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Sunday 1 September 2013

Matching Contribution in the Budget


You may have noticed in several Calls for Proposals, donor agencies put a condition that they would be able to fund only 70-80% of the total budget submitted to them for funding. The rest of the 20% should be sourced from elsewhere. Sourcing funding from elsewhere means matching the contribution made by the donor agency from other places.

Donor agencies stress upon this because it only ensures that the grantee. NGO takes responsibility and ownership to the project. But from where can the NGO source this matching contribution from. The donor agency expects the contribution to come either from the NGO itself or from the community. It could also be possible that another donor agency can support the 20% costs. In some cases, if a government agency is a partner in the project, it can provide this fund as well.

NGOs often feel discouraged to apply to such calls because they think they would not be able to mobilize the 20% funding from other sources. However, in real terms, this condition should not deter them from applying. It is only a matter of perspective to clearly understand matching contributing.

In mobilizing the matching contribution, NGOs first need to look at other available sources of funding: another donor agency willing support a meeting, a staff salary, a conference or make a simple donation. Often small donors easily give out money when they see that there is already 80% funding available with the NGO.

If donor agencies are not available, then look for the governmental agencies with whom partnership is essential for the project. It may not be easy for the local government to give out direct money for the project as matching contribution, but you can always request them support in terms of using their infrastructure and other resources. You can request the government for using their building premises to organize workshops and meetings free of cost. You can request one of the government officials to participate in a project activity as a resource person free of cost. These contributions can then be calculated in terms of costs and put in the budget as a contribution.

Similarly, if there is a community contribution in kind (like community members providing labor service for a project activity) can also be considered as a cost contributed by them to the project. This can be put up in the budget.

Another important source can be the NGO itself. If your organization is well-established and you have your own office, computers, vehicles and other infrastructure that can support the project, you can estimate its costs and put it in the budget as your matching contribution.





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