Funding Guidelines & Review Process

Below are the funding guidelines and a description of the review process that Firelight uses to solicit proposals from and award grants to organizations that address the needs of children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Each year, our Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and staff review and revise these guidelines to reflect Firelight’s goals and to clarify our funding criteria. Please refer to our website for the most current version of the guidelines and application.

FUNDING CRITERIA
The mission of Firelight Foundation is to support and advocate for the needs and rights of children who are orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. Firelight strives to increase the resources available to grassroots organizations that are strengthening the capacity of families and communities to care for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. Every child, regardless of race, creed, or country, deserves the promise of a future. We give one-year, first-time grants of $1,000 - 10,000 to community-based initiatives that work directly and effectively to support the fundamental needs and rights of children (from birth to age 21 years) orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. We will subsequently give organizations regrants of up to $15,000. We believe that grassroots programs arising in direct response to needs within the local community are often the most effective. Firelight supports this vital work with initial one-year grants and regrants based on funding needs and opportunities for shared learning.

ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES
LESOTHO, MALAWI, RWANDA, SOUTH AFRICA, TANZANIA, ZAMBIA, AND ZIMBABWE
The primary geographic focus of our grantmaking is eastern and southern Sub-Saharan Africa. In order for us to focus our efforts in an effective and sustained manner, we only accepted Letters of Inquiry in 2006 from seven countries: Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We are not able to accept inquiries from other countries unless an organization has already received a Firelight grant or we have asked an organization for a proposal.

Firelight receives hundreds of requests for funding from seven focus countries each year and awards around 40 new grants annually.

In selecting the programs to support, Firelight Foundation looks for:
• Programs that directly serve the needs of vulnerable children
• Grassroots responses to needs that raise resources within the community
• Programs that demonstrate strong leadership and community ownership
• Organizations with a history of effective community action
• Programs where children take part in decision making, advocacy, and leadership
• Innovative responses to the situations of children affected by HIV/AIDS

Areas of interest include the following programs supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS:
• Programs to enhance or create a supportive environment for children’s growth and development
• Primary and secondary education with a holistic approach to children’s needs
• Vocational education and skills development
• Economic strengthening activities for caregivers and independent youth
• Programs that contribute to social and behavioral change
• Recreational activities/counseling/programs focusing on psychosocial support
• Sexual abuse prevention and treatment
• Programs that provide leadership opportunities for children and youth
• Respite or residential care/medical treatment for HIV-infected children, including palliative and hospice care/home-based care programs
• Programs that are shifting away from long-term institutionalization of children
• Reintegration of children from institutions back into the community
• Permanency planning and related legal aid advocacy
• Programs that reach marginalized populations and especially vulnerable children, including street children, child-headed households, disabled children, adolescent girls, or infants and children living with HIV/AIDS.

Firelight does NOT fund: Individuals; scholarships for individual use; government entities; organizations or programs designed to influence legislation or elect public officials; organizations or programs solely intended to generate income or provide charity to individuals; academic or medical research; fundraising drives; or endowments. Firelight believes strongly in non-discrimination and does not fund programs that limit participation based on race, religion, gender, or nationality. We very rarely fund U.S.-based organizations or branches of international non-governmental organizations.

Firelight Foundation believes that children develop best when raised within families and communities; therefore, we rarely fund orphanages. In exceptional cases there may be compelling reasons why institutional care is in the best interest of a child. We are often asked for food aid, medical care, and housing. We understand the urgency of these needs, but we are not a relief agency. If an organization requests such assistance, it should explain how the planned activities will be undertaken in a sustainable and holistic way. Similarly, we receive many requests for school fees. Firelight rarely funds requests for school fees alone. If an organization seeks such assistance, it should describe how it plans to address children’s other needs, and what will happen when this one year of funding for basic schooling is completed.

THE APPLICATION AND DECISION PROCESS
Firelight reviews proposals and awards new grants and regrants every six months.

New Grants: The Letter of Inquiry and Full Proposal
Firelight has always had the goal of making our application process simple and accessible to grassroots organizations. Applicants from our seven focus countries first submit a two- or three-page Letter of Inquiry that briefly describes their organization and the program or activities for which funding is requested. Letter of Inquiry guidelines are updated annually. These guidelines appear on Firelight’s website (www.firelightfoundation.org), circulate through topical listservs, and are emailed and mailed by Firelight upon request. In 2006 Firelight received more than 300 Letters of Inquiry. Close to 20 percent of these applicant organizations were asked to submit full proposals for more in-depth consideration by Firelight’s staff and Advisory Board. A full proposal provides more detailed information about the applicant organization and the activities proposed for funding, including a timeline and budget. In 2006 Firelight awarded 38 new grants.

Regrants
Organizations applying for continued funding from Firelight submit regrant proposals. These proposals include much of the same information as the new grant proposals, but also describe how the proposed activities build upon the work funded under the previous Firelight grant and how the activities fit within the organization’s longer-term vision and plans. Grantee-partners who have reported on their previous grants and who are otherwise in good standing with Firelight are considered for continued funding. Those partners who offer direct services to children, who benefit from extensive community involvement, and who demonstrate evolving organizational capacity are likely to be regranted. In 2006 Firelight awarded 102 regrants.

The Decision Process
Firelight staff members analyze proposals according to our funding criteria and country strategy documents. We engage in a due diligence process that includes a thorough review of an applicant’s organizational management, past and proposed activities, and budgetary information. We prepare proposal summaries that include an overall assessment of the application based on references from our in-country resource people, referees, and donors familiar with the applicant group. Our Advisory Board reviews these summary recommendations and makes a final recommendation for funding to the Board of Directors.

GRANT AWARDS
As a private foundation that makes overseas grants, Firelight Foundation has detailed contract and reporting requirements for successful applicants. In order to receive grant funds, an organization must sign a grant contract and provide financial information, and where applicable they must complete an affidavit describing their charitable status and furnish a copy of their by-laws. All grantee-partners receiving funds from Firelight commit to regular financial and narrative reporting on the grant award.