INVESTING IN COMMUNITY ACTION OUR THEORY OF CHANGE GRANTEE FOCUS AREAS OUR PROGRAMS OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 

 

 

STAY CONNECTED

OUR STRATEGY

In late 2008, Firelight launched a six-month strategic planning process. Nearing our 10-year anniversary of working with community-based organizations (CBOs), it was time to reflect on what we had accomplished and to chart a clear path for the coming years.

Our five-year (2009-2013) plan will guide us in leveraging our knowledge, good practices, and strong values to increase the flow of resources to the grassroots in order to improve the lives of even more children, families, and communities.

 

BUILDING ON OUR STRENGTHS

Our new strategy is built on three foundations:

1. Our core strength in funding CBOs and effectively getting resources to organizations working to reduce the vulnerability of children and families affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.

We have reached more than 330 organizations in nine years by using an effective due diligence process; funding in amounts that small CBOs can absorb; and supporting more than just project costs to ensure that organizations can develop and mature over time and sustain their efforts.

2. Our multi-faceted approach that recognizes that child development and well-being are shaped by interactions between the child, family, community, civil society, government, and global systems.

These actors form nested ‘circles of support’ in the ecological model of child development and well-being¹. Firelight has chosen to intervene at the CBO level and support these organizations because they provide critical support to families—the most intimate and important circle of care for children.

3. Our theory of change articulates the key strategies of community level action that contribute to improving the well-being of vulnerable children.

These three strategies are: meeting the basic material needs of children and families; providing them care, support, and protection; and facilitating their access to government-provided services.

Over the next five years, we will test, revise, and refine this theory of change both to improve our own programming as well as that of our grantees, and to use what we learn to leverage greater resources for communities.

¹Bronfenbrenner, The Ecology of Human Development, 1979. This highly intuitive model is familiar to civil society and government practitioners and planners, and is used in international agreements such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

OUR THREE-PHASE MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP MODEL
INCREASING COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Firelight will continue to put a large majority of its resources into making direct grants to CBOs in Africa. We are taking a long-range view to our partnerships in order to provide partners with increased stability for long-term planning.

We also plan to deepen our partner support by incrementally increasing grant sizes according to the organizational capacity of the grantee, especially at the exit phase to help partners prepare for “graduation.”

A typical partnership in this new model would last about seven years, divided into three phases: an initial two-year introductory phase; a main three-year phase; and a two-year graduation phase.

We are also expanding our funding to support a community grantmaking strategy that will enable us to reach a larger number of smaller organizations by building a funding pipeline that reaches directly into communities. The community grantmaking groups will also provide mentoring and support to other organizations that are in early stages of development.

We will also work to harness the power and voice of the communities that we serve by developing national-level advocacy strategies to give our partners a channel for bringing their experiences and perspectives to bear on national government policies.

 

OUR CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

Our new strategy expands and standardizes our efforts to strengthen the organizational and programmatic capacity of our partners by assisting them with their day-to-day management, planning, and evaluation. We strategically identify the needs of organizations at each stage of organizational development, and tailor our technical assistance accordingly.

Our goal is to provide all partners with technical assistance grants and targeted information and advice. We also plan to develop partner networks for peer learning, mentoring, and training, enabling our grantees to become stronger organizations that provide more effective services for children.

 

OUR NEW ‘LEVERAGE’ PROGRAMS: ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING, ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATIONS
CREATING AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE TO AMPLIFY OUR IMPACT

Our new ‘leverage’ strategy is geared toward expanding and increasing our impact by using our experience and the lessons we have learned to fuel our organizational learning, communications, and advocacy efforts.

The goals of our ‘leverage’ strategy are to raise greater awareness, understanding, and adoption of our approach to increase the flow of resources to grassroots organizations, where it can have the most positive impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families.

Our Organizational Learning Program employs a rigorous approach to analyzing the data we have collected over the years and synthesizing our lessons into knowledge that will help us more effectively support our partners and will also assist our partners in improving their programs.

Building on the knowledge emerging from our learning efforts, our Communications Program will seek to raise greater awareness and understanding of the efficacy of our community-based approach.

Through our Advocacy Program, we will engage with government, philanthropic, and faith-based groups—who together contribute more than US$1 billion a year for children affected by HIV/AIDS—to help them channel their resources to increase the amount of funding and support reaching the grassroots.

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