FUNDING POLICY

The funding Policy of the TVO has been in a process of refinement since the first meeting of the Board of Directors held in February 1992. In order to ensure meaningful impact of its funding, while framing the policy, and in the course of its revision, the Board of Directors has also kept in mind the fact that the financial resources of the TVO are not large enough to extend unlimited support in every sector of social and economic activity, everywhere in Pakistan. Keeping in view the mandate, TVO provide (a  financial assistance to NGOs in specified sectors and b) technical assistance through capacity building of NGOs and community members through TVO’s Resource Development Section and other development organizations. However, gender mainstreaming is the cross cutting theme of all sectors.

Financial Assistance to NGOs

Following are the specified sectors in which TVO will provide financial assistance to NGOs:

Formal education is school education and its purpose is to prepare children to acquire skills and knowledge. TVO provide financial assistance for establishment /strengthening upto middle level schools and strengthening of existing school for special children, with emphasis on female education. TVO does not support non-formal education.

TVO’s support in the field of health is restricted to strengthening of Primary Healthcare (PHC) activities. The scope of PHC activities includes the following:

 

  •  Treatment of common diseases and injuries
  •  Mother and child healthcare
  •  Provision of reproductive healthcare
  •  Immunization against infectious diseases
  •  Training of TBAs and CHWs

TVO support WASH projects for marginalised communities. The scope of WASH activities includes the following:

 

  •  Hand pumps
  •  Ponds / Wells
  •  Natural springs
  •  Rain water harvesting
  •  Water supply schemes
  •  Provision of basic sanitation facilities
  •  Household Waste Management
  •  Prevention and control of epidemic diseases
  •  Health education

TVO’s support in the sector of livelihood is restricted to the following:

Rural Enterprise Development (RED)

The projects may include any activity leading to the creation of employment and income generation for the community. A list of some of Rural Enterprises is annexed as Annex – I for the guidance of the NGOs.

Vocational Training & Literacy (VTL)

This includes all vocational and skills training programmes that would enable a person to earn his/her livelihood. Furthermore, the vocational training projects will include, where required, literacy programmes as well, so that the trainees get education too. A list of vocations, to illustrate the scope and possibilities, is also annexed as Annex – II for the guidance of the NGOs interested in vocational training.

Physical Infrastructure (PI)

TVO funding is available for physical infrastructure projects i.e,

  •  Construction of check dams
  •  Construction of small bridges/culverts
  •  Extension and repair of karezes

Agriculture and livestock (A&L)

TVO funding is available for Agriculture & Livestock in the following

  •  Agriculture Inputs (Seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc.)
  •  Agricultural Tools
  •  Goat Farming
  •  Fish Farming
  •  Poultry Farming
  •  Veterinary Services
  •  Honey Bee farming
  •  Fur Farming
  •  Tunnel farming
  •  Ostrich farming
  •  Nursery farming

TVO’s support in the sector of Environment is restricted to the following:

 

  •  Renewable Energy (Micro-Hydro, Bio-gas, wind, solar)
  •  Claiming Carbon Credits

TVO’s support in the sector of Disaster Management

Technical Assistance to NGOs

Capacity building of NGOs through Human Resource Development has been one of the primary objectives of the TVO. In order to achieve this objective the Resource Development Section of TVO arranges and manages various trainings in different sectors for its partners in development. In this regard funds are earmarked in the annual budget of the TVO, regularly.
The NGOs, in order to qualify for TVO support, are required to be registered under any of the relevant laws i.e.
  •  The Societies Registration Act, 1860
  •  The Trusts Act, 1882
  •  The Cooperative Societies Act, 1925
  •  The Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies Act, 1961
  •  The Companies Ordinance 1984

The Board has relaxed the condition of registration in the case of NGOs located in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). However, the NGOs should:
  •  Be development oriented
  •  Have community participation
  •  Have proper documented system of record keeping
  •  Be able to demonstrate that the resources provided to it by other donors or support agencies (if any) have been used properly, and be willing to subject itself to appraisal by the TVO

In order to ensure participatory development, the TVO funding shall be available only to community based NGOs i.e., the NGOs that are formed by the members of a community and are working for the same community. However, an exception may be made if:
  •  The project activities are such that a NGO cannot undertake at the local level
  •  The project activities are community based and the community of the project area is well represented on the General and Executive Bodies of the NGO, even though the NGO’s office is located outside the area of its geographical focus
NGOs falling under following categories are not eligible for TVO support:
  •  NGOs doing charity work only
  •  Quasi-government or umbrella organizations
  •  NGOs implementing projects within large urban centers (populatin more than 200,000), i.e., the municipal limits of Islamabad or the Municipalities and Cantonments of Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpur Khas, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sargodha, Jhang, Shaikhupura, Okara, Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Peshawar, Mardan and Quetta
  •  NGOs with: a) a Director of TVO BOD or his/her spouse, parents, children, siblings b) an employee of TVO as its member
  •  Family Trusts
  • The TVO ceiling for funding will be Rs 1,000,000 (one million rupees) for one project
  •  The NGO/community contribution should not be less than 25% (Cash / Kind)
  •  The project period should not be more than three years
  •  No NGO shall be funded for more than two projects (This is also applicable to the NGOs that have been already supported by TVO)
  •  For the second time funding evaluation of the previous project shall be carried out prior to its presentation before the Board
  •  TVO will not support any project(s) for which the NGO has received or is likely to receive funding from any other source
  •  TVO will not support the cost of vehicle(s), POL and maintenance of vehicle(s)
  •  TVO will not support ultra sound machine(s) etc. for MCH centre(s)
  •  The following shall not count in calculating the NGO/community contribution:
    1. existing assets of the NGO that may not be used for the project applied for TVO support
    2. assets acquired through funding by any donor agency including TVO
    3. income generated through the service(s) provision
  •  Assets other than those mentioned above shall be treated as contribution by the NGO or the community to the extent of their annual rented value for each year of the project period
  •  TVO may support cost of the construction of a building, if the land is in the name of the NGO
  •  Reasonable female representation in the executive bodies of the NGOs is mandatory
  •  TVO shall not support any health centre(s) that may be established in rented building(s)
  •  Funding for health centre(s) may be made available only for the strengthening of the existing health centre(s) established in a building owned by the NGO
For additional information, please contact our Grant Section via email at grants@tvo.org.pk.