Unit of competency details

Descriptor 

This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge required to identify possible funding opportunities, interpret and work to funding guidelines, undertake contractual negotiations and fulfil contractual obligations

Application 

This unit may be applied in a range of development and/or humanitarian assistance work contexts

Its application should reflect the concepts and principles of aid effectiveness and community development (i.e. ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results and mutual accountability) as embodied in the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)

This unit relates to securing donor funding of less than $US500,000 per annum or securing funding for periods of less than one year

These skills and knowledge are to be applied within the scope of the person's job and authority

Employability skills 

This unit contains employability skills

Elements define the essential outcomes of a unit of competency.

The Performance Criteria specify the level of performance required to demonstrate achievement of the Element. Terms in italics are elaborated in the Range Statement.

ELEMENT 

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA 

1. Clarify funding approach of potential program donors

1.1 Identify potential donors  and describe their individual funding preferences and priorities, including funding provided to other organisations

1.2 Prioritise benefits to specific target groups in relation to potential donors

1.3 Identify most effective use of individual donor funds in the design of development and/or humanitarian assistance programs

1.4 Interpret funding guidelines  of potential donors and identify critical aspects

1.5 Undertake advocacy activities  in order to influence future donor priorities and funding guidelines and position the organisation for future funding

2. Submit funding proposal

2.1 Submit project proposal, written to donor format , to appropriate donor representative  and at appropriate time, subject to donor funding cycles  and other variables

2.2 Ensure submission reflects the concepts and principles of aid effectiveness and community development 

2.3 Conduct appropriate and ongoing communication after submission of proposal, to facilitate acceptance of the proposal, including revision of proposal, where feedback  indicates this is required

2.4 Provide additional information promptly and accurately to donor representative, as required

3. Negotiate, agree and fulfil contract requirements

3.1 Negotiate with donor the project commencement and conclusion dates

3.2 Negotiate with donor the budget and payment schedule

3.3 Identify reporting dates and requirements

3.4 Write and submit reports on time and to required format, where specified

3.5 If required, renegotiate with donor the project conclusion date, with or without additional funding

4. Facilitate donor visits

4.1 Arrange donor visits as required, including facilitating visas, accommodation and meetings with appropriate stakeholders

4.2 Present a positive image of project and organisation to donor representative

REQUIRED SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE 

This describes the essential skills and knowledge and their level required for this unit.

Essential knowledge :

The candidate must be able to demonstrate essential knowledge required to effectively do the task outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage the task and manage contingencies in the context of the identified work role

This includes:

• Social, cultural and political context of relief environment
• Organisation structure, including formal lines of reporting and responsibility
• Organisation internal politics and informal influence or power relationships
• Generally accepted accounting principles
• Organisation's financial software
• Donor organisation's structure and key staff
• Grant documents including contracts and standard attachments
• Organisation policies and procedures relating to issues such as:

• donor relations
• financial standards
• end of funding cycle closeout
• end of project closeout
• end of financial year closeout
• closeout under emergency conditions
• cash management
• emergency evacuation of personnel, records and assets
• calculation of gift in-kind values and balances
• personal security
• document storage and security

Essential skills :

It is critical that the candidate demonstrate the ability to:

• Effectively submit project proposals, negotiate favourable contracts, fulfil contractual obligations and maintain funding from a range of donors over a period of time
• Effectively communicate with donors and present a positive image of the organisation
• Effectively participate in donor advocacy activities and influence donor and funding priorities and guidelines
• Comply with relevant organisation and donor policies and requirements

In addition, the candidate must be able to effectively do the task outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage the task and manage contingencies in the context of the identified work role

These include the ability to:

• Use appropriate communication and interpersonal techniques with colleagues and others
• Work as part of a team environment to complete tasks
• Identify and clearly define problems and demonstrate appropriate response procedures
• Initiate new ideas or work methodologies
• Accurately plan and organise work activities
• Efficiently manage own responsibilities and timelines for completion of work
• Demonstrate personal management, including initiative, self motivation and direction
• Apply project management and evaluation skills
• Work with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, showing sensitivity to cultural differences, including:

• awareness and understanding of cultural differences
• ability to express that awareness and understanding clearly and concisely

• Use language, literacy and numeracy skills such as those required to:

• collect, analyse and organise data
• communicate in spoken and written form with a range of audiences
• adjust spoken and written language to suit audience
• prepare or customise materials

• Communicate effectively with a wide range of different audiences
• Interpret and explain complex formal documents and systems and assist others to apply them in the workplace
• Prepare written advice and reports requiring reasoning and precision of expression
• Use communications equipment, including telephone, radio, satellite phone, fax and email
• Demonstrate adaptability and the ability to deal with ambiguous situations
• Select and use appropriate technology
• Apply skills in:

• investigation, including analysis and deduction
• working as part of a team
• negotiation
• presentation
• administration
• listening

EVIDENCE GUIDE 

The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the Performance Criteria, Required Skills and Knowledge, the Range Statement and the Assessment Guidelines for this Training Package.

