TERMS OF REFERENCE – Learning Modules Partners

Submission deadline: 18 March 2025
Estimated start date: 1st April 2025
Location: Remote

1 – Background

Forus is an innovative global network empowering civil society for effective social change. It brings together 72 National NGO Platforms and 7 Regional Coalitions from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Pacific. For Forus to achieve its mission, it is expected that

• Members improve their and their members’ competencies, capacities, and technical skills to have measurable and lasting impact on members’ constituents and communities;
• Members effectively convene NGOs, acting as a representative voice of civil society in different fora and defending an influential and accountable civil society.
• Members’ internal functioning and processes are strengthened, towards becoming sustainable entities for the coordination of civil society.

Following a member-led approach, Forus Capacity Strengthening efforts are driven by members’ needs, guidance and collective intelligence. To address Forus members capacities needs, the network employs a mixed approach, combining funding, peer exchange, coaching, structural support (equipment), thematic workshops, research, and writing workshops. This ensures an innovative, dynamic, collective, and sustainable response to members’ requirements and facilitates ownership and commitment.

The rise of authoritarian regimes, anti-rights groups, and threats to liberal democratic values underscores the urgent need for civil society organizations to strengthen their capacity to respond effectively. As national NGO platforms, Forus members are uniquely positioned to leverage new technologies, social capital, and strategic influence to drive meaningful change and protect democratic principles.

To navigate this challenging landscape, Forus must foster well-informed and inspiring discussions on strategies for NGOs to safeguard their work, legitimacy, and autonomy. The Forus SUPPORT pillar will prioritise learning opportunities focused on resilience, sustainability, and effectiveness.

Key questions:

• How can NGOs strengthen their resource generation strategies in response to declining institutional funding?
• How can NGOs enhance their online presence while securing legitimacy and strategic partnerships with non-traditional funding sources?

Members Voice

“It is essential to strengthen our resource mobilisation strategy to ensure the sustainability of our actions, improve our communication capacities, guarantee sustainable financial security, integrate cyber activism to enhance technical security, and develop strong partnership networks.

Furthermore, it is crucial to encourage active participation and member engagement by organising regular meetings, creating thematic working groups, and strengthening internal communication. These actions will help foster a sense of belonging and collective responsibility within the organisation.

Finally, it is vital to develop and enhance Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) by creating tools such as performance dashboards, clear success indicators, and feedback mechanisms. These elements will allow us to measure the impact of our projects, ensure their continuous improvement, and align our actions with our strategic objectives.”

2 – Purpose and scope of the services provided by the Learning Modules Partners:

Forus seeks to establish strategic partnerships with experienced organisations or individual specialists to address key thematic areas where Forus members indicated strong interest to learn with dedicated accompaniment.

Interested training organisations or individual specialists may cover one, several, or all of the following areas:

• NGO Management powered by AI and ethical implications – Explore relevant tools and templates to make a responsible use of digital tools to automatise organisational management tasks.
• Digital security tools and protocols – Provide knowledge on preventing and responding to cybersecurity threats for human rights defenders.
• Resource Mobilisation for CSOs in a digital context centred on storytelling and relationship building – Develop creative strategies for financial partnerships and alternative revenue generation for NGOs in response to reduced bilateral donor funding.
• Public speaking for advocacy in multilateral spaces – Enhance advocacy skills in international settings for non-native English speaker leaders or organisations’ spokespersons.

Proposed breakdown based on the number and type of members who will participate in each learning moment:

Each module must be replicated into at least 4 sessions to accommodate time zones and language:

• 2 sessions in English (for different time zones)
• 1 session in French
• 1 session in Spanish.

Sessions will typically last 90-120 minutes, though flexibility is allowed based on Learning Partner/ Specialist proposals.

Introduction to NGO Management powered by A.I: tools and ethical considerations for the use of Artificial Intelligence in social impact work.

• 1 module opt-in modules
• Available from TBC
• General introduction to the topic, showcase some essential tools and develop a task together as a group exercise.
• Workshop format open to all

Digital literacy workshop including resources and tools to prevent and respond to any cybersecurity attack to civil society organisations and individual human rights defenders operating worldwide in countries with different connectivity levels and equipment.

