SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
Company Description
SNV is a not-for-profit international development organisation that applies practical knowledge to make a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty. We use our extensive and long-term in-country presence to apply and adapt our expertise in agriculture, energy, and water to local contexts. SNV has over 1,250 staff in more than 25 countries in Asia and Africa. We are proud to be a not-for-profit organisation that uses project financing to implement our mission. This requires us to work efficiently and to invest in operational as well as technical excellence.
SNV’s vision is “a world where across every society, all people live with dignity and have equitable opportunities to sustainably thrive”, and we do this by strengthening capacities and catalysing partnerships that transform the agri-food, energy, and water systems which enable sustainable and more equitable livelihoods for all.
For more information on SNV, visit our website: www.snv.org
Job Description
Background
· SNV realises its main objectives through the implementation of projects under grant and service contracts funded by various donors.
· Most of our projects are implemented in partnership with local and international organisations which among others include public sector, private sector and knowledge institutions, (I)NGOs, small and medium enterprises, financial institutions (banks, micro finance institutions).
· The core of our projects concerns the provision of technical assistance and advisory services but during the past years we have increasingly been engaging in the implementation of projects which also have a financial assistance component.
· The types of financial assistance components of our projects vary and include, among others the development, management and implementation of matching or co-financing grants, result-based finance grants, challenge funds, subgrants to project partners, (revolving) credit and loan funds, private sector investment funds, and carbon finance.
· We currently distinguish two main modalities to manage the financial assistance components of our projects : (1)”fund management”, which concerns the management of a designated fund, governed by specific fund management rules and recognised as “flow through funds” in our financial accounts and (2) “grant management”, which concerns the management of grants awarded by SNV as part of our regular project activities whereby the recognition of grants as activity costs is governed by SNV’s corporate finance policy and accounting procedures.
· The implementation of (1) specific fund management components of our projects require different governance, management, contractual and administrative modalities depending on the type of fund and their financial risks, the rules and regulations of our donors and the legislation in our programme countries. At the same time, we experience that the application of our (sub) granting activities as part of regular project activities also require clarification on applicability of our regular operational and financial management processes (2).
Objective
The objective of the assignment is the development of SNV’s Grant and Fund Management Procedure(s).
Deliverables
The key deliverables of the assignment are:
1. Landscape analysis of SNV’s current grant and fund management portfolio and practices
2. Scope definition of the SNV Grant and Fund Management Procedure(s)
3. SNV Grant and Fund Management Procedure(s).
Deliverables 1 and 2 are each subject to a go no-go decision by SNV. To proceed with the following deliverable, the preceding deliverable needs to be completed by the consultant and approved by SNV. The completion of Deliverables 1 and 2 will allow for a review of the budget and level of effort estimates from the proposal submitted by the selected consultant.
Specific tasks
The following key tasks are foreseen per deliverable.
1) Landscape analysis of SNV’s current grant and fund management practices
a) Desk-study of project documentation of pre-selected SNV projects with a grant and/ or fund management component based on a review of contract agreements, project proposals, governance set-up, control frameworks, grant and/ or fund manuals, implementation plans and project reports.
b) Individual meetings/ calls with selected SNV staff members involved in the design and development, management, and administration of projects with grant and/ or fund management components.
c) Focus group meetings with a core team of selected SNV staff members for sounding and grounding of initial findings of the landscape analysis.
d) Draft landscape analysis report (slide deck):
i) Inventory and classification of main grant and/ or fund management modalities.
ii) Description of the core characteristics of each grant and/ or fund management modality: rationale, contract, financial/ operational set-up and governance, strengths and weaknesses, results, risks, lessons learnt and best practices.
Best practices to include:
· Financial/ operational set-up and governance
· Grant and fund management systems, tools and templates
· Due diligence checks, including Know Your Customer and Anti Money Laundering
· Selection of grantees/investees
· Options for increased flexibility to adjust to financial and administrative requirements of grantees/investees.
iii) Synthesis of key findings, conclusions and recommendations for SNV.
iv) Report presentation for final feedback.
v) Final (slide deck) report.
2) Scope definition of SNV Grant and Fund Management Procedure(s)
Based on the final findings and conclusions of the landscape analysis, provide conceptual clarity on, and a classification of, grant and fund management modalities and a comprehensive description and/ or definition of:
a) The rationale and objective(s) of the procedure(s) to be developed
b) Key grant and fund management terminology and definitions
c) The key grant and fund management aspects the procedure will have to address
d) Based on current SNV practice and external best practice recommend/ provide additional advice on procedure development (content and process)
e) Provide a procedure outline (zero-draft) and suggested instructions for inclusion in deliverable 3.
3) Development of SNV Grant and Fund Management Procedure(s)
Development of one, or more depending on agreed scope, comprehensive procedure and/ or specific procedures per grant/ fund modality which describes/ provides overall principles as well as per grant and/ or fund management modality:
a) The rationale/ purpose in context
b) Governance, roles and responsibilities, minimum capacity needs
c) Standards for costing
d) Applicable methodologies and processes
e) Risk management and reporting
f) Key instructions and templates (e.g.: standard grant management manual template).
The procedure will have to meet planning and effectiveness criteria along the project cycle in line with the SNV Project Execution Policy.
Level of effort
The assignment is not location specific. The contract will be time-based. The total billable number of days for the assignment is estimated at 30 days over a period of 3 months (01 Sep – 30 Nov 2022). Billable days are based on an 8 hours’ working day, with timesheets to be submitted and approved on a monthly basis.
Qualifications
SNV is looking for interested organisations, consultant teams, individuals with the following qualifications:
· Grant and fund management expert(s) with extensive experience and proven track record in the development, management and evaluation of grant and fund schemes including but not limited to matching grants, result-based finance grants, challenge funds, credit and loan funds, private sector investment funds, and carbon finance.
· Ability to draft corporate level policy and guidance documents with a proven track record of successful execution of similar assignments.
· Excellent proficiency in English.
· Attention to detail, the ability to work effectively and efficiently and meet deadlines in a timely and organised manner.
Additional Information
Submission and selection
Interested service providers are invited to submit the following documentation:
· CV of consultant(s) (max 2 pages per CV)
· Expression of interest, brief proposal (incl. fees and VAT), examples of relevant assignments with references detailing the consultant’s suitability for the assignment and highlighting relevant experience
· The name and contact details of 3 referees who may be contacted by SNV
· Should you have worked for SNV before (as staff, consultant or proposal writer), please provide details of your engagement with SNV including a reference person for each assignment.
Interested bidders should submit their proposals not later than 07 August 2022 by email to: [email protected] with reference: Grant and fund management consultancy
The selection is expected to be made by 17 August 2022, taking into account quality and price of the submission.
Data protection
The review and scoring are closed processes and are not open to the public. The data received shall be validated by SNV through remote and/or physical checks and processed following SNV’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) framework (which complies with the European Union’s GDPR 2018), the electronic data you provide will be kept secure and will only be processed by SNV for procurement and project execution purposes. The data will be kept for 7 years, after which they will be destroyed by SNV. By submitting your proposal and participating in the SNV process, you agree with this data use, storage, and processing of the data provided.