Call for proposals

As part of its mission to empower local changemakers to generate social impact, Ultreia offers holistic advisory and project management services that range from project design to proposal development, fundraising, reporting, evaluation, and much more. We mobilize resources for the implementation of such projects through foundations, CSR-committed companies, philanthropists, grants, and other funding sources.

Through this call for proposals, Ultreia will select five (5) scalable, transformative social impact projects in low- and middle-income countries that will be supported and presented during period fundraising events. Once funding has been secured, in-depth discussions will take place to jointly kick off the project.

Ultreia is a strong advocate of localization. This call for proposal empowers local changemakers, and therefore gives preference to small-scale local community groups, civil society organizations, NGOs, or similar groups that operate at the project location. While the implementer must be a legally registered entity before implementation can start, this is not a requirement at the time of submission of the proposal, and in that case should be part of the implementation.

Proposed projects should address problems related to poverty, food security, nutrition, health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), education, or similar.

Projects will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Transformative impact: The ability to address concrete societal problems, creating an added value to society, particularly vulnerable populations and people with a poor socio-economic background. The project should have a high return on investment, with clearly measurable impact on society and the targeted population group.
• Commitment: The implementing partner must be highly motivated and committed to creating social impact and helping those in need. While a proven track record of community involvement, social entrepreneurship, and social impact are an added value, we also empower highly motivated groups and individuals without significant prior experience.
• Sustainability: The project should bring lasting impact beyond project completion, and it should therefore have a robust handover and exit strategy.
• Scalability: The purpose of these projects is to pilot an approach and eventually scale it up once proven successfully. Past experience is therefore an asset, but not a must.

As scalability is a critical selection criterion, there is no limit on the project budget. It should be noted, however, that selection of a project will not automatically imply that funding will be provided; this is subject to successful joint fundraising efforts by Ultreia and the proposing implementer.

Furthermore, proposals with a budget of more than USD 100,000 should have a clearly outlined phased approach with a first phase that has specific activities, outcomes, and a budget that does not exceed USD 100,000. In that case, initial fundraising and project support will initially be concentrated on the first phase.

In addition to project design, proposal writing, and fundraising, Ultreia will accompany the project – if selected – throughout its implementation. Support will be tailored to the project needs and can include the following: stakeholder engagement, project management, oversight (including through on-site visits), technical guidance, reporting, evaluation, as well as linking the project to other partners such as academia or other institutions that could add value to the project.

Concept notes should be sent as pdf document to proposals@ultreia.org before March 31, 2024. The concept note should briefly describe the following components:

• Executive summary: Project title, location, objectives, targeted population, timeline, budget, primary implementer, and contact details.
• Introduction: Context, problem statement and implementing body.
• Project activities: Description of activities, Expected outputs and outcomes.
• Budget: It should cover all cost, including primary activities, staff, and administrative cost.
• Implementation plan: Timelines, partnerships, responsibilities and exit strategy.
• Accountability: Reporting and financial transparency.
• Appendix: Additional information.

Ultreia supports projects at design stage. We therefore highly encourage interested applicants to contact us at proposals@ultreia.org before submission of the concept note to jointly think through the optimal project design.   

The selected projects will be announced on April 30, 2024.