you have a good and promising idea that serves both core business interests and USAID or other USG Agencies’ development objectives which are market driven, then to be successful you must consult with USAID to build an effective alliance. A successful alliance with USAID needs a shared understanding of both public (USG) and private individual benefits and priorities. From past records, it can be said that the most successful GDA came from an active discussion of both parties. So, it is very important that you discuss with Ken Lee at kenlee@usaid.gov about your idea.
If you spend some time to review USAID programs, objectives and priorities then your communication efforts are more likely to foster promising alliance opportunities. If you want to work in a particular country, please review Mission specific programs, objectives and priorities and contact USAID Mission in that country. See Mission Priorities & Contacts. If you are interested in working with the USAID operating unit based in Washington DC, such as a technical bureau or regional bureau, please See USAID/Washington Contacts.
