Annual Report First 4 Years:
2000–2003 Text-only Version
PROGRAMS
Monitoring, Evaluation & Technical Assistance
As a new foundation making small grants, Firelight employs a variety of methods to ensure that our grant funds are used responsibly and effectively. We need to know that our funds have a real, quantifiable impact in helping those in need. But, we believe that it takes more than written reports to document and ensure the success of the organizations and programs we fund. For this reason, we use a diversity of strategies to track our grantee-partners’ progress and improve their capacity to report on their work.
The following methods help us to monitor, evaluate, and assist our grantee-partners:
Provide Networking Opportunities
Like all foundations, Firelight has narrative and financial reporting
requirements. However, many of Firelight’s grantee-partners are receiving
grant awards from an international donor for the first time. Firelight
staff works with an organization’s leadership during site visits
and holds national and regional networking meetings to discuss how to
document their programs and organizational development. At these day-long
meetings, staff also encourage grantee-partners to share lessons they
have learned and exchange ideas about programming. Additionally, we offer
assistance to new applicants with the grant application process.
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Observation by Jennifer Anderson-Bähr, Senior
Program Officer |
Work with Local Experts and Resource People
Firelight staff visits Africa several times annually to identify potential
grantee-partners and to visit existing grantee-partners and observe their
programs. In each country, we also meet with the local experts, advocates,
and leaders who work on children’s issues, to develop a network of advisors.
As the number of grant awards and grantee-partners has grown, we have
started to engage these local experts to assess new applicants and visit
groups and conduct baseline assessments on our behalf. These assessments
help us evaluate the effectiveness of our grantmaking and the programs
we fund.
Sponsor Organizational Development Workshops
Most of the organizations supported by Firelight are developing their
programs in response to the increasing needs brought on by HIV/AIDS. They
encounter “growing pains” as they face new challenges and evolve. In 2003,
Firelight launched a series of capacity-building workshops to assist organizations
in developing their management and programmatic skills. Workshops are
tailored to the participants’ needs, as identified in a pre-workshop assessment
and needs analysis. Firelight identifies an Africa-based non-governmental
organization to provide the training. In October 2003, the first week-long
workshop, co-funded by Firelight and facilitated by a Nairobi-based organization
will cover governance and management, documentation, financial management
and program design, among other topics. Firelight is also planning a workshop
focused on developing youth leadership skills.
Enhance Communication Among Grantee-Partners
Firelight produces a newsletter for our grantee-partners. The newsletter
includes examples of successful programs and approaches that grantee-partners
have implemented, as well as HIV/AIDS information, grant programs, and
other resources. Firelight also ensures that grantee-partners receive
materials and books such as, HIV, Health, and Your Community (Hesperian
Foundation: Berkeley, CA), and Building Resiliency Among Children Affected
by HIV/AIDS (Catholic AIDS Action: Windhoek, Namibia). These written materials
provide information to organizations that lack access to web-based resources.
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Anonymous, Barcelona Meeting |
Foster Partnerships
The Firelight Foundation assists with grantee-partner exchanges to facilitate
their organizational development, to strengthen their base of support,
and to enhance their programs. These exchanges, which include site visits
to each other’s programs, help similar community-based organizations
find mentors, share findings, and learn from one another.
Please note that this Annual Report covers the period from December 1,
1999 through September 30, 2003.
If you are interested in receiving a copy of this report, please send an email to Cheryl Talley-Moon at Cheryl@firelightfoundation.org.
