Design and Development of Financial Partnerships Framework Workflow, Tools, and Templates

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Terms of Reference (ToR) for Design and Development of Financial Partnerships Framework Workflow, Tools, and Templates

  1. CIVICUS Overview

CIVICUS is an international alliance of members and partners that forms an influential network of organisations at local, national, regional, and international levels. The network spans the spectrum of civil society, including civil society networks and organisations, trade unions, faith-based networks, professional associations, nongovernmental organisations (NGO) capacity development organisations, philanthropic foundations and other funding bodies, businesses, and social responsibility programs.

  1. Background

CIVICUS is developing a comprehensive Financial Partnerships (FP) Framework to enhance and standardise its processes for managing financial partnerships. This framework will include key components such as workflows, tools, and templates to streamline and improve management practices.

Earlier in 2024, CIVICUS conducted UX research to assess the current financial partnerships landscape within the alliance, identifying several areas for improvement. Based on these findings, CIVICUS is seeking a consultant to design and develop the workflows, tools, and templates that will be integral to the FP Framework. The goal is to address the gaps identified in the research and improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of financial partnership management.

While the consultant(s) will need to review and familiarize themselves with the full set of recommendations from the 2024 UX research, some key recommendations relevant to this consultancy include:

  • Standardise and streamline workflows: CIVICUS needs to map and standardize the workflows across different teams to ensure a more holistic approach. This includes creating process maps that are shared visually throughout the organisation, facilitating better cross-team collaboration
  • Enhance partner experience: There is a need to develop user-friendly formats to communicate with partners, especially for financial and compliance reporting. CIVICUS should explore more visually appealing formats such as infographics or instructional videos, as well as more practical examples of completed reports in different languages to assist partners in fulfilling compliance requirements
  • Improve communication and visibility: There is a need for better visibility and communication across teams involved in the financial partnership process. This includes improving communication flows and access to the status of tasks, ideally through integrated systems.
  1. Objective

The primary objective of this consultancy is to design and develop comprehensive workflows, tools, and templates that will allow for the implementation of the new Financial Partnerships Framework. These workflows and tools should align with CIVICUS’s principles of transparency, equity, and accountability, ensuring they are practical and adaptable for internal and partner use.

  1. Scope of Work

The consultant will be expected to:

  1. Design structured workflows for managing financial partnerships. This will include mapping and standardizing workflows across different teams to ensure a holistic approach and creating process maps to visually facilitate cross-team collaboration, focusing on key areas such as:
    1. Application Process: Clear steps in application submission, partner assessment, and approval to ensure transparency and compliance across all grants.
    2. budgeting, disbursement, reporting, and compliance.
  2. Work with relevant teams to Develop and/or standardize tools and templates that support financial partnership processes, including templates for application, application reviewing, budgeting, financial reporting, and monitoring.
  3. Incorporate UX Research Findings: Ensure that the design of workflows, tools, and templates incorporates relevant findings from user experience research conducted previously. Specific UX recommendations to action include standardizing workflows, enhancing partner communication formats, and improving communication and visibility across teams.
  4. Engage with CIVICUS’s key stakeholders, including Finance and Operations teams, to ensure that the workflows and tools are aligned with organisational needs and improve access to the status of tasks, ideally through integrated systems.

Deliverables

The consultant is expected to provide:

  • Comprehensive Workflow (tool): A fully developed, standardised workflow system for managing financial partnerships at CIVICUS. This includes workflows for the application process, partner assessment, approval, budgeting, disbursement, reporting, and compliance. The outcome should visually map and standardise workflows across teams to ensure cross-team collaboration, as well as streamline the entire financial partnership process.
  • Tools and Templates: Development of practical, standardised tools and templates for key aspects of the financial partnership process, including application submission, application reviewing, budgeting, financial reporting, compliance, and monitoring.
  • User-friendly formats for partner communication, such as infographics, instructional videos, and multilingual report examples, designed to improve partner experience and enhance compliance understanding.
  • Incorporation of UX Research Recommendations: Documentation that integrates findings from the 2024 UX research. This should include standardized workflows, tools, and templates that address identified gaps, improve communication and visibility across teams, and enhance the overall effectiveness of the financial partnership processes.
  1. Timeframe and Budget

Proposals will be evaluated based on cost-effectiveness, value for money, and alignment with the scope of work. The consultant is expected to begin work in October 2024, with all deliverables completed by 15 December 2024.

  1. Consultant Specifications

The consultant(s) should possess the following qualifications:

  • Proven experience in designing structured workflows, process mapping, and standardizing processes, particularly within financial partnership management or grants management frameworks. The consultant should be able to visually communicate workflows and processes effectively across teams.
  • Strong understanding of user experience (UX) principles, with demonstrated experience in conducting and applying UX research to improve processes, tools, and communication. The ability to incorporate user-centered design principles into workflow and tool development is essential.
  • Familiarity with the basic processes involved in financial partnerships and grants management, including application processes, budgeting, disbursement, reporting, and compliance. While in-depth expertise is not required, an understanding of the operational and compliance needs of global civil society organizations or non-profits will be highly beneficial.
  • Expertise in designing user-friendly tools and templates for financial reporting, budgeting, and compliance. Experience with developing visual formats (such as infographics or instructional videos) to communicate complex financial information in an accessible way is a key requirement.
  • Strong facilitation and communication skills to engage with various internal teams (Finance, Operations, etc.) and external partners, ensuring that workflows and tools meet the needs of all stakeholders. Experience in collaborating with global, cross-functional teams will be an asset.
  • Knowledge of how to integrate workflows and processes into digital or automated systems, improving real-time communication, task tracking, and collaboration across teams.
  • Familiarity with CIVICUS’s mission, values, and operating environment, or experience working with global civil society networks, will be considered an advantage.
  1. Expressions of Interest

Interested consultants should submit the following:

  • Organisation or candidate profile: Overview of the organisation, qualifications, and relevant experience.
  • Technical Proposal: Detailed description of the proposed approach and methodology (Maximum 5 pages).
  • Implementation Plan: Step-by-step plan with timelines and milestones.
  • Cost Proposal: Detailed budget including all costs associated with the project.
  • References: Examples of previous similar projects and client references.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on:

  • Alignment with the ToR requirements.
  • Quality and feasibility of the proposed approach.
  • Consultant’s experience and qualifications.
  • Cost-effectiveness.
  • Feedback from references.

Please email Statements of Interest to [email protected] inserting “Design and Development of Financial Partnerships Framework Workflow, Tools, and Templates” in the subject line by October 15th, 2024. 

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