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The call for proposals: a transparent and effective grant-making instrument.
The call for proposals is an important instrument that foundations of banking origin adopt to pursue their mission’s objectives. Official sources report that in 2010 21% of all grants allocated by foundations in Italy (around 290 million euros) were awarded through calls.
The call is a traditional instrument that has evolved over time in order to meet the different challenges that Foundations face in the communities in which they operate. As a result, the term has come to refer to a number of different solutions that differ in terms of project type, grant beneficiaries, eligibility criteria, selection procedure and grant allocation conditions.
However, there are two elements that remain the same and that hold in themselves the strength and the appeal of this grant-making instrument.
First, the call channels energies and skills from across the area of reference that are pooled to draw up innovative and effective proposals targeting issues regarded as priorities by grant-making foundations in their activity to support the local community. A call triggers healthy competition and leads to the establishment of new partnerships among eligible beneficiaries that are called to work together to find joint solutions for the issues at stake.
Secondly, the call ensures that foundations perform their grant-making activity transparently and effectively: all potential beneficiaries play on an even field and the selection procedure follows technical evaluation...