Proposal Writing Sample

PROPOSAL

ORGANIZATION NAME:

Community Capacity Building Committee

PROJECT TITLE:                 

Capacity Building Initiative for CBOs in Mae Sot

DATE SUBMITTED:

4^th May 2012

Project location:

Mae Sot (Tak Province), Mae Hon Song, Sanklaburi, and HoKay ( Karan area), Thailand (also with indirect project impact in Shan, Kachin, Mon, Arakan, Karenni and Karen States, Burma).

Proposed period of activity:

1 June 2012 – 31 May 2014

Budget Summary:

Personnel (staff salary):		10,800
Fringe Benefits (visa, health check up for work permit etc.):		933
Travel:		2,000
Office supply & equipment:		1,200
Expenses for project activities:		19,335
Contractual (if consultant(s) hired):		2,800
Other (office rent, utilities and communication):		2,932
TOTAL COST:		40,000

1.       Brief Situation Analysis

Civil unrest has been constant in Burma since it gained independence. Over the last five decades, waves of people from Burma’s various ethnic groups have fled the military dictatorship and armed conflict, seeking refuge or a better standard of living in neighbouring Thailand. These communities have come to organise and mobilse themselves to meet their basic needs, and to develop and empower themselves through the creation of Community-Based Organisations (CBOs). There are currently estimated to be approximately 100,000 migrants from Burma and over 80 Burmese CBOs in the Mae Sot area of Tak Province, Thailand, only.  Over time, these CBOs, along with other in Sanklaburi, Mae Hon Song and KO HON have been working hard to respond to many issues facing their communities, such as healthcare, education provision, and advocacy for migrant rights, child rights and women’s rights. However, their ability to reach their goals and their capacity to develop the skills of individual members was limited by a lack of managerial and organisational experience/ knowledge. There were very few training opportunities to acquire such necessary skills.

The need for a capacity building intiative to address this deficieny was identified in 2007 during several Burma Round Table meetings which were held along the Thai-Burma border. It was recognised that CBOs would benefit from focused organizational capacity building, or Organizational Development (OD) training, and secondly, that within Mae Sot there were many people from migrant and refugee communities themselves who possessed the capacity, experience and skills to deliver such support, as well as the will to assist their fellow community members, given the opportunity. In response, a collective of locally-based International Non-Government Organization’s (NGOs) invited all known CBOs to an open meeting in which the Community Capacity Building Committee (CCBC) was conceptualized. The project, which sought (and still seeks) to make training accessible to all CBOs, gained the support of IRC’s SHIELD project.

Initially, Capacity Building Coordination meetings were held by NGO representatives every 3 months to discuss capacity shortfalls, security issues and organizational needs. Over time, the meeting frequency increased and meetings incorporated training sessions on topics which CBO members had identified as priorities. From April 2009, in order to develop the capacity and experience of CBOs further, meetings were facilitated by CBO members themselves, and individuals were identified and sent from CBOs with specific sectoral focuses to provide topical information on required subjects. Some of these trainers received TOT workshops from IRC’s ICB teams.

Currently, the CCBC’s objective is to imrprove the general capacity of CBOs by utilising the experience of community members with proven skillsets in teaching, training and OD, to empower individuals working in CBOs for the advancement of their mother organisations. In addition, CCBC aims to develop the capacity of young individuals’ to deliver OD training.  Training sessions and information continue to be open to all CBOs with a variety of sectoral focuses, such as health, human rights, education, community development or environmental work. In January 2011, CCBC extended its target beneficiaries to include trainees inside Burma. In response to a TNA, CCBC began to collaborate with Burma Medical Association (BMA) who has been sending participants for training programs. These trainees learn to become trainers themselves and spread their new OD knowledge within BMA and its partner organizations when they return.

