01/Blog
Playbooks, insights, and field notes.
How African organizations are unlocking funding — practical lessons from grants offices, corporate CSR teams, and NGO leaders.
How to Write a Concept Note for Funding (with a Free Template)
A concept note decides whether a funder ever asks for your full proposal. Here is how to write one in a page: the seven questions it must answer, how to handle the budget, a self-check, and a free Word template, drawn from Dr. James Njagu's books.
How to Write a Resource Mobilization Strategy (Step-by-Step, with a Free Template)
Resource mobilization should be planned, not ad hoc. Here is an eight-step walkthrough based on Nuts and Bolts of Mobilizing Resources: a readiness check, a scoring matrix for choosing strategies, the document structure, and a free Word template.
Bid Writing for African NGOs: How to Write a Bid That Actually Wins
Competitive requests for proposals are judged in two rounds, and more than 40% of proposals never reach the second. Here is how bid writing differs from grant writing, and the process that gets a bid through.
Grant, Bid, Tender or EOI? What African NGOs Are Actually Responding To
Teams routinely respond to a tender as though it were a grant call, and lose on mechanics rather than merit. Here is what each funding instrument is, and how to tell them apart before you start writing.
Bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa fell 26.3% in 2025. Here's what the headline misses
OECD-DAC put the 2025 contraction at 23.1% overall and 26.3% for sub-Saharan Africa. Three funding pools sit outside those statistics entirely.
The #1 grant-proposal mistake costing African organizations millions
After reviewing 200+ proposals across East Africa, one pattern keeps costing NGOs funding — and it's not what most teams think.