Consultancy to Train on Fundraising and Proposal Writing

**Background**

American Friends Service (AFSC) is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light of each person, AFSC works with communities and partners worldwide to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace. AFSC has more than 100 years of experience building peace in communities worldwide and works in the following ways: bridging and convening, community organizing and civil society strengthening, advocacy, research, and analysis. It seeks to change situations and systems that lead to violence.

Much of AFSC’s work includes support to opportunities for dialogue and capacity building led by the affected communities.

**About the Somalia and South Sudan Programs.**

In South Sudan, AFSC is implementing a Healing and Reconciliation Project from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2028. The project is implemented directly through two local partners and indirectly through 15 community- and faith-based organizations (C/FBOs). It targets peacebuilders, including youth- and women-led organizations, differently abled groups, and local community structures such as peace committees.

The program seeks to create safe spaces for peacebuilders to identify and heal trauma through counseling and structured capacity-building initiatives. Participants are trained in the Alternative to Violence Program (AVP) and Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) methodologies to strengthen their ability to support communities in healing, forgiveness, mediation, and reconciliation processes. Additionally, the project facilitates community healing through cultural and social events that foster dialogue, rebuild trust, and promote sustainable peace. Implementation is taking place in Juba County (Rejaf, Juba, Munuki, and Lokiliri Payams), Mundri County (Mundri Payam), Mvolo County (Mvolo and Yeri Payams), and Jur River County (Kuajiena Payam).

In Somalia, AFSC is implementing a youth-led peacebuilding and social cohesion project aimed at strengthening the capacity of young people and community structures to prevent violence and promote peaceful coexistence in conflict-affected areas. The project creates safe spaces for dialogue and reconciliation by integrating psychosocial support and peace education to address the impacts of conflict and displacement. The program is being implemented in Mogadishu (Benadir Region), Kismayo (Jubaland), Bossaso (Puntland), and Dadaab Refugee Camp.

The program directly targets youth, women-led groups, marginalized communities, and key decision makers, while directly working with the community through dialogue forums, reconciliation initiatives, psychosocial support services, and social cohesion activities. In addition, it strengthens the institutional capacity of local partners through mentorship, safeguarding reinforcement, and organizational development support to ensure sustainable and locally led peacebuilding outcomes.

To sustain and expand these efforts, AFSC seeks to strengthen internal and partner capacity to identify funding opportunities and develop high‑quality, competitive proposals aligned with donor priorities.

**Overall Objective**

To strengthen participants’ skills in proposal writing for fundraising, enabling them to develop and submit strong, donor‑aligned proposals within AFSC’s thematic areas of Just Peace and Just Migration.

**Specific Objectives**

The objective of this training is to equip participants with the knowledge and practical skills to:

- Develop strong, coherent, and competitive proposals
- Identify and respond to funding opportunities
- Structure concept notes and full proposals effectively
- Align project ideas with donor priorities
- Apply Theory of Change thinking to design clear and results-oriented proposals
- Strengthen collaboration in proposal development

**Scope of Assignment**

The consultant will be responsible for:

**Training Design**

- Develop a tailored training curriculum
- Ensure the training is practical, interactive, and results-oriented
- Adapt content to participants with different levels of experience

**Training Delivery**

- Deliver a 4-day interactive training
- Use participatory methodologies such as:
- group work
- proposal drafting exercises
- case studies
- peer review sessions

**Key Training Topics**

The training should cover:

- Introduction to fundraising and donor landscape
- Understanding donor priorities and requirements
- **Proposal structure:**
- problem statement
- objectives and results
- activities and methodology
- **Introduction to Theory of Change:**
- understanding Theory of Change and its importance
- linking problems, interventions, and expected outcomes
- identifying assumptions and risks
- using Theory of Change to strengthen proposal design
- Logical frameworks
- Budgeting basics
- Writing strong concept notes
- Common mistakes