Reviewing the current situation, it is evident that capacity-building and information sharing are still important requirement for CBOs along the Thai-Burma border. CBOs face many disruptions to their human resources due to the transitional nature of their staff’s and volunteers’ personal situations. Continuity in OD is hard to achieve when individuals have to return to their official refugee camp bases, decide to return to Burma, or are selected for third country resettlement.  Therefore, training still needs to be provided on a rolling basis. CBO leaders do not have the time, facilities or the financial means to train their staff themselves, and a large majority has expressed a need for external OD support to continue. A recent Training Needs Assessment (TNA) survey (conducted between 2009 and 2011 at three-monthly intervals) indicated that 74 out of 83 Mae Sot-based CBOs still consider their oranisations to be in need of OD training and information. The SHIELD project was sucessfully providing Institutional Capacity Building as one of its components, but since its termination, there is a void to be filled. The primary tasks of the CCBC will be to build on our previous experience and provide long-term, participatory community capacity building and development, and to promote information sharing. As a potential PLE grantee, reinitiating the Community Capacity Building Initiative will empower local organisations and individuals by giving them the opportunity to teach and learn from each other.

2.       Project Goal

To continue to operate the CCBC and fulfill the following goals:

·         To improve the capacity of CBOs in Mae Sot and other border regions through the provision of organisational development training, and the facilitation of other workshops and collaborations which meet the needs of CBO personnel.

·         To promote information-sharing and networking between CBOs through the production of newsletters and the maintainance of a library, online resources and an online discussion forum.

3.       Description of Proposed Project

The following objectives and activities are to be carried out during the period from June 2012 to May 2013. These objectives directly address PLE’s initial objective and technical approach, by “increasing access… to skill development for displaced persons from Burma”. In addition, CCBC will indirectly address the second technical criteria, by improving the organizational capacity of Burma Medical Association and other ethnic health organizations, thereby strengthening their ability and efficiency in delivering cross-border healthcare.

Objective 1:

To continue to bring together, organize and develop local trainers, and recruit and train a pool of new trainers in Mae Sot, and utilize their capacity to provide trainings to local CBOs.

Activity 1.1:

To maintain our team of 30 – 40 local trainers who will continue to provide OD training to CBOs. These trainers will be identified by CBOs themselves and selected to work with CCBC in providing talks and information sessions on specialist subjects. One Five-day long TOT course will be provided each year for these trainers.

Activity 1.2:

To recruit between 15 and 20 new local trainers from CBOs in Mae Sot who will facilitate training workshops for other CBOs.

Activity 1.3:

To continue to develop the capacity of CCBC’s four interns to deliver OD training according to our curriculum.

Activity 1.4:

To recruit and train four new interns who will receive formation to become CCBC OD trainers. These interns will assist four months of theoretical TOT (3 classes per week) and six months of observation and facilitation practice, with the view to select the two most committed as part-time staff members.

Activity 1.5:

To give trainers and potential trainers a platform to learn from each other by promoting cooperation, training information sharing & training methodology sharing between these trainers through facilitating trainer gatherings bi-yearly.

Objective 2:

To improve the capacity and efficiency of CBOs in Mae Sot by providing ongoing OD training sessions[1] and information on OD.

Activity 2.1:

Conduct an initial Training Needs Assessment (TNA) of each CBO who requests it, to identify their key training needs and organisational weaknesses. This is carried out through collaboration with their management-level staff, but assesses as many staff members and volunteers as requested. After a three month period, a follow-up meeting is held with each CBO during which a second TNA is completed to monitor progress (see Annex 1 for a sample TNA).

Activity 2.2:

Deliver a minimum of 11 x three-day training courses in Leadership skills to staff members and volunteers from local CBOs in Mae Sot within a one-year period (see Annex 2 for the standard course topics). Topics vary depending on the outcomes of the TNA. More workshops will be delivered if considered necessary after completing a second TNA.

Activity 2.3:

Delivery 8 x five-day training courses in various topics related to OD (e.g. strategy planning, workshop facilitation and report-writing, see Annex 2 for the standard course topics) to staff members and volunteers from local CBOs in Mae Sot within a one-year period. More workshops will be delivered if considered necessary after completing a TNA. Topics vary depending on the outcomes of the TNA.

Activity 2.4:

Maintain the CCBC’s Community Resource Centre (CRC) to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and development of capacity of any CBO members who wish to access it. The CRC includes books, DVDs and eBooks related to OD, as well as free internet access and OD newsletters for reference.

Activity 2.5:

 Deliver three weekly English classes and two weekly Thai classes taught by native speakers. Three blocks of classes will be conducted, each lasting three months, located in the CRC.

Activity 2.6:

Score each participating CBO on its institutional development against a standard institutional growth framework with stipulated criteria at six-month intervals (see Annex 3, attached separately) for scoring criteria). This will enable CBOs to continuously monitor their progress and identify areas for improvement.

