Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI): Women’s Empowerment Fund III
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is now accepting Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the third annual Women’s Empowerment Fund (WEF), a financing mechanism designed to scale effective business models for empowerment through women’s energy entrepreneurship. The WEF is a grant mechanism available to Alliance partners who want to increase the number of women earning income in the cooking value chain and test innovative approaches to scaling women’s empowerment throughout the clean cooking sector.
The WEF will award grants of up to US$75,000 to at least 4 qualifying organizations. The selected WEF projects will have a 12-month timeframe to meet concrete objectives and performance milestones.
The Call for EOIs will be open from March 1 – March 21, 2016. EOIs are due on March 21, 2016 at 9:00AM EST/1:00PM GMT. Applicants are required to submit a five-page EOI that provides an overview of their business model and the proposed intervention or innovation, including a timeline of project milestones and a budget outlining key cost categories and cost share. The Call for EOIs can be downloaded below.
To be considered for this opportunity, all applicants must submit an EOI following the instructions and requirements in the attached Call for EOIs. A shortlist of applicants will be selected to submit a full proposal in the next round, and will receive further instructions on or around April 15, 2016.
During the second part of the application process, finalists will be asked to submit a proposal, including (but not limited to) a more detailed project plan, detailed budget, financial statements, and performance indicators. Winners will be notified by July 15, 2016.
Applicants must be a registered partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves prior to the application deadlines, and those who are not currently a partner can easily register here.
EOIs are due March 21, 2016 at 9:00AM EST/1:00PM GMT to gender@cleancookstoves.org. Applications and clarification questions should be submitted within the deadline by email to gender@cleancookstoves.org.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Can you please provide more information about the Alliance’s draft social impact M&E framework?
A: You can access the draft framework and indicators on our website using the following link: https://cleancookstoves.org/news/updates/03-19-2015–alliance-seeks-input-on-social-impact-m-e-framework.html.
Q: May the budget for the proposed work as a whole be higher, as long as the remainder comes from a cost share?
A: Yes, as long as the remainder comes from cost share. However, please make sure that in your summary budget it is clear that the “Total” for the requested funding is $75,000 or less, and you may also represent the total cost share value.
Q: Is cost share required?
A: There is no particular level of cost share required – however, we do strongly encourage applicants to cost share.
Q: Who is eligible to apply?
A: All qualified individuals and organizations, regardless of location, are encouraged to apply. Although the Alliance has a preference for partners operating in Alliance focus countries, organizations operating in other countries are also encouraged to apply. The Alliance will select the most qualified applications regardless of location; the preference for Alliance focus countries is only weighted if the Alliance needs to make a final selection between applications of comparable quality. The applicant organization must be a registered partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Applicants who are not currently a Partner must be registered prior to submitting their application. Please follow the instructions on how to do so here: https://cleancookstoves.org/partners/register.html.
Q: May I partner with other organizations to submit an application?
A: Yes, we encourage partnerships under the WEF (though it is not required). We request that you submit a single budget, and if your application is selected for the second round, you may provide a more detailed breakdown showing which organization will be responsible for which costs.
Q: Will applications that include improved institutional cookstoves be disqualified?
A: Institutional stoves are not a disqualifier for the WEF grant as long as you can show that you have an innovative idea for women’s empowerment and/or are increasing opportunities for women in the value chain.