Structuring the Overall Program

• Establish a field presence as soon as possible. Getting your people in place in the locations where the projects will be working enables them to work with project partners on design and implementation and provides them with a enhanced understanding of local social and institutional contexts.

  Example: Relations with grantees and project implementation dramatically improved upon placing program officers in Manila, Jakarta, and New Delhi.

• Form a technical team with breadth and depth in key areas. Good teams don't just happen by chance. A grant making team of generalists is insufficient for evaluating proposals and adding value at project sites. Instead, you might aim for a team where each member's specific area of expertise (social sciences, ecology, cost analysis) is augmented by his or her working knowledge of a number of other areas. This complimentary mix of skills can ensure synergy and maximize team impact.

  Example: The BCN has attempted to develop a team whose members who have a "T" shaped map of skills -- depth in one or two areas and then a broad level familiarity in a number of other areas. This mix of skills has enabled BCN to provide a wide range of different types of technical assistance.

• Use an outside Review Group to augment staff capacities for proposal review. An outside Review Group that is sustained over the course of the grant-making organization's life provides multiple benefits including: 1) expertise on specific issues or places, 2) the credibility of an independent and unbiased review, 3) a sounding board that can comment on and give objective guidance regarding the overall design of the program, and 4) support in making difficult funding decisions. Note that in some instances, you may want to empower the Panel to make final decisions whereas in others, it may be more appropriate for them to serve in an advisory capacity.

  Example: The BCN Peer Review Panel met 5 times over the course of two years -- amazingly, 10 out of 12 members that attended the initial session were still in attendance two years later. Both BCN staff members and Peer Review Panels found the review process to be very valuable.

• Avoid staff turnover wherever possible. Losing your permanent staff has huge hidden costs. Staff knowledge of grantees and their ability to assist them is enhanced by the long-term relationship which develops. These relationships are strengthened if individual staff members are assigned responsibility for working with specific grantees. However, the departure of such staff imposes tremendous hidden costs associated with the loss of the institutional knowledge about the project, especially if there has been no mechanism for capturing this knowledge.

  Example: Institutionally, we lost a vast amount of knowledge about certain key grants when staff members moved on to other jobs. To some degree, this loss was ameliorated by detailed site visit reports that BCN staff are required to fill out.

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