Objective 3: 

Collaborate with partner organizations to facilitate the delivery of OD training to staff from local ethnic health organizations inside Burma (in Shan, Mon, Kachin, Karenni, Karen and Arakan State), and to CBOs in Sanklaburi, Mae Hon Song ,Chiang Mai and HO Kay.

Activity 3.1: Provide of at least three OD training sessions to 35 BMA staff and volunteers per year, including a TOT component in how to facilitate workshops.[2] BMA staffs will then go on to transmit this knowledge with fellow workers inside, and deliver workshops in OD to their partner organizations.[3]

Activity 3.2: Facilitate OD training for our partner, the National Health and Education Committee (NHEC), by assisting with the delivery of their Community Management Extension Program in Sanklaburi, Mae Sot, Mae Hon Song and HO Keay. Coordinate and provide CCBI trainers and curriculum support for this program.

Objective 4:

To promote networking, information sharing and improved communication between CBOs on capacity building issues.

Activity 4.1:

Publication of the OD newsletter every six months, to be distributed to partner CBOs and made available online. The newsletter includes articles on OD best practise and experiences of CBOs in capacity building.

Activity 4.2:

Maintain and improve the ccb4burma.net website and harness its potential as a resources pool where trainers can post tips, ideas and training materials for general availability.

Activity 4.3:

Initiate an online discussion forum (on the ccb4burma.net website) to facilitate quick, effective and simple communication between members, trainers and trainees. This will include a group mailing facility.

Activity 4.4:

Hold one Capacity Building Coordination Meeting per year to allow CBO members to share information. TNAs will sometimes be conducted in these meetings.

N.B. - From June 2013 to May 2013 we intend to continue with the same activities. CCBC believes that capacity building is a long-term initiative and improving the OD of CBOs and meet these objectives takes time. Therefore we are requesting funding for two years to give more continuity to these projects.

4.       Profile of beneficiaries

a.       Number of beneficiaries:

The table below showed expected number of beneficiaries for June 2012 – May 2013.

	No. of OD training participants in Mae Sot	No. of TOT interns	No. of BMA participants (from inside Burma)	No. of NHEC participants (4 locations)	TOTAL NO. OF BENEFICIARES[4]
No. of participants	20 per course	8 per internship program	35 participant for one training	20 per workshop
No. of courses/ workshops per year.	14 courses	1	3	4
Total	280	8	105	80	473*

*N.B. 393 is the number of direct beneficiaries, however, it is expected that participants return to their organizations and spread the knowledge they have learnt to their co-workers over time. Therefore the number of indirect beneficiaries would be higher. The trainers from CBOs also benefit by participating in TOT courses and returning to their organizations.

b.      Major ethnic group/s targeted:

                                                                                                                                                                            

Beneficiaries will be of various ethnic origins such as Burmese, Shan, Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Arakan and Mon.

c.       How will you identify the beneficiaries?

Training participants:

CCBC will contact all known CBOs in Mae Sot to acertain which organisations are interested in the CCBI and what kinds of training they would like to receive. TNAs will be conducted face to face with members of these organisations (see Annex 1 for a sample TNA form). The CCBC training officer will then review the TNAs and invite CBOs to attend the relevant courses. However, the CBOs themselves will be responsible for selecting the appropriate participants to attend our courses.

CCBI trainer interns:

CCBC Program Coordinator and Training Officer will visit migrant schools in MS and observe certain students with potential, who have been recommended by their teachers and community leaders. The selection criterion is to complete grade 12-level education and to have a strong commitment to CCBI’s objectives and approach. CCBC tries to maintain a balance between male and female candidates where possible. Regarding ethnicity, there is no specific policy for selecting candidates of various ethnicities because their attitude and potential to commit long-term is the most important factor.

BMA trainees:

BMA will be responsible for selecting participants for CCBI training as per its own criteria and needs.

NHEC trainees:

Participants will be selected by NHEC’s own selection criteria.

5.       Community involvement/participation

The Community Capacity Building Initiative will empower local organisations and individuals by giving them the opportunity to teach and learn from each other.  The CCBI trainers themselves are members of the displaced communities and most work in the CBOs alongside potential beneficiaries. In addition, all CCBI project staff are from Burma.

