Increasingly, development project funds from the UK’s DFID require demonstration of value for money and at least some element of RBCOD (results-based cash on delivery). Not only are these elements increasing in frequency, but their share of points available when competing proposals are scored is increasing too. This change is also true of EC development funds, partly because UK, as a contributor, is lobbying for it.
NGOs are struggling to know how to cope with this change, having grown-up in an environment of easily accessible funds and very little financial accountability beyond filing honest accounts.
I have seen discussions flounder when it came to how to demonstrate achievement of proposed outcomes, and even more so on how to propose measuring them rigorously enough to satisfy funders without the NGO taking on unacceptable risk themselves or on behalf of their in-country partners.
Could documented micro-actions plug into this situation and provide an element of payment by results?