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate this unit of competency :

• The individual being assessed must provide evidence of specified essential knowledge as well as skills
• The application of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or realistically simulated workplace
• Assessment is to occur under standard and authorised work practices, safety requirements and environmental constraints
• Consistency of performance should be demonstrated over the required range of situations relevant to the workplace
• Assessment must confirm a reasonable inference that competency is able not only to be satisfied under the particular circumstance, but is able to be transferred to other circumstances

Access and equity considerations :

• All workers in development and humanitarian assistance should be aware of access, equity and human rights issues in their own area of work
• All workers should develop their ability to work in a culturally diverse environment
• In particular workers should be aware of cultural, historical and current issues facing the people and culture in which they are working
• Assessors and trainers must take into account relevant access and equity issues relating to the culture in which they are working

Context of and specific resources for assessment :

• This unit may be assessed independently, however holistic assessment practice with other related units of competency is encouraged
• Assessment of essential underpinning knowledge, other than confirmatory questions, will usually be conducted in an off-site context
• Assessment must comply with relevant regulatory requirements and/or standards
• Resources required for assessment include access to:

• workplace location or simulated workplace
• specifications and work instructions
• policy manuals and procedure manuals (international and local, including donor manuals)
• relevant documents (such as financial records, contracts with donors, assessment notes and standards documents)
• relevant equipment (such as office equipment and communications equipment)
• managers, co-workers and other finance staff

Method of assessment :

• Assessment needs to take into consideration the practical difficulties associated with attempting on-job assessment in the field
• Assessment may be applied under project related conditions (real or simulated) and require evidence of process
• Given the nature of this unit, assessment should be supported by supplementary evidence from a wide range of sources, preferably including evidence from one or more field situations

RANGE STATEMENT 

The Range Statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Add any essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts.

Donors may include :

• Government:

• Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)
• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
• European Union (EU)
• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Multilateral:

• World Food Program (WFP)
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

• Private donor:

• internal
• external

• Corporate donor
• Local representatives of all of the above
• Local host government

Funding guidelines may include :

• Mission and purpose statements of donor organisations
• Formats for written content
• Restrictions on length
• Budget guidelines including specifications on administration percentages
• In-kind contributions
• Requirements to match contributions

Advocacy activities may include :

• Initiating and attending meetings
• Distributing reports
• Organising training
• Submitting capacity statements

Donor format may refer to :

• The design and budget formats requested by some donors

• some donors may have no set format
• some donors may have a range of formats, depending upon the funding being sought

• Requirements may include information on font, style, number of pages, number of copies to be submitted, submission format (e.g. electronic, fax and post)

Appropriate donor representative may refer to :

• Personnel named in guidelines or other donor organisation promotional and support material
• Donor head office staff
• Donor local representatives

Donor funding cycles may include :

• Annual call for submissions
• Ad hoc calls for submissions
• Responses to specific humanitarian emergencies
• Government reports including Foreign Affairs profiles and alerts
• Conference proceedings

Concepts and principles of aid effectiveness and community development include :

• Ownership, including:

• using delivery processes that support partner countries to exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies
• coordinating development actions
• involving communities and local government in decision making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
• encouraging community's and local government's contribution to problem solving

• Alignment, involving maintaining a comprehensive understanding of partner countries' national development strategies, institutions and procedures to guide program delivery
• Harmonisation:

• actively seeking to collaborate with other Official Development Assistance (ODA) partners to create added value and greater development effectiveness

• Managing for results, including continuous improvement of systems to:

• manage for development results
• support evidence-based decision making

• Mutual accountability, involving demonstration of:

• full transparency and accountability for the use of development resources in program delivery

Feedback may be :

• Formal or informal
• Feedback should be sought in such a way as to maximise opportunities for it to follow best practice principles of feedback e.g. be timely and specific