OUR GRANTMAKING PHILOSOPHY

GO Campaign’s guiding principle is that we listen to the needs of our partners and work together to help them achieve their goals, all the while maximizing donation dollars to the greatest benefit of the children.

GO Campaign designates resources to communities where private funding – your contributions – make a significant difference in the lives of orphans and vulnerable children. We invest strategically in solution oriented, community-based and under-funded organizations that address the root causes of problems affecting vulnerable youth throughout the world. We prioritize making an impact in the lives of the most marginalized individuals by addressing four main issues:

• Education and Vocation Training— From new school construction or expansion to new program development, we ensure marginalized youth have access to primary or secondary education as well as non-formal education and vocational training.
• Health and Safety— We raise community health standards by increasing access to medical services, nutritional meals, as well supporting programs to prevent all forms of abuse affecting youth.
• Care for Orphans — We support programs addressing the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable children throughout the world to provide greater opportunity for the children to thrive.
• Enrichment— We fund programs that go the extra mile in enriching the mind, body, and spirit of vulnerable children.

GO Campaign does not accept unsolicited proposals. Our grants are made through invitation only. Our team identifies organizations that fit our eligibility and selection criteria and whose work addresses one of our four priority areas and invites them to complete a proposal application for funding. We take monitoring and evaluating our partnerships seriously, we comply with industry standards, and we foster respectful and transparent partnerships. Our experienced grantmaking staff selects programs and organizations after thorough review, and requires appropriate project specific reporting schedules.

OUR ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND SELECTION GUIDELINES

GO Campaign selects our grantee partners based on their demonstrated potential to provide solutions to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children and generate significant improvements in their lives.

Eligibility Criteria

Prospective grantee partners must meet the following eligibility criteria in order to be considered to receive GO support.

• Direct involvement with children and youth – Prospective grantee partners must work directly with children and youth 25 years of age or younger.
• Local Leadership/Community Involvement – Prospective grantee partners must be led by individuals who live and work in the community. We prioritize organizations whose leaders were born and raised in the community. Prospective grantee partners must be non-governmental organizations which operate with community input, involvement, and investment because they embrace the community as an integral part of their success.
• Appropriate size – Prospective grantee partner’s annual budget should not exceed $500,000.
• Non-discriminatory – Prospective grantee partner must be open to the participation of all people regardless of race/ethnicity, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

Selection Guidelines

Beyond these basic eligibility criteria, GO uses the following selection guidelines in identifying partnering organizations.

• Impact – We prioritize organizations that are able to use the requested funds to reach the greatest number of children.
• Geography – We desire geographic diversity when selecting grantees and strive to ensure a variety of communities across the globe benefit from our support.
• Project Type – We desire program diversity when selecting grantees and strive to fund a variety of program areas such as health, education, orphan care, economic empowerment, etc. We prioritize projects based on the severity of the problem addressed and where the need is time-sensitive.
• Reputation and referral – We prioritize organizations that are recognized and trusted in their community. We value GO community members’ feedback regarding their personal knowledge or experience with a prospective grantee organization. We also value past experience with a grantee organization and successful utilization of previous GO funding to address community issues.  We do not accept unsolicited proposals.
• Capable Management – Prospective grantee partners must have systems and processes for ensuring responsible management of funds, and they must be able to meet GO’s reporting requirements.
• Organizational Need – We prioritize organizations with limited access to alternative funding sources. Our aim is to work with organizations that are often overlooked by larger international development organizations.
• Potential for Sustainability – We prioritize organizations that have a strategy for ensuring the long-term sustainability of their programs through development of partnerships, community involvement, income-generating activities, or other creative measures. Preference will be given to organizations that aim to continue their programmatic work beyond the lifetime of the GO grant.