Beneficiary organizations are consulted on their priority training needs and organisational shortfalls through the TNA. This dictates project design because CBO members are invited to the appropriate courses which will be of benefit. TNAs are discussed with trainers, who then design their sessions and courses to meet specific needs. Monitoring of the project’s progress involves conducting further TNAs in which CBO staff and volunteers are consulted on their OD progress. In this way, beneficiaries are directly involved in project development and inform the decisions which are made.

6.       Coordination with other agencies

CCBI currently collaborates with 81 CBOs who require our help. Stronger coordination occurs with those CBOs whose members also work as trainers, such as Kayah Women’s Organization, Overseas Mon Women’s Organization, Children Development Centre, Social Health Development Association, Social Action for Women, All Burma Federation Student Union, National Health and Education Committee, and Arakan Labor Campaign. Our recent cooperation with the Burma Medical Association is a bi-lateral arrangement in which our trainers visit the BMA training facilities to deliver specially-designed courses. In addition, technical support will occasionally be requested from appropriate organizations when specific topics are beyond the knowledge of our trainers (e.g. labor laws information from Labor Law Clinic, child rights knowledge from the Human Right and Development Foundation, etc.).

7.       Monitoring

a.       Monitoring framework:

Indicator	6-month milestone	1 year milestone (accumulative total including 6-month figure)
Objective 1:
A. No. of local trainers at CCBI	42	50
B. No. of trainers who have attended a TOT course	45	50
C. No. of interns	7	7
D. No. of trainer gatherings held	1	2
Objective 2:
A. No. of CBOs for whom initial TNA is conducted	35	55
B. No. of participant CBOs which show an improvement in competence (both PC and FC scores) in a three month period	25	45
C. No. of participants achieving 15% more in than post-training test than their pre-training test	140	280
D. No. of CBO assessments conducted against the IDF criteria	35	90
Objective 3:
A. No. of OD training delivered by CCBC to BMA staff and volunteers	1 – 2	3
B. No. of OD training delivered by CCBC for NHEC’s OD program.	2	4
Objective 4:
A. No. of OD newsletters published	1	2
B. No. of Capacity Building Coordination meetings held	1 – 2	3
Monitoring:
A. No. of Partnership Reflection Workshop held	0	1

b.      Monitoring approach:

The Program Coordinator will take overall responsible for monitoring. He/ she will maintain project statistics which are directly related to the indicators above. At the end of each quarter, these will be checked against the indicators to ensure that the project is on track to meet its six-month and one-year targets. In addition, at the end of each six-month period, the organizational development of every participating CBO will be measured against an Institutional Development framework (IDF), modeled on the IDF criteria development by IRC (see Annex 3, attached separately, for an example). This will allow the CBOs the opportunity to self-reflect on their capacities and progress, and to take responsibility for their own OD by becoming more aware of potential criteria for improvements. The Training Officer will also contribute to monitoring. Pre- and post-tests will be conducted by he/she before and after each workshop or course. The target improvement between the scores of these tests will be 15% for each participant. The Training Officer will be responsible for collecting the scores, calculating percentage increase/ decrease and submitting these to the Program Coordinator on a quarterly basis. In addition, the Training Officer will be responsible for carrying out follow-up TNAs with each CBO three months after their initial TNA. The difference in their competences will be recorded and passed to the Program Coordinator as input to overall project monitoring.

A six-monthly monitoring meeting will be held to inform all CCBI staff members and interns of any shortfalls or weaknesses in progress so far, as measured against the log-frame indicators. During the meeting, the best methods to make improvements and bring indicator measurements back on track will be discussed and agreed upon. If necessary, external trainers will be involved in decision making regarding how to meet the log-frame targets.

Finally, beneficiaries themselves will be involved in CCBI’s project monitoring by completing training evaluation sheets upon completion of each workshop (see Annex 4 for a sample form). This information will also be collated by the Training Officer and discussed in the six monthly monitoring meetings. In addition, all CBOs will be invited to one Partnership Reflection Workshop each year. This will be an open platform for participants CBOs to give their feedback on the effectiveness of CCBI’s project, including training sessions, assessment methodology, the CRC and online resources. CCBI will also welcome external evaluations by their donors/ PLE coordinators.

