Submission of Micro Projects
The primary objective of this document is to disseminate and acquaint stakeholders with the operational procedures employed by Afo-A-KomUSA for the sourcing and evaluating projects and initiatives, both within the Kom region and beyond.
Overview: As presented in the 2023 Atlanta Convention General Assembly, we have reimagined both how Afo-a-kom generates ideas for new projects and how the team thinks about projects overall. This is approached with two critical elements in mind: Practicality and Amplification.
Practicality – Here, the key objective is to give an opportunity for more Afo-a-kom members to raise project ideas and to decouple this aspect from the convention. This will allow for appropriate representation and proper vetting of ideas and proposals. Essentially, the organization will no longer wait until the convention to develop projects by “show of hand,” where there’s limited time and data for the general assembly or leadership to make informed decisions.
Amplification – We seek to amplify outcomes from our projects and efforts by other community builders in Kom. The focus is to deliver on projects that create a broad impact in Kom, with an even wider blast radius when put together. The goal is to catalyze and enable broad impact across Kom.
For questions, please refer to: info@afoakomusa.org/afoakomusainc@gmail.com
Other submission routes: Projects – AFO-A-KOM USA (afoakomusa.org)
Project categories can be selected in the submission form and include Education and Leadership, Arts and Culture, Health, Finance, Infrastructure, and Agriculture.
Afo-a-kom project budget has been approved for 2023/24 year to be used for micro-projects (i.e., less than $4000 each). We can fund part or all of a project up to this max per initiative.
: Key information required is included on the submission form. We will mainly look at the problem you are trying to solve, the expected impact on the community, including the target group, and how solutions can/will be sustained over time.
Be thoughtful and thorough in completing the submission. Help others feel the problem you are trying to solve and why Afo-a-kom should invest in the solution. Highlight other sources of funding or support, for example, from you, from the community, other elites, etc., if applicable.
Submissions cannot be made anonymously. Submissions must be from registered members in good standing.
No. Multiple submissions will not improve chances. Duplicate submissions will be considered as a single entry for the purpose of assessment. However, themes arising from submissions can indicate potential areas of prioritization by the organization.
While this is part of our long-term vision, we are deliberately starting with development within Kom itself.
No. While great ideas can come from anywhere, we will ask that Afo-a-kom members be the face and sponsors of submissions.
Data includes:
• Requester’s information (Name, Chapter, Village of origin, contacts, etc.)
• Project details (Category, description, problem, expected impact, etc.)
• Funding (Estimated budget, community involvement, other funding sources, etc.)
Note: Completing the request form in its entirety will satisfy this requirement.
The project committee will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating submissions. They will bring in other volunteers or outside partners/experts as appropriate to effectively complete these tasks. The committee will use a review scorecard with criteria to consider the project’s alignment with Afo-akom USA’s mission and potential impact on the target community. All submitted and reviewed projects will be available to members.
[Possible twist: Committee evaluates and picks a shortlist of projects plus rationale, and members vote on which to fund]
