Thank you for participating in the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award. We invite proposals for a wide range of initiatives that support the well-being of refugees through solutions that secure durable futures for refugees across three main areas: (1) repatriation, helping refugees return to their former country of nationality in safety and dignity; (2) local settlement and integration of refugees in host countries; and (3) resettlement of refugees in a third country i.e. beyond the country of asylum.

We recommend reading all requirements for this application before you begin and encourage you to review the Scoring Rubric that will be used to assess all valid applications. Applications must be submitted in English. Portions of your applications may be published online and will be shared with others during the evaluation process. These include, but are not limited to, Organization Name, Proposal Title, Project Description, Executive Summary, and Video Presentation.

Be sure to review your application as it will appear after it’s been submitted (link at the bottom of the page) and confirm your changes have been saved. When you have completed all of the requirements, a message will be displayed on the screen. At that point, you can submit your final application. Once you have submitted the application, you will no longer be able to make changes.

You must submit your application no later than Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 3:00 PM Pacific.

A. QUICK PITCH

This is your opportunity to make a strong first impression. Offer a brief and compelling overview of your proposal. Avoid using jargon or language that a layperson may not understand. The information in this section is likely to be made publicly available in a variety of online settings.

Project Title (10 words)

Provide a short title of your project. Choose a name which easily identifies your solution and distinguishes it from any other projects.

Project Description (25 words)

Provide a short description for your project in one sentence. 

Executive Summary (150 words)

Write a one-paragraph overview of your project that answers the following questions:

• What is a brief description of the problem that you are trying to solve?
• How will you solve it?
• What are your intended outcomes? How will your solution address the lives of the people you wish to serve, including historically marginalized people within that population?

Your Executive Summary should be a stand-alone statement of the problem and solution. It should not require any other context to clearly explain what you are seeking to accomplish.

B. VIDEO PRESENTATION

You are required to submit a video that captures your project and why it should be funded. The video is an opportunity to showcase your passion and to pitch your story in a succinct format. We want you to share your vision with the judges in a way that is different from the written proposal format. This DOES NOT need to be a professionally produced video.

In order to complete this part of your application, your team will upload a short digital film using YouTube.

Set the Privacy Settings on your video to Public or Unlisted – do not set them to Private.

Your video may be extracted from your submission and made available to the public and other donors. Appeal to a broad audience. Video submissions should follow these guidelines or risk ineligibility:

• A length of no more than 90 seconds.
• Your pitch must be in English, or if in another language subtitled in English.
• Your video must be captioned. See these instructions on how to use You Tube automatic captioning.
• Your video should not contain identifiable children without parental consent.

Here are general suggestions for delivering a high-quality video pitch:

• Introduce yourself and your organization(s) and/or team.
• Describe the problem that you are committed to solving.
• Explain your solution.
• Explain what is unique about your solution.
• Describe how you would you plan to measure success and achieve broad but meaningful impact.

C. YOUR TEAM

Now that you’ve provided a brief overview of your project, focus on the talent and management of your team.

Principal Organization

During registration, you identified the Principal Organization responsible for receiving and taking accountability for any grant funds, as well as providing the direction, control, and supervision for the project. If the Principal Organization has changed, please Edit Registration Form from the Profile menu to update this information.

Principal Organization Website or Social Media Page (5 words)

What is the URL of the website or social media page of choice for the Principal Organization? If your Principal Organization does not have a website or social media page, insert “Not Applicable.”

Project Website or Social Media Page (5 words)

Provide us with a URL to your project website or social media page of choice, if one exists. Having a project website or preferred social media page is not a requirement for the competition and will not impact your eligibility. If you have not created a project website or a social media page, insert “Not Applicable.“   

Primary Area of Expertise for the Principal Organization

Please select the primary area of expertise for the Principal Organization.

Team Collaboration

Does your team consist of two or more organizations with an executed memorandum of understanding (MOU) (signed and dated by all parties, including the lead organization submitting this proposal)? (Select one)

• Team consists of two or more organizations but there is not an executed (signed and dated) MOU
• Team consists of two or more organizations and has an executed (signed and dated) MOU
• Team does not consist of two or more organizations

Partners

If your team consists of two or more organizations, please list them using the legal name of each partner. If your team does not consist of two or more partners, please enter “Not Applicable.”

Why Your Team (250 words)

Describe your team’s leadership, its members, and its collaborators or partners. If relevant, include details about how and why the collaboration was formed. Explain how your team is uniquely positioned to deliver results and why you are the best choice to solve this problem. Emphasize that you have the right capabilities, experience, and commitment to execute your project.

Biographies of Key Staff

For each of the top three managers responsible for success of the project, provide a name (First/Last), organization the manager is affiliated to, and brief biographical statement. The biographical statement should include the manager’s title and emphasize those credentials and experiences most relevant to the project.

