Short-Term Consultancy: Grantmaking Operations Assessment & Process Improvement

About Global Fund for Children Global Fund for Children (GFC) is a trust-based philanthropic intermediary that supports grassroots, community-led organizations working on behalf of children and youth across more than 50 countries. GFC partners with locally rooted organizations that are closest to the communities they serve, providing flexible funding alongside capacity strengthening and network building. GFC's grantmaking approach is grounded in trust-based philanthropy principles, shifting power to grantee partners, minimizing administrative burden, and centering relationships alongside resources.

GFC's regional teams span Africa, Asia, Europe & Central Asia, and the Americas, and its portfolio includes support from a range of institutional and individual funders. GFC manages its grantmaking process, including grant approval, disbursement, and reporting through Salesforce. Current grantmaking system includes a grantee portal that uses four languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Annual grantmaking volume: As a public foundation that relies on external funding, GFC’s grantmaking totals ebb and flow with funding opportunities. The most recent fiscal year granting total was about $10 million with current year projections at approximately $7 million across over 300 partner organizations and a small number of individuals. GFC is also a fiscal host of two organizations that do a limited amount of grantmaking. The current grantmaking operations team is led on an interim basis by GFC’s Deputy Vice President of Programs with a 100% FTE UK-based Senior Program Officer and 20% FTE support from a regional team staff member.

Assignment Background GFC is using a grantmaking team leadership transition as an opportunity to step back and take stock: to understand how grantmaking flows through the organization today, where the process serves partners and the team well and where it creates friction, and what grantmaking operations capacity GFC needs going forward.

GFC is seeking an experienced consultant to conduct a comprehensive assessment of GFC's grantmaking operations with a particular focus on the full grant lifecycle as managed through Salesforce, and to deliver practical, values-aligned recommendations for process improvement and team design.

Scope of Work 1. Grantmaking Process Assessment & Streamlining The consultant will map and evaluate every step of GFC's grantmaking process as it currently runs through Salesforce, from initial partner due diligence, approval, funding disbursement, reporting, and grant closeout. This includes: • Mapping the current end-to-end grantmaking workflow in Salesforce, including all approval stages, handoffs and points of manual or duplicative effort • Identifying if and where the process creates unnecessary burden, for GFC staff and, importantly, for grantee partners themselves • Assessing how well the current system and process reflect GFC's trust-based, partner-centered values (e.g., proportionality of due diligence, flexibility, responsiveness) • Capturing and assessing the experience of navigating the grantmaking steps from three positions/perspectives: 1) grantmaking operational role, 2) internal program team member role, and 3) partner (grantee) • Reviewing current grantmaking operations manual, due diligence and other documents to assess their ease ability to follow steps, alignment and areas for improvement • Benchmarking against grantmaking practices at peer trust-based and international intermediary funders to the extent this information is available to the consultant • Recommending specific, actionable process improvements and Salesforce configuration/workflow changes that reduce cycle time and administrative load without requiring significant custom development work • Flagging any recommendations that would require Salesforce development/ resourcing to implement that would require GFC to scope separately

2. Grantmaking Operations Team Structure & Skills Drawing on the consultant's experience across the philanthropic sector, GFC is seeking recommendations on how to structure its grantmaking operations function going forward, including: • A recommended team structure including roles and division of responsibilities sized appropriately to GFC's grantmaking volume and complexity that consider any trigger points for changes, depending on grantmaking volume • The core skills, competencies, and experience GFC should prioritize for an additional hire, if needed, for this function, including the right balance of Salesforce fluency, grantmaking/philanthropy expertise, and process/systems thinking • Recommendations on how the grantmaking operations function should relate to other functions including Finance and Learning & Evaluation

Deliverables • A current-state process map of GFC's grantmaking workflow in Salesforce • A findings memo summarizing strengths, pain points, and risks in the current process, informed by staff and (where appropriate) partner input • A set of prioritized, actionable process improvement recommendations, distinguishing quick wins from longer-term changes • A recommended grantmaking operations team structure and role/skills profile(s) • A final presentation to GFC’s Senior Management Team

Qualifications & Experience

This assignment does not require Salesforce development or administration skills, but does require deep, hands-on familiarity with how Salesforce is used to manage grantmaking, plus substantive grantmaking operations expertise. We are looking for: • Grantmaking operations expertise: significant experience designing, managing, or advising on grantmaking processes within a foundation, philanthropic intermediary, or similar funding organization • Strong functional knowledge of Salesforce for grantmaking: hands-on experience using Salesforce (ideally including nonprofit/grantmaking-specific configurations such as the Nonprofit Success Pack or a comparable grants management package) as an end user or process owner; not required to write or customize code, but able to assess workflow design, automation opportunities, and data structure • Familiarity with trust-based philanthropy: understanding of, and ideally direct experience with, trust-based or participatory grantmaking approaches, and the ability to weigh process efficiency against partner-centered values • International/global grantmaking experience: prior work with funders operating across multiple countries or regions, including awareness of the added complexity of cross-border due diligence, currency, and compliance considerations • Organizational design experience: track record advising on team structure, role design, and staffing models, ideally within philanthropy or the nonprofit sector • Process mapping and change management skills: ability to document current-state processes clearly (e.g., via process mapping tools) and to design changes that staff will adopt • Strong stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills: comfort conducting interviews, focus groups, and/or other methods with staff across regions and levels of seniority, and potentially with a small number of grantee partners • Clear, concise written and visual communication: ability to translate complex process findings into accessible recommendations for a non-technical audience • Cultural and regional sensitivity: experience working with or advising organizations operating across diverse global contexts, given GFC's partner base across Africa, Asia, Europe & Central Asia, and the Americas

Engagement Details • Duration: Three months • Location/format: Virtual/Remote. GFC maintains an office in Washington, DC and London but it is not required to be onsite in these locations. • Budget range: Please provide a fee estimate with your application • Reporting to: Deputy Vice President of Programs • Anticipated start date: September 2026

How to Apply

Global Fund for Children is committed to equity and inclusion in its hiring and contracting practices and welcomes applications from consultants with diverse backgrounds and lived experience.