OVERVIEW

Grant-making is RWI's primary tool for engaging civil society in resource-rich countries and is an important means to motivate, support and build grassroots movements that create sustained local and international demand for revenue and expenditure transparency.

At the international level, Revenue Watch organizes and sponsors a limited number of conferences and workshops aimed at fostering broader public engagement in extractive sector/budget monitoring and fiscal transparency. At the resource-rich country level, where RWI devotes the bulk of its grant-making resources, it places special emphasis on providing support to local partners to form coalitions and conduct analysis and advocacy on revenue transparency issues, with a special focus on supporting and deepening the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). 

RWI also provides support to local and international partners around broader revenue transparency work such as oil, gas and mining revenue monitoring; accounting standards; oil revenue management laws and taxation regulations; licensing and contracts policies; IFI and donor lending policies; participatory budgeting and expenditure tracking; study tours for NGOs; capacity building for sub-national governments and parliamentarians; and civil society-company monitoring partnerships and dialogues. The information below provides an overview of RWI's approach to grant-making, including priority areas, types of grants and guidelines for applying.

Focus Areas for Grant Proposals
RWI's grant-making priorities are reviewed on an annual basis according to the organization's Strategic Plan; however, it is common policy that all requests for funding should fall within one of the following five focus areas:

• Support for monitoring, research and advocacy by independent civil society to promote greater transparency, accountability and effective management across the extractive value chain;
• Assistance to individual organizations and/or broad-based civil society coalitions working to support the adoption/implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) that have come with a joint research, capacity-building and advocacy strategy and action plan;
• Support for oversight groups working to enhance parliamentary oversight of extractive industries;
• Support for oversight groups in oil, gas and mineral-producing areas working to enhance extractive revenue governance and management at the sub-national level;
• Research and Capacity Building through RWI's Fellowship Program.

Types of Funding and Eligibility

RWI awards three types of grants: Institutional Support, Project Support and Individual Support.

1) Institutional support—Awarded to longer-standing regional partners engaged in research, training, capacity-building and/or monitoring activities related to the extractive industries. These grants are intended to partially support institutional costs related to the implementation of a project while at the same time allowing executive-level activities concerned with long-term management and strategic planning for the entire institution. For these grants, institution building is a goal in itself.
Eligibility:

• The organization's mission must be in line with RWI's mission and the organization must play an important role in the region;
• The organization must have worked with RWI in close partnership for at least two years and have established a successful relationship;
• The organization's activities must not include lobbying or engaging in partisan political activity such as the support of, or opposition to, political parties or individual candidates for elective office at any level of government;
• The organization must submit a full narrative proposal and budget prepared according to RWI's Grant Application Guidelines;
• The organization should allow RWI full and complete access to all financial audits if requested
• The organization must have met all requirements of any current or past grant awarded by RWI.

2)  Project support—Awarded to international and regional NGOs, academic institutions, think tanks and other entities engaged in specific research, training, capacity-building and/or monitoring activities. RWI also provides less "traditional" forms of project-based support for advocacy, legal defense funding for activists and funding for technical assistance or consultancy activities.
Eligibility:

• The organization's project must be in line with RWI's mission;
• Project activities must not include lobbying or engaging in partisan political activity such as the support of, or opposition to, political parties or individual candidates for elective office at any level of government;
• The organization must submit a full narrative proposal and budget prepared according to RWI's Grant Application Guidelines;
• The organization should allow RWI full and complete access to all financial audits if requested;
• The organization must have met all requirements of any current or past grant awarded by RWI.

3) Individual support—RWI offers individual support awarded to individuals for fellowship opportunities based on a competitive bidding process on an annual basis. Currently RWI awards two types of fellowships in partnership with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD): Capacity Advancement Fellowships and Petrad Fellowships. Fellows are selected as part of a competitive process.  

Capacity Advancement Fellowships: a year-long program where Fellows are placed at RWI's office in New York during the first half of the fellowship and, after they return to their home organizations, Fellows implement a project based on their past six months' experience. The fellowship aims to build the capacity of mid-career civil society activists by deepening their understanding of the extractive industries and broadening their skills to connect local, national and international campaigns. Fellows return to their organizations and coalitions with specific knowledge and skills that will enable them to better meet current challenges and develop broader training, advocacy and research agendas. The program targets key individuals who are aspiring leaders expected to launch or actively participate in campaigns on extractive industries' transparency.
In order to be eligible the applicant must:

• Have at minimum an undergraduate degree or equivalent and good English skills;
• Be a mid-career civil society activist who has the potential to be a future leader of his/her coalition or organization;
• Have introductory knowledge of extractive issues and demonstrate commitment to continue actively participating in campaigns on transparency of extractive industries after the program;
• Have strong support from his/her home institution;
• Have met all requirements of any current or past grant awarded by RWI.

