APPLICATION INFORMATION

MATCHING GRANT PARTNERSHIPS

APPLICATION INFORMATION

MATCHING GRANT PARTNERSHIPS

 

One Day’s Wages is a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions coming together to alleviate extreme global poverty. We partner with trusted nonprofit organizations that empower local leaders to create lasting change in their communities.  Because we believe that everyone’s story and contributions matter, we partner by providing matching grants in which our partners raise a portion of the grant funds and we match the amount they raise.


 

HOW TO QUALIFY

  • Organization must be a registered non-governmental nonprofit organization and must be willing and able to show documentation regarding its status as a charity. While we welcome partnerships with faith-based organizations, we do not accept applications from churches or other religious institutions.  Organization must be at least 3 years old; we do not fund start-ups.
  • Organization mission and vision must align within ODW’s core values of dignity, empowerment, mutuality, transparency, and impact.
  • Project scope must fit within one or more of our focus areas: Children’s Education, Climate Impact, Gender-Based Violence, Girls’ Empowerment, Global Hunger, Human Trafficking, Jobs & Skills, Maternal & Child Health, Preventable Disease, Refugee Relief, and Water & Sanitation.
  • Project location must be in a country ranked as Low or Medium on the United Nations Human Development Index.  Excepts are made for anti-trafficking projects in Southeast Asia and relief projects in Ukraine.
  • Organization must have an active website and social media account(s).
  • Matching grant request from first-time partners is $5,000 – $30,000.  The requested amount includes the amount raised by the partner (typically 50% of the total grant) plus the amount matched by ODW (please carefully read below to learn how our matching grants work).
  • Request must not be more than 30% of the organization’s annual budget.  If the total project budget is larger than the matching grant amount requested, the budget submitted to ODW must specify which activities would be covered by the ODW grant.
  • Organization must be able to raise a portion of the matching grant funds from their own donors via a campaign page hosted on ODW’s website.  For this reason, we prioritize applicants that have a diverse mix of funding sources (from individual donors, grants, and other sources), and an annual budget higher than $100,000.
  • Proposals must be for projects that start no sooner than 6 months from when the LOI is submitted, and for activities that can be completed within 12 months. 
  • Partners must be able to report back on project outputs, impact and budget in a timely and thorough manner (we require a 6-month progress report and a year-end final report).
  • We prioritize partnering with smaller, grassroots organizations that are led by people from within the community served and that have annual operating budgets under $1 million USD.
  • If you are a past ODW partner, please first contact our grants team about re-applying.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT IS A MATCHING GRANT?

ODW’s matching grants require our partners to raise a portion of the grant funds, which are then matched by One Day’s Wages dollar for dollar. Most of our matching grants are 1:1 matches. For example, if a proposed project budget is $30,000 the partner would be responsible for raising $15,000 on ODW’s fundraising platform and ODW would match up to $15,000. 

We occasionally award 2:1 or 3:1 matching grants to locally-led, community-based organizations that do not have a Western-based branch, board, or network of donors.  For these grants, ODW matches the amount raised by the partner two times or three times.

WHAT DOES THE GRANT VETTING PROCESS LOOK LIKE?

ODW takes pride in our thorough vetting process because it allows us to build credible, sustainable, and high-impact partnerships. The grant vetting process has three steps: letter of inquiry (LOI), grant application, and grant recommendation.

Stage 1 – LOI: If an applicant is interested in a potential partnership with One Day’s Wages, they submit a Letter of Inquiry through our portal. The Letter of Inquiry is a short document that allows our grant vetting team to get to know your organization and your project concept.  Please download a copy of the questions before completing the online form to ensure that your responses are thoughtful and thorough.

Stage 2 – Grant Application: If your LOI is approved, we will send you an invitation to complete a grant application, which requires financial documentation and letters of reference. On the grant application, you will be asked to provide a more detailed overview of your project including objectives, activities, and outputs; project participant estimates; a project timeline; and a plan for community involvement.

Stage 3 – Grant Recommendation: If your application is approved by our grants team, a recommendation will be made to ODW’s Board of Directors, which has the final say on all of our matching grants.

Applicants will receive either an approval or denial at each phase of the vetting process.  

HOW LONG DOES THE GRANT VETTING PROCESS TAKE?

The grant vetting process for a matching grant can take anywhere from 3-4 months, depending on how quickly an applicant is able to submit materials and how many follow-up questions the grant vetting team may have along the way.  Applications that contain full information and a clear plan of action allow for quicker vetting.

If your organization is applying for an Emergency Relief Matching Grant, your grant application will be processed with an expedited timeline in an attempt to accommodate the pressing nature of the relief program. This can be as short as 3-5 weeks, depending on how many follow-up questions the grant vetting team may have along the way.

WHAT HAPPENS IF OUR APPLICATION IS APPROVED?

If your application is approved by ODW’s Board of Directors, we will send you an approval email along with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for two members of your organization to sign.  We will also request photos to set up your matching grant fundraising page, and agree on a date to launch your campaign.  See the next question for more information about how matching grant campaigns work.  

Once the matching grant goal is fully funded, project implementation can begin.  We require partners to submit reports at 6 months and 1 year.  Our reporting templates include an update on project outcomes, finance report, learnings, and stories of impact from participants.

Our hope is that partnerships with ODW increases awareness of our partners’ causes and platforms.  In turn, partners’ commitment to completing the planned project helps us share the story of ODW and grow our capacity to continue uplifting grassroots organizations.  

HOW DO WE FUNDRAISE FOR OUR PORTION OF THE MATCHING GRANT?

ODW creates a unique fundraising page for each partner on our online fundraising platform.  Partners must be willing to direct their donors to this fundraising page to raise their portion of the matching grant funds. Donations to a matching grant campaign can be made via credit card, check or direct bank transfer.  Please note that we are not able to accept donations to the campaign that the partner has already received and deposited; the partners’ contributions must be received through the fundraising page set up by ODW.  

Once you begin fundraising, you have 90 days to reach your goal.  When your campaign goal is met, your campaign will be closed and ODW will send you a check or wire for the full grant amount as well as a list of all donors who contributed to your campaign.  ODW does not share donors’ information with anyone other than the partner, and does not solicit partners’ donors.

If the partner does not raise the full amount in 90 days, ODW and the partner will agree on a reduced project scope, and ODW will match the amount raised by the partner.  If the partner raises more than the original goal, the full amount of funds raised by the partner will be disbursed, but will not matched by ODW beyond the original match amount.

ARE THERE DONATION PROCESSING FEES?

ODW does not take any percentage of funds raised through matching grant campaigns. We are a 100% model organization, which means 100% of funds raised go directly to projects on the ground. However, there is a transaction fee for credit cards of 3-6% depending on card type. Donors can choose to cover this fee as they are donating or they may choose to write a check to ODW to avoid the fee.

WHAT IF OUR APPLICATION IS DENIED?

At this time we cannot guarantee any personalized information on applications that are denied. If you wish to re-apply, we ask that you wait at least 1 year to submit another grant application.

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