8.       Project sustainability:

It is our belief that capacity building and training is a long-term investment, which is why we wish to re-launch this project as CCBI, and allow it develop as it has been since 2007. For this reason we hope that when the project is completed, we will be able to find further funding for its continuity and to meet our long-term goal of possibly relocating CCBC into Burma to support local civil society organizations there, when the political and security conditions are right. CCBC understands that many CBOs’ work in Mae Sot is geared not only towards their current situation of displacement in Thailand, but is strategically forward looking in terms of preparing community members for return to Burma and strengthening their capacities for these ends. If CCBC were to move into Burma in the future, it’s focus would be on supporting new local civil society organizations and those relocating inside with their continued organizational development. Obviously this goal is dependant on many factors and at present, CCBC can only focus on being adaptable to political changes occurring on the border and in Thailand.

CCBC’s trainers are either CBO staff who then return to their organizations after delivering training, or interns who become CCBC trainers. In both cases the knowledge which is shared is maintained either within the organizations who participate in training, or absorbed by interns who return to their mother organizations or continue to work with CCBC if funding is secured in the future. It is hoped this generation (current interns) will take responsibility for carrying forward the project with their knowledge, and the experience gained from working in the CCBC office.

9.       Project Management and Administration

1. Staffing and key staff profiles

 The CCBI’s organizational structure is as follows:

The Program Coordinator will be responsible for staff management and supervision; the overall implementation of the program; monitoring and reviewing CBOs progress and adapting operations to suit any needs which might arise; financial and narrative reporting to donors; final recruitment for the internship program; investigating and securing new sources of funding where necessary; facilitating regular coordination and information sharing meetings with all staff members; facilitating Partnership Reflection Workshop and attending trainer gatherings. The current Program Coordinator holds a university Bachelor of Science, various certificates in program management and capacity building, and three years’ experience at management level.

The Training Officer’s responsibilities will include coordinating with local trainers  and CBOs to organize and facilitate OD training courses; conducting TNAs and IDF assessments; organizing trainer gatherings; regularly updating the content of the CCBI website and maintaining the group email system; monitoring the training curriculum and developing it in collaboration with local trainers; assisting with recruitment and training of interns; and collect and collate pre/post-test scores and TNA scores. The current Training Officer

The Office Assistant will be responsible for maintaining project statistics; coordinating the logistical arrangements of training courses, trainer gatherings and meetings; purchasing necessary materials (and sending purchase requests to the accountant); and assisting the Project Coordinator in other necessary duties. The current Office Assistant has completed the IRC’s financial management and office management training courses.

The Accountant will maintain accurate accounting records of all project finances oversee all expenditure; provide projected costing for budget writing; prepare financial statement and reports as necessary; and training and supervising interns in daily financial transactions and inventories.

All of these positions are full-time.

The six interns who remain following the internship program will be responsible for maintaining the CRC library, delivering OD training and supporting the full-time project staff with their duties. Their contracts will be part-time.

2. Staff language skills

All staff speak, read and write Burmese fluently, and speak, read and write English at an intermediate-advanced level. In addition, one staff member is fluent in Arakanese language and one speaks Thai but cannot read or write it.

10.   Organization Background

1. Example/s of successfully completed project/s

In 2009, 2010 and 2011, CCBC provided capacity building training to the staff and volunteers of 80 CBOs in Mae Sot under the SHIELD Project (IRC gave 1,080,000 Baht to fund this project). 36 training sessions were delivered per year. In at least 30 CBOs, follow up training was delivered internally by those who had attended CCBC’s courses. Topics for which information was disseminated back to fellow CBO staff include financial management, office management, report writing and strategy planning.

In 2010, CCBC established three Community Resource Centres (CRC) in Chiang Mai, Mae Sot and Mae Hon Song. The objective of these CRCs was to provide open access to information on non-profit organization management, development and growth for all CBO members. Training curriculum texts could also be borrowed free of charge in these libraries. In each of these CRCs, English and Thai language courses were organized and delivered free of charge for one year to any CBO who wished to attend them. The aim of these courses was to enhance the linguistic capacities of CBOs who are required to work with Thai or international partners. In addition, the CCBC newsletter was distributed to each of these centers (see Annex 5 for an example[5]).

