Consultant - Africa Cities Partnership & Engagement Strategy

The consultancy will undertake the following tasks:

Situational Analysis: 

• Conduct a comprehensive stakeholder review of the current organizations working in areas that intersect with WRI Africa Cities strategy. 
• Assess the relevance of the current WRI Africa cities partnerships and their alignment with the WRI strategy 2024-2025. 
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in the current WRI partnership approach

Partnership Strategy Development:
 Identify potential strategic partners including:

• Donors (including institutional funders (bilateral, multilateral donors), foundations as well as non-traditional funders), and
• NGOs (specifically strategic peer organizations, with complementary expertise, that WRI could effectively collaborate with to advance work in African cities).
•  Develop strategies for engagement, collaboration, and partnership building. 
•  Outline mechanisms for maintaining and managing partnerships. 
•  Support the Africa Development and Cities team with the organization/preparation of one urban-focused partners roundtable (one engagement session) (including by identifying key donors, developing agenda etc.)

 Capacity Building:

•  Conduct training sessions for the WRI Cities team in Africa on effective fundraising and partnership building. 
•  Develop a resource toolkit for ongoing use by the team

 Monitoring and Evaluation:

•  Work with the Africa Development and Cities team to develop targets and metrics for the fundraising and partnerships plan. 

WRI will provide guidance on:

• WRI Africa Cities team’s existing strategy, pillar narratives and existing partnerships. 
• Team members to be consulted. 
• WRI editorial style guide, branding and visual style guidelines. 

DELIVERABLES :

The consultant is expected to deliver the following:

• An inception report outlining the proposed methodology and work plan within 1 week of signing the contract. 
• A comprehensive situational analysis report within one month of signing the contract. 
• A draft detailed Fundraising and Partnership Strategy document within one and a half months of signing of the contract. 
• A final WRI Africa Cities Partnership and Engagement Plan (2024-2029), (summarized to a maximum of 20 pages), incorporating feedback by September 3o, 2024. This plan should also include a resource toolkit and a monitoring and evaluation framework. 
• A 4-page summarized document, and a brief PowerPoint deck that is externally facing (for use in future donor and partnership engagement) by September 30, 2024. 
• A report on 1st donors/partners meeting with clear follow up plans by October 2024. 

BUDGET:

• The maximum value of the proposed contract is $12,000.
• Please note that WRI is an IRS-registered 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization. WRI is not VAT exempt. All prices or quotes should include VAT and tax, as applicable.

Requirements:

• The selected vendor should be able to demonstrate the required expertise and the equipment to execute the task. 
• The selected vendor should be available for engagements with the WRI teams supervising this assignment during this consultancy period. 

Qualifications and Experience:

The selected consultant(s) should have:

• Proven experience in fundraising and partnership development, preferably within the context of urbanization or cities. 
• Strong understanding of the funding landscape and donor environment in Africa. 
• Excellent research, analytical, and strategic planning skills. 
• Experience in capacity building and training. 
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.