Petrad Fellowships: an eight-week program to attend a course in Stavanger, Norway on Petroleum Policy and Natural Resource Management run by Petrad. This intensive course spanning the entire extractive industries value-chain is usually only open to senior government officials. The fellowship aims to enable fellows to immediately take their campaigns to a more technical level upon returning to their home organization or coalition and share their knowledge with their colleagues over time. By targeting leaders in the extractive industries transparency movement, this program aims to quickly raise civil society's ability to engage in technical debates surrounding extractive industries.
In order to be eligible the applicant must:

• Have an undergraduate degree or equivalent and excellent English skills;
• Be in a leadership role in his/her current organization or coalition that will enable him/her to promote direct change as a result of the experience;
• Have strong diplomatic skills and a solid understanding of issues related to extractive industries to engage in nuanced discussions about policies;
• Have the explicit support of his/her current home organization;
• Have met all requirements of any current or past grant awarded by RWI.

Applications for both fellowships can be obtained on the RWI website:

CA Fellowship (pdf)

Petrad Fellowship (pdf)

The application process opens in early February and continues until mid-March.

Selection of the applicants includes input from Revenue Watch Regional and Capacity Building Staff, former fellows and PWYP International. Successful applicants will be notified in early April. If you would like more information about the fellowship programs, please contact us at fellowships@revenuewatch.org.

Levels of Financial Support
RWI recognizes that many applicants have limited time and resources to devote to the grant-seeking process. In an effort to make the most of your time, RWI offers grant support at two levels—grants under US$10,000 and grants above US$10,000.

For small grants under US$10,000 applicants are required to submit a concept paper instead of a full narrative proposal. RWI reviews small grant requests on a rolling basis. Please refer to the small grants/concept paper guidelines under the How to Apply section of the website for further instructions.

For grants over US$10,000 applicants are required to submit a full narrative proposal according to RWI's Grant Application Guidelines. Please refer to the grant application guidelines under the How to Apply section of the website for further instructions.

HOW TO APPLY

Small Grants Under US$10,000
For small grants under US$10,000 applicants are required to submit a concept paper instead of a full narrative proposal application. RWI reviews small grant requests on a rolling basis.

The concept paper should be limited to five (5) pages in length, and should include:

• Cover Sheet (download sample, pdf)
• Brief description of your organization
• Description of what your project expects to achieve, and why it is relevant in the context of your work/country
• Brief outline of the project activities and specific goals and how you plan to give continuity to the activities or implement the skills acquired once the project is completed
• For workshops/conferences, please include agenda and list of participants
• Indication of any potential project collaborators, partners and donors
• Itemized budget and timeline

All documentation must be submitted in English.

Grants Over US $10,000
For grants over US$10,000 applicants are required to submit a full narrative proposal according to RWI's Grant Application Guidelines (download guidelines, pdf). Timelines for reviewing proposals vary depending on the level of financial support requested and these are included in the application guidelines.

Proposals should not exceed 20 pages. This should include all the most important information requested in the application guidelines as well as any additional details you think are important for us to know when considering your proposal.

At the end of the application guidelines you will find a mini-glossary which provides definitions of key terms and questions in an effort to provide additional guidance to you in the proposal drafting process.

To download a copy of RWI's Grant Application Guidelines, click here (pdf).
All documentation must be submitted in English.

Advocacy Questionnaire
For project proposals that have an advocacy component, such as a report to be released, applicants should also submit replies to RWI's Advocacy Questionnaire (download questionnaire, pdf).

Grant Review Process

The following timeline is used to manage the review of incoming grant applications:

• Grants between US$10,000 and US$40,000 are reviewed on a rolling basis by RWI staff (turnaround time is between one and two months).
• Grants between US$40,000 and US$100,000 are reviewed in bundles by RWI's Executive Committee on a periodic basis (roughly every two or three months).
• Grants above US$100,000 are reviewed by the full RWI Governing Board three times a year (October, January and June).

