Support for Organizational Development Processes

The Environmental and Development Foundation North Rhine-Westphalia supports non-profit environmental and development organizations, associations, and interest groups in North Rhine-Westphalia in professionalizing their structures, workflows, and communication processes. Funding is provided for external consulting services that enable the analysis of strengths and weaknesses as well as the development of an internal organizational action plan. This plan defines concrete implementation steps, responsibilities, and thematic priorities and contributes to the long-term increase in efficiency and decision-making capacity of the organization. The funding is granted as a non-repayable subsidy of up to €10,000 per project and covers fees and material costs of external consulting firms. Own contributions in the form of volunteer hours can be credited as notional costs (€15/hour), while personnel expenses of the organization and an overhead flat rate are excluded. Applications can be submitted at any time but must be fully submitted at least two months before the start of the consulting project.

For the application, a 2–3 page project description with background, objectives, and planned methodology is required. In addition, the award form (from €5,000), at least three written requests for proposals, the minutes of the initial meeting with the selected consulting firm, as well as a detailed cost and financing plan must be included. Evaluation criteria are the quality of the needs assessment, the sustainability of the action plan, and the active involvement of full-time and volunteer staff. The funding decision is made promptly to enable swift implementation. This funding line is aimed at volunteers and full-time staff who wish to make their organization future-proof and maximize its impact.