2. Prior experiences working in migrant/refugee/IDP communities

Since its inception in 2007, CCBC has been both operated by and assisting migrant and refugee communities. All previous beneficiaries of CCBC’s projects, as well as its staff members, pertain to migrant and refugee communities. In this way, staff and trainers have direct experience of the situation on the Thai-Burma border, and the challenges of organizing community members to mobilize and work to improve their situation. Therefore, those who have been in Thailand for longer feel able to recently-arrived fellow community members with their language skills and knowledge of Thai society and culture. In addition, since 2010 participants have begun to attend CCBC training from IDP communities in Eastern Burma.

3. Technical capacity to implement this project

CCBC’s staff have a wealth of experience gained over its five years of operations. It has occupied an intermediary position between CBOs and INGOs (namely IRC), therefore acquiring a good understanding of both systems, and how to meet the demands of both. In addition, prior to this staff members and volunteers already had professional backgrounds in project management, financial management, organizational development, and training facilitation. The trainers who are derived from CBOs have direct experience of working in CBOs along the Thai-Burma border, therefore they are the best placed to understand the difficulties and needs of the trainees attending CCBC’s courses.

In addition, technical support was provided by IRC in terms of how to make the projects more sustainable, how to improve monitoring methods and management skills. Staff learnt to implement these skills into the daily workings of the organization and also into their training curriculums to support other CBOs.

Annex 1).

 

 Training Needs Assessment (TNA)

Name of CBO:

Name of interviewer/ CCBI staff member:

Sample Format:

Activities	Staff member 1	Staff member 2	Staff member 3	PC	FC	Ideally needed FC
Proposal writing	PC	PC	PC	3	0	1
Budget tracking
Reporting
Monitoring
Research skills
Etc.

*PC – partially competent

*FC – fully competent

Remarks:

-       Prior to start of the assessment, it should be determined activites, key staff members that will be included in the TNA, and number of ideally needed fully competent personel.

-       In order to make the meaning of “fully competent” and “partially competent” clearly understandable to participants of the assessment, it will be phrased as: “Could you do it, in the case that your life depended on it?”.

Annex 2).

OD Course Topics

Team Building & Leadership Skills Course: Outline of topics (3 days):

Team building & leadership skills training

Communication skills training

Dealing with conflict

Report writing

Office Management training

Supervision Skills Training

Time & meeting management

Peace Building

Media training

Staff management

Writing Job Descriptions, recruiting, hiring and orienting staff

General OD Course: Outline of Topics (5 days):

Workshop Facilitation skills

Strategic planning training

Proposal writing training

Financial Planning &management training

Organizational development

Video Shooting and editing Computer Basics: Microsoft word, Excel. Power point

Journalism

Annex 4).

Evaluation of ________________Training Workshop

Please tick the appropriate box to give feedback concerning the training program. 1 is the lowest score and 5 is the highest.

Indicator of successful training workshop	1	2	3	4	5
1. Presentations were clear and understood
2. Visuals were helpful
3. Ideas presented were relevant
4. Support to learning from trainer was helpful
5. The training went at the right speed
6. Explanations were clear
7. Examples were used and were helpful in explanation.
8. Your expectations for learning were met or exceeded
9. Translation was accurate and timely
10. Practice and feedback was enough
11. ----------------------- is a good place to have workshops
12. The room was set up in a way to help learning
13. Learning activities supported learning of ideas
Feedback on specific learning activities and demonstrations which were helpful for learning and understanding (if you or trainer wants to include)
14
15
16
17
18

What was your favorite activity?

What activity was not helpful for learning?

What ideas are you still confused about?

Comments/suggestions related to this training and how to improve it
Annex 5).

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[1] The OD training curriculum has six elements: staff management, conflict resolution, communication skills, workshop facilitation skills, IT skills and financial management.

[2] These training sessions will be tailored to the needs of BMA’s work inside Burma. For example, they require greater emphasis on communication, dealing with conflict and negotiations.

[3] Activity 3.1 is not included in the budget line because BMA will cover the costs of training workshops.

[4] It is not possible to provide the breakdown of gender and ethnicity here, since the CBOs themselves (including the BMA program) will be responsible for selecting the appropriate participants to attend our courses. Therefore the ethnicity and gender of beneficiairies is dependent on their choice.

[5] Please note that only the cover of a CCBC newsletter has been included, since the text inside is in Burmese script and the size of the file is too large to include here).