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Grant recipients must agree to provide detailed narrative and financial reports at intervals that will be specified in the grant letter. These reports should include, but are not limited to, details of the progress made toward the goal of the grant, any supporting documentation, such as publications or news articles and information pertaining to receipt of required matching funds. RWI requires both a narrative report detailing the projects activities as well as a narrative financial report detailing the project budget and spending. The deadlines for your reports are stated in your grant letter. If your reports will be late, contact us to let us know why and formally request an extension.

Please note also that grant recipients must agree to repay any portion of the amount granted that is not used for the purposes of the grant.

These reports help us understand how your project is progressing and problems that you may be confronting. This gives you the opportunity to explain any difficulties or challenges you have met which may affect the outcome of your project.

Cover Sheet: The first page of your report should contain the following information:

• Name of the organization submitting the report
• Project title
• Project dates
• Grant # (found on your original grant agreement)
• Total approved grant amount
• Report title (Interim, Final)
• Date of submission
• Name and contact information (address, telephone, fax, e-mail address, etc.) for the project's point person.

Narrative Report format: The narrative portion of your reports should address the following issues:

• Restate the project's objectives/outcomes and activities as stated in the original proposal.
• Explain which activities were accomplished and which were not. Explain any variances from the original proposal.
• Explain which project objectives/outcomes were achieved and how their success was measured.
• Explain if certain project objectives/outcomes were not achieved and why.
• Explain the main project challenges, and how you responded to them.
• Describe the principal lessons learned.
• Describe any unforeseen developments that have positively or negatively affected your project.

Financial Report format: The financial portion of your report should contain the following information and should be submitted in an excel spreadsheet:

• Please include your original approved budget in US dollars in an excel spreadsheet.
• For interim reports, please add a column to the original budget with the amount spent (US dollars) to date for each line item.
• For final reports, add an additional column with the final amounts spent (US dollars) to date for each line item.
• Please include a narrative description of any variances. (Note: any budget modifications must have been approved beforehand by the Revenue Watch Institute.)
• If there are remaining funds, please send a check or include a formal request for their use.

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS

In addition to the terms spelled out in your grant letter (and those mentioned above), the following is meant to inform you of other conditions that apply to your grant, as well as to answer some of our grantees' most frequently asked questions.

Please keep this important information for your files. If you have any questions regarding your grant, please contact Ruya Koman at rkoman@revenuewatch.org.

1. The Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) is the source of funding for your grant. By countersigning your grant agreement, you agree to cooperate fully with RWI, or with any agent designated by RWI, for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating progress in carrying out the activities described in the project proposal. This specifically includes permitting RWI or its designated agents full and complete access to all financial records associated with the project, making available personnel involved in the project at all levels for interviews with RWI representatives or designated agents, and permitting site visits by RWI or agents designated by RWI to observe activities of the project and to meet with participants in the project.
2. As the grant letter notes, any and all changes to your project budget or grant dates must be approved in advance. This may be done by submitting a letter via e-mail to RWI program staff asking to modify your budget or project dates. This letter must include a detailed explanation of the reason for the requested change, and a revised budget reflecting the changes you want to make, if you are requesting a budget modification. If you do not hear back from the RWI, do not assume that your modification has been approved. You must receive official approval from RWI before making any changes.
3. If you would like to publicly acknowledge RWI's support for your project, please use the name "Revenue Watch Institute."
   

GRANT RESTRICTIONS

The Revenue Watch Institute does not award grants to be used, directly or indirectly, to engage in partisan political activity such as for the support of or opposition to political parties or individual candidates for elective office at any level of government.

United States law regulates not only RWI's ability to fund any electioneering, including the support for or opposition to political candidates or parties in the United States or abroad, but also the earmarking of grant funds for lobbying activities. Lobbying is defined as an attempt to influence federal, state, local or non-US legislative bodies, or the outcome of referenda and ballot initiatives. This proscription includes attempts to influence treaty ratification by legislative bodies.

The lobbying restrictions include (but may not necessarily be limited to) communications with legislators or legislative staff that express a view on pending legislation or specific legislative proposals, and communications with the general public reflecting a view on specific legislation or a specific legislative proposal where such communication includes a "call to take action" by the public.

Public education, analysis and research on social issues of broad public interest, including issues that are also the subject of pending legislation, may constitute an exception to the lobbying restrictions. Similarly, the production of non-partisan studies, analysis and research providing a full and fair exposition of the facts and arguments may not constitute lobbying. Responses to written requests for technical assistance made on behalf of a legislative body, committee or subcommittee may also not be lobbying even though the problems discussed may be the subject of pending legislation.