Key Staff #1:

FIRST NAME: 

LAST NAME:

ORGANIZATION:

BIOGRAPHY: (100 word limit)

Key Staff #2:

FIRST NAME:

LAST NAME:

ORGANIZATION:

BIOGRAPHY: (100 word limit)

Key Staff #3:

FIRST NAME:

LAST NAME:

ORGANIZATION:

BIOGRAPHY: (100 word limit)

D. THE CHALLENGE

This section provides the opportunity for you to more fully explain the challenge you intend to solve and show that you understand the nuances of the challenge that have informed your strategy.

Point of Intervention

Please choose the point at which your solutions will address the most challenging aspects of improving lives for refugees (select all that apply):

□ Individuals living in their country of origin but facing refugee status
□ Refugees actively undergoing resettlement
□ Refugees caught between resettlement and asylum
□ Refugees living in asylum
□ Refugees planning their return to their country of origin
□ Refugees who have returned to their country of origin

Challenge Statement (250 words)

Describe the specific challenges that your solution will address, using non-expert language. Focus on setting the stage for your solution (versus describing how you intend to solve it) and discuss who is impacted by the problem and why the problem exists.

• Who is impacted by the problem or challenges identified?
• Why does the problem exist in the current environment?
• What are the most influential ways to effect the necessary change, and where are the leverage points where the smallest change can have the biggest impact?

E. YOUR SOLUTION

The Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award will drive innovation around the long-term well-being of refugees. This section provides the opportunity for you to more fully explain how you intend to solve the challenge you have outlined above.

Solution Overview (250 words) 

Describe what your solution is or does, how it meaningfully contributes to solving the problem, and the short and long-term impact that your solution will have.

• Describe who will benefit from your intervention and the benefits or outcomes of your intervention.
• How does your solution meaningfully contribute to resolving the chosen problem?
• How will you know that you are making progress?
• Describe the impact your solution will have on the chosen problem up to a five-year grant period. Will it have broad impact on a large population or geography, or will it have deep and intense impact on a small population or geography?

Innovation (150 words)

Illustrate how you will use a bold, creative approach to more efficiently and/or more effectively lead to the intended outcomes, and how it differs from, improves upon, and/or bolsters existing methods/practices. Highlight unique features and other information demonstrating innovation in your approach and solution.

Priority Populations

Select your priority population(s) as the primary beneficiaries for your solution. You must select at least one priority population, and you are welcome to provide up to three.

Community Engagement (150 words)

In order to be effective, solutions need support from the impacted community including funders, local leaders, decision-makers, residents, media, and others. Exhibit understanding of the community and key stakeholders, and share plans to engage and work with them throughout the process to ensure long-term success.

Local Context (150 words)

Share an example of where your proposed solution has previously been implemented and include the local conditions you measurably improved and how. While you may outline areas of concern that would apply to any community or target population, use this response to offer specific examples of how your solution resulted in real improvements to the lives of real people. Make it personal – this is your opportunity to tell your story of how these challenges apply when faced with local conditions and how your team was able to overcome them.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (200 words)

Compelling proposals will fully demonstrate a commitment to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Not only do we expect teams to be thoughtful about working with a range of beneficiaries, but we also expect teams to think carefully about how to actively plan for and include the most marginalized and/or vulnerable from within those populations in solutions design, program planning, and ongoing work.

Explain how you will ensure, or have ensured, that the design and implementation of your solution authentically embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion across all aspects, including persons with disabilities, religious or ethnic minorities, people of color, native/Indigenous peoples, women, gender identity and sexual orientation. Provide additional details on how you will provide opportunities and reasonable accommodations for those populations to either engage with and/or benefit from your solution, including as staff, advisors, partners, et al.

F. SUBJECT AREA AND LOCATION OF WORK

We will use primary subject area, locations of current work, and key words to tag your project in a searchable database, making it possible for other funders to identify projects they might find interesting to support.

Primary Subject Area

Select the primary subject area of the solution that you and your team are proposing.

Key Words and Phrases (5 words)

Provide a list of up to 5 key words or phrases that can best be used to describe your project [ex. social-enterprise, vocation, internship, training]. Choose key words that capture the essence of your project and its intended outcomes. The key words should be different from the selected “primary subject area.” 

Location of Current Work

Select up to five locations where you are currently implementing your solution. Initiatives in early development stages are not eligible to apply.

If you have no additional locations for your current solution, you may select NOT APPLICABLE. If there is a second/third/fourth/fifth location for your current solution, provide the second/third/fourth/fifth location here.

Location of Future Work

If awarded this grant, select the location(s) for implementation of your solution. Select up to five locations that apply.

If you have no additional locations for your future work, you may select NOT APPLICABLE. If there is a second/third/fourth/fifth location for your future work, provide the second/third/fourth/fifth location here.

G. PROJECTED IMPACT

This section provides the opportunity for you to provide evidence that supports your solution. 

