APPLICATION PROCESS
APPLY
The grant process requires eligible organisations to first register their entity to determine their eligibility. All potential grantees must submit this initial application along with the required documentation outlined below in order for our team to conduct the necessary checks to ensure suitability.
Eligibility Requirements
If you are a non-governmental organization or an institution connected to the education sector in a developing country, you are eligible to apply for a grant.
You must be registered to work in the country you operate in, and have audited accounts for the prior two years, as well as the ability to verify you have handled a similar level of funds that you expect to apply for.
Grant requests can only be submitted by registered NGOs and institutions. Once the grantee is registered, multiple grants can be requested based on effective proposals, past successes and proven capabilities of the grantee.
Required Documentation for Registration
To apply as a registered entity, your organisation will need to submit:
Due Diligence Process
To ensure your organisation is both responsible to work with children and manage grants, our programs team will be thoroughly reviewing your financial and safeguarding practices.
Due diligence the process the Foundation undertakes to ensure the appropriateness of potential or intended recipients of a grant by reviewing performance; eligibility; financial management; past track record; and background of the potential grant recipient. Robust due diligence procedures aim to ensure long term value for money from grant expenditure by identifying potential weaknesses and risks and considering opportunities to enhance capacity before grants begin, when changes become much more difficult.
The Karmakar Foundation’s approach to due diligence, and compliance centres on the “know your” principles, and in line with best practice. These principles hold the following core elements:
| Identify | The Karmakar Foundation is committed to knowing who we are receiving funds from, or financially supporting. |
| Verify | The Karmakar Foundation (when it is deemed reasonable/necessary) will verify the risks when deemed high. |
| Know | The Karmakar Foundation will always have confidence the businesses attached to a donor or partner is appropriate to be connected The Karmakar Foundation. |
| Know | The Karmakar Foundation will always have confidence a partner will deliver the set outcomes attached to collaboration with The Karmakar Foundation. |
| Watch Out | The Karmakar Foundation is committed to being alert for unusual or suspicious activities, conducts or requests. |
The amount of time for conducting due diligence is based on many factors, including prior experience with the applicant (if applicable), the value of the grant, tolerance of risk etc. It is impossible to learn everything about the applicant but it is important to learn enough such that you lower your risks to the appropriate level to make good, informed decisions.
The Foundation wants all grantees to make an impact on the students they support, to do this we need to ensure each organisation we work with has the proper controls and procedures in place, as well as the necessary experience to manage and implement awards effectively.
Those organisation with key risks identified during their application will be notified, and may be eligible to reapply once addressed.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS
The key to a successful application is understanding what the Karmakar Foundation fund, the review process for prospective applicants, and how our grants are awarded.
Expected Timing for Organisational Approval
Provided all necessary documentation is submitted, the review process can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks. However, as we accept applications year-round, review times may vary. We endeavour to keep you as up-to-date as possible. Once you submit your initial registration, you will be contacted by a program officer that will be your point of contact throughout your application process and award. Your program officer will verify details and begin the vetting process with our legal and financial teams.
After your application is submitted, our program officers will review your application and contact you. More information may be required in order to vet your organisation. Additionally, the Foundation will also use this time to learn more about your organisation’s involvement in education sector, your ability to manage and guide scholars using our approach, and your understanding of the Foundation’s goals. This phase is meant to ensure both parties have a deeper understanding of another, and that the prospective grantee understands the priorities and goals of the Karmakar Foundation.
Once an organisation is approved, annual review processes are required to maintain good standing.
Our Vision
Education is pivotal for success. With so many children in developing countries essentially locked out of secondary education, there is a growing need for more support.
By changing the odds for talented, under-privileged children in developing countries, the Karmakar Foundation seeks help level the playing field by supporting bright and driven children with access to quality education.
Through our grantees, we provide support in developing countries, to help talented students progress to secondary school and beyond. The Foundation works with select NGOs and institutions that are already impacting change by improving children’s’ educational facilities and enhancing the overall well-being of school-going children from under-privileged areas.
We aim to increase access to high-quality education for talented students in selected developing countries. We provide support for a student’s:
The Review Process
Once an organisation registers, it must reapply every year to reaffirm its status. If currently implementing a grant, this process will be facilitated by your program officer. If your registration lapses without a successful grant over the course of the year after approval, you may need to start the registration process over.
Support
The goal of the Karmakar Foundation is to help support as many potential scholars to succeed as possible. As this is done by working with local non-profits and institutions, we aim to ensure our registration, onboarding and grant application processes are transparent and run smoothly. Any queries organisations have can be raised through our Contact Us page, and once you start the registration process you will have support from a specific program officer assigned to your country or region.
