TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR DEVELOPING ORGANISATION STRENGTHENING SERVICE PROVIDER’S DATABASE

Download PDF: ToRs for Service Providers Data Base Development

Background

Tilitonse Foundation has partnered with Comic Relief and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK government (UK Aid) to implement a program called SR20- Shift the Power (StP) Program. The program is expected to run from 2022 to 2030 in three phases. The four thematic areas for the Program are: Early Childhood Development, Gender Justice, Mental Health, and Safe and Secure Shelter.

The primary objective of the program is to strengthen and develop the capacity of local Civil Society Organizations to ensure that they are independent and resilient in order for them to effectively execute their mandates. The project has six outcomes and one of these is to develop the capacity of local service providers that work in organizational strengthening and capacity development so that they are able to support local CSOs to implement effective interventions under the StP principles.

A key component of the Shift the Power Program for “developing the capacity of local Civil Society Organizations to ensure that they are independent and resilient” is the provision of capacity development and organizational strengthening support to grant partners. This support is on areas such as programming, institutional governance, leadership and management, resource mobilization, financial management, people management, risk management, monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management and learning.

It is against this background that the Foundation is interested in engaging expert(s) to develop a database for managing information on service providers of capacity development and organizational strengthening services. These service providers will include relevant academic and research institutions, management institutions, professional institutions, private firms, group and individual consultancy firms etc. The database to be developed will be required to include their areas of expertise, skills and experience, contact details, key strategies for delivering the services (training, one off services, mentorship, coaching etc.)
The database developer will be responsible for creating an automated database to streamline data storage, retrieval, use and reporting.

Objectives of the assignment
Closely work with the Capacity Development and Mentoring Specialist and other Tilitonse Foundation staff to create an automated capacity development and organizations strengthening service provider’s database to streamline data storage, retrieval, use and reporting. These service providers will include relevant academic and research institutions, management institutions, professional institutions, private firms, group and individual consultancy firms etc. The database to be developed will be required to include their areas of expertise, skills and experience, contact details, key strategies for delivering the services (training, one off services, mentorship, coaching etc.)
This database will play a central role in identifying, managing and organizing information and data on Service Providers that will be engaged in executing the capacity development and organizational strengthening role of the Tilitonse Foundation.

Scope of work
The duties and responsibilities of the Database Developer will be to:
1. Attend an inception meeting with Tilitonse Foundation to agree on the database design and content, activities, responsible person and timelines.
2. Develop a prototype automated database of service providers for capacity development and organizational strengthening support.
3. Test the prototype automated database with The Foundation staff.
4. Develop the final automated database of service providers for capacity development and organizational strengthening support.
5. Conduct a workshop to orient Tilitonse Foundation staff on the final database.
6. Develop and submit user guidelines for the database.
7. Provide troubleshooting and user support for the initial 6-month period after deployment.

Deliverables
The deliverables under this assignment are listed in the table below:
1. An Inception report detailing understanding of assignment, methodology (including a proposal of 3 database options that can be considered for the work as well as their merits and demerits) and timeline (activities, responsible parties, outputs, and timing).
2. A prototype database of service providers.
3. Test session and feedback from Tilitonse Foundation staff.
4. Final automated database of service providers for capacity development and organizational strengthening support.
5. User guidelines.
6. Back up and troubleshooting support for the initial six months after deploying the database.

Timeframe
The Database development assignment is planned to take place between November 2023 and December 2023. The detailed schedule of the database development will be agreed between the Foundation and the successful individual and/or firm.

Profile of Expert/s
The individual and/or firm should have required qualifications and experience as follows:
– Lead person to have a Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or any closely related field with proven experience in Database Management.
– Proven ability to produce high quality databases and ability to meet deadlines is a must.
– Knowledge of database design principles, including data modeling, normalization, and denormalization.
– Basic understanding of database administration tasks, such as backups, recovery, and performance tuning.
– Experience with ETL processes and tools for data extraction, transformation, and loading.
– Knowledge of database security best practices, including user authentication, authorization, and encryption
– Strong problem-solving skills for identifying and resolving database-related issues.

Criteria for Evaluation
Proposals to develop the database will be evaluated on the following criteria:
– 30%: Technical approach, methodology
– 30%: Understanding of assignment
– 20%: Proposed personnel
– 20%: Cost competitiveness and value

Application Process
Interested and qualified service providers are invited to apply. The service providers must submit the following documents/information:
1. A technical proposal detailing applicants understanding of ToRs, proposed methodology and applicant’s key member’s CV where applicable.
2. A financial proposal (in Malawi Kwacha) should be included in the submission
3. Contacts (email and phone numbers) of 3 former clients or referees
4. A detailed list of similar assignments that the consultant has conducted in the past 3 years

All submissions should be made, including full Technical and Financial Proposals, by 31st October 2023 to the addresses below;
Physical Address – Tilitonse Foundation Plot No. 128, Lizulu Street Area 47 Sector 5 LILONGWE Malawi
Postal Address – Tilitonse Foundation P.O. Box 31815 LILONGWE Malawi
Email Address – submissions@tilitonsefoundation.org with a copy to: a.manjolo@tilitonsefoundation.org