Evidence of Effectiveness (250 words)

Present internal or formal academic evidence you may have, including any results from complementary or previous work, to demonstrate the solution you propose will work. You may include URLs in your response to this question.

Ability to Scale (200 words)

Share your vision and describe plans to scale your solution as a model that can be applied or adapted to meet the diverse, growing needs of refugees globally. Provide evidence to show how your results can be replicated or scaled to the specific contexts in which you seek to work. If appropriate, explain whether and how you will need to tailor and adapt your solution for scaling and/or amplifying impact. As you prepare your response, read MSI's Scaling-Up: Tools & Techniques for Practitioners and Scaling-Up: Management Framework for Practitioners.

Timeline and Milestones (200 words)

Outline your expected timeline for project completion up to a five-year grant period and outcomes or milestones you will track to measure success. 

Measurement of Results (200 words)

Describe your plan to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of your proposed project.

Barrier Assessment and Risk Mitigation (150 words)

Demonstrate the steps you will take to ensure your solution is feasible and will achieve the intended results. Describe any barriers to success of the solution, as well as any unintended consequences, and your plan to address those barriers. Discuss your experience and capacity to manage technical or logistical barriers. 

Other Considerations (150 words)

This is your final opportunity to raise any other considerations. Here, you may emphasize or expand upon a previous point or provide new information, as necessary. If not applicable, please write “Not Applicable.“

H. RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS

Indicate and describe the financial resources required to successfully implement your project.

Total Projected Costs

Indicate the total cost to implement your solution (USD); this can include costs beyond the total amount of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award grant. 

Budget Narrative (200 words)

Offer a general overview for how your team would use the $12 million grant, including the projected needs by category. You may include any explanations of existing resources you have already secured. Please explain what portion of the budget, if any, is expected to be spent on capacity building (a perfectly acceptable use of funds) to ensure effective execution on the project. Please also specify what portion of the budget is expected to be spent on measurement and evaluation of results.

Budget

Provide specific line items from the budget narrative (above) for your work. To help us understand your priorities, please provide a detailed budget for how the $12 million grant would be spent. Please make sure that any funds identified in this table reflect and clarify your general explanations provided in the budget narrative above. Budget should follow these guidelines or risk ineligibility: 

• All budgets must total $12 million (USD)
• Your budget must allocate no more than $1 million (USD) to a contingency fund or budget buffer.
• Your budget must allocate funds to support Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning activities. Typically costs for these activities require anywhere from 5-20% of the total projected total costs. Review our Guidance for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning for more context.
• Familiarize yourself with the Indirect Cost Policy and represent how you intend to address any indirect cost categories. Indirect costs cannot exceed 25% of total cost.
• Your budget must afford reasonable accommodations to make your project accessible to people with disabilities, as implementors, participants, and beneficiaries. Estimates frequently used for an inclusive (i.e. non-disability-specific) project are 1-3% of administrative costs and 5-7% of program costs. Review this Guidance on Budgeting for Inclusion for more context.

Total Resource Requirements (100 words)

If your total projected costs exceed $12 million, explain how you have secured (or plan to secure) the balance of any necessary funds and provide an overview of how those funds will be used.

If your total projected costs do not exceed $12 million, insert “Not Applicable.”

I. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

In this section, please provide additional information about the Principal Organization. Before answering, use the Organizational Readiness Tool to understand your ability to be competitive according to the size of your annual operating budget.

Annual Operating Budget

What is the annual operating budget in US dollars (USD) of the Principal Organization?

□ Less than $1 Million
□ $1.0 to 5 Million
□ $5.1 to 10 Million
□ $10.1 to 25 Million
□ $25.1 to 50 Million
□ $50.1 to 100 Million
□ $100.1 to 500 Million
□ $500.1 Million to $1 Billion
□ $1 Billion +

Number of Employees

How many full-time employees does the Principal Organization employ? 

□ Less than 10 Full-time Employees
□ 10 to 25 Full-time Employees
□ 26 to 50 Full-time Employees
□ 51 to 100 Full-time Employees
□ 101 to 300 Full-time Employees
□ 301 to 500 Full-time Employees
□ 501 to 1,000 Full-time Employees
□ 1,000+ Full-time Employees

J. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED

If your team is invited to participate in any future phases of this competition, you may be required to provide additional information (refer to the RULES and Timeline), including but not limited to:

• A Tax Determination Letter
• Audited Financial Statements
• Articles of Incorporation, Charter, or similar documentation
• Fully-executed Memoranda of Understanding
• A more comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan for the project
• Existing policies, if any, addressing conflicts of interest, whistleblower, internal controls, anti-money laundering, intellectual property, human subjects research, code of conduct, ethics, gifts, and any similar policies governing the organization

Lever for Change and/or the donors reserve the right to perform background checks on key individuals associated with the project, and the refusal by the key individuals to provide necessary authorizations will give reason to reject any application for further consideration. Background information and the results of any background checks will be kept confidential.