Registered entities will receive additional support in planning their budgets and commitments, as well as submitting their grant applications.
The Foundation holds regular webinar and information sessions, and our FAQ section is also continually updated to ensure potential and existing grantees are well-informed.
Successful Applications
To help ensure your application is on the right track we have provided key information about what we are looking for in a grantee.
Notes on registering with the Foundation:
If your organisation does not fully fit the criteria your registration will be rejected. To make sure you qualify please review the following information about requirements.
Your application is unlikely to be successful if:
Examples of areas the foundation does not fund:
SUBMISSION
Once your organisation’s application is approved, you will be able to use the online tool to submit a project proposals for grants easily. A grantee can receive multiple grants for multiple projects at any given time, provided they are able to highlight their ability to handle the funding size requested. Your organisation must be registered first, and your program officer will work with you to determine the maximum level of awards you would be eligible for.
Through our Build a Scholar framework, we seek to help these institutions identify and support gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds succeed.
Our grant-making scheme is divided into three different types of support:
All students who are awarded support become Foundation Scholars, and are supported through the Build a Scholar framework. This framework guides not just how students are selected, but how they are supported, as well as how they can provide feedback about the support they receive. We work with our grantee organizations to explain and implement the Foundation’s Build a Scholar framework and adopt our method of scholar-building.
Helpful Notes On Budgeting
Keep in mind that for your submission, each project is expected to last a minimum of four years. We will provide proper support to help you develop your budget, but will need you to be mindful of the level of commitment and engagement required under our awards. Financial awards include school fees and associated costs, as well as transportation and living costs for each student, as well as potential costs for family counseling and support.
Don’t overestimate the number of beneficiaries – each project is assessed on it’s own merit and we are looking for the quality of the impact that project’s may have on young people’s lives rather than numbers.
Deadlines
We are accepting applications on a rolling basis, with approvals completed on a quarterly basis. Since it takes time to get your organisation registered, approved and for your application for funding to be reviewed. So please keep this in mind when seeking funding for the start of a school term.
Additional details will be provided on the portal including necessary deadlines. You will be able to work with your program officer if you require additional support in developing effective proposals.
ACCEPTANCE & FUNDING
All project proposals are evaluated by a program manager, and grants are accepted on a quarterly basis.
Due Diligence
Even though due diligence is undertaken during the initial organisation registration process, secondary accounting and legal due diligence check are undertaken anytime a financial award is approved. Even if your organisation was previously approved, further checks may be required before a project is approved.
Additionally, schools put forth for scholars may also require vetting to ensure funds for school fees can be released.
All proposals are reviewed at various levels with a foundation executive making the final decision about whether to fund the proposed grant.
Rejection
Where possible, program officers and managers will work with applicants to improve their requests or supply additional information to help ensure success. If rejected, your program team will provide specific details. Unless otherwise noted, organisations will be welcome to apply again.
Award
At the end of the due diligence phase, the Foundation will provide a contract including clear objectives (based upon the Foundation’s programming and the grant application) for the use of funds. A milestone-based payment schedule will be included in the contract, along with specific reporting deliverables.
In most cases, the foundation pays school fees directly to the relevant schools and the child welfare support costs to the grantee.
COMMUNICATION
During the course of a project, a foundation program manager will keep in close communication to understand progress and challenges of ongoing project. This includes effective monitoring and evaluation of both the student’s progress, but also the grantees engagement with all stakeholders and provision of support.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Each award supports both a student’s academic costs, as well as support costs to ensure their welfare during their period of study. To ensure funds are being utilised effectively, regularly monitoring and evaluation is necessary. As laid out in the grant award, grantees will be required to provide information and project updates on a regular basis.
Reporting
Grantees are required to submit annual reports for each project, but also may be required to submit quarterly updates. Reports will highlight milestones achieved, as well as recognise any challenges or obstacles that need to be overcome. The format of annual and quarterly reports will be provided by the Karmakar Foundation’s program team.
Project reports are essential to:
Annual Reports
These are more detailed reports with accompanying financial reporting. They must be submitted using our template.
Final Reports
These reports are designed to provide a final evaluation of the project and performance against the outputs and outcomes in your grant application, and again must be submitted using our template.
Additional Engagement
A program officer from the Foundation may request to join in with certain meetings, attend grantee board meetings, or have further engagement as necessary to ensure effective implementation and support for Foundation Scholars.