• 2 opt-in modules
• Available from Fall-Winter 2025.
• General introduction to the topic, showcase some essential tools and develop a task together as a group exercise.
• Workshop format open to all members

Resource Mobilisation for CSOs in a digital context centred on storytelling and relationship building

• 6 modules (open to discuss further modalities and options)
• Module available from June 2025 till January 2026
• In depth modules on strategic planning, digital storytelling and communications, for resource mobilisations and funders engagement.
• Session available for 12-15 organisations who answered the 2024 Organisational Self-Assessment.

Public speaking coaching and workshops

• 3 modules
• Module available from August 2025
• Dedicated sessions for women leaders of NGO networks with diverse trajectories and similar responsibilities as advocates/ spokespersons for their organisations.
• Session available for 13 participants of the Leadership Development Programme.

Tasks & Deliverables of Learning Modules Partners / Specialists

Analyse existing materials on members’ needs and past capacity-building efforts and design a structured Training of Trainers curriculum, incorporating an evaluation plan and interactive tools to ensure a dynamic and engaging learning experience, prioritising gamification techniques.

• The training program can respond to all four areas described above, some or only one depending on the area of expertise of the Learning Partner. Multiple Learning Partners can be engaged.

Develop and provide digital learning materials in an adaptable Training of Trainers format, accessible in three languages.

• Include clear presentations, user-friendly templates, and didactic exercises to facilitate knowledge transfer.
• Add a compiled list of relevant resources on institutional strengthening for civil society, including case studies, best practices, and checklists.

Measure learning outcomes and report on feedback and observable changes using pre- and post-training assessments.

Expected Outcomes

• Increased number of members stating that they feel the learning modules supported or contributed to improve their capacities and work in managing their platforms.
• Verifiable evidence that members have improved their organisation’s strategies, processes and/or structures.
• Increased number of members considering that the tools and other resources developed are useful and relevant to their platforms’ sustainability, resilience and effectiveness.
• Leveraged skills of members to speak publicly in international events. (Relevant modules)
• Members confirm they feel more equipped to work with digital technologies and make safe use of them. (Relevant modules)

3 – Requirements

• Learning Module Partners/ specialists may respond to one, some, or all areas of interest.
• Solid experience in creating online learning modules and curriculums.
• The ability produce or reproduce materials/ resources/ videos of the sessions that can be adapted by Forus members to share in their networks. Open-source materials with trainers’ element.
• An evaluation plan and tools to report on learning outcomes and impact.
• Sessions must be interactive and planned in advance for smooth preparation and feedback.
• Strong internet connectivity and flexible scheduling to accommodate members across multiple time zones.
• Sensitivity to international human rights issues and knowledge of international development organisations and networks.
• A commitment to diversity and inclusion, ensuring that training sessions challenge biases and encourage participation from all voices.
• Language proficiency in English, Spanish, and/or French to deliver training in Forus members’ languages.

Principles underpinning this work are:

• Participatory and culturally sensitive process valuing knowledge and approaches from within the context.
• Cross-cutting consideration for inclusion, ensuring that factors related to gender, culture and language are taken into consideration.
• Credibility of the consultant or team of consultants, through use of appropriately skilled experts.

4 – Provisional calendar:

• Deadline for submission of proposals: 18 March 2025
• Selection: 21st March
• Signing contract: Late March
• Implementation: April 2025 – January 2026

Global budget for all learning modules: 35,000 euros (VAT and all applicable taxes included).

5 – Application Procedure

Interested consultants are invited to submit the following documents by 18 March 2025 in electronic format to the following address: recruitment@forus-international.org with “Learning modules” in the subject line:

• Motivation Letter: Detailing relevant experience and understanding of the assignment.
• Technical Proposal: Outlining the proposed methodology, work plan, and timeline.
• Financial Proposal: Detailed budget including daily rates and any other costs (VAT and all applicable taxes must be included).
• CV: Detailed curriculum vitae of the consultant and any team members involved describing experiences delivering online learning courses, training, dynamic workshops for international organisations and networks.
• References: Contact information for three references from similar previous assignments.

Applicants should clearly highlight any current or previous working or personal links to Forus, as well as any risk around conflict of interest.

6 – Proposal Evaluation

The proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the European Union procurement regulations regarding handling of such procurement processes. The Quality-and Cost- Based Method will be used to score the applications.

Contact Information: For any inquiries, please contact Elisa Novoa at elisa.novoa@forus-international.org