Flipping the Script: The Reverse Call for Proposals

What if local com­mu­ni­ties and civ­il soci­ety groups could set their own pri­or­i­ties and choose the inter­na­tion­al part­ners they work with? That’s exact­ly what the Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als (RCP) is all about: a bold new approach that emerged from the RINGO pro­to­typ­ing process.

“For once, we are hav­ing com­mu­ni­ties devise a devel­op­ment tra­jec­to­ry based on their own pri­or­i­ties.” Eng­wase Mwale, Zam­bian Gov­er­nance Foun­da­tion

At the RINGO Com­mu­ni­ty Gath­er­ing on 10th July 2025, we wel­comed guest speak­ers who had par­tic­i­pat­ed in the first test­ing of a Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als in Zam­bia, where instead of INGOs set­ting the agen­da, local organ­i­sa­tions lead and INGOs respond.

 Their insights showed how pow­er­ful this shift can be:

• Com­mu­ni­ty-led design: Local groups focused on real needs like food secu­ri­ty, edu­ca­tion, and farm­ing.
• Pow­er of choice: Nyankan­ga Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion chose Plan Inter­na­tion­al Zam­bia because they aligned with their vision.
• Equal foot­ing: Both sides con­duct­ed due dili­gence on each oth­er, build­ing trust and mutu­al respect.
• Real learn­ing: INGOs saw this as a way to rethink their role, mov­ing beyond sub-grant­i­ng.

Reflections from the process

Eng­wase Mwale from Zam­bian Gov­er­nance Foun­da­tion (ZGF) shared how they con­vened com­mu­ni­ty foun­da­tions and facil­i­tat­ed a process to iden­ti­fy the assets and needs of their con­stituents. ZGF then issued a Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als to INGOs and fun­ders. 

“The reverse call is not just about a new grant process, it is a new way of see­ing com­mu­ni­ties and their par­tic­i­pa­tion in devel­op­ment process­es — with com­mu­ni­ties at the cen­tre of devel­op­ment.” Eng­wase Mwale, ZGF

Antoinette Ngo­ma from Plan Inter­na­tion­al Zam­bia described how the Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als aligns with Plan International’s com­mit­ment to the Pledge for Change and chal­lenges them to part­ner bet­ter as an INGO, focussing on more equi­table part­ner­ships and mutu­al­i­ty.

“The Reverse Call was a good oppor­tu­ni­ty for us to demon­strate that beyond sub­grant­i­ng, we can real­ly turn part­ner­ships on its head, and do some­thing quite rev­o­lu­tion­ary” Antoinette Ngo­ma, Plan Inter­na­tion­al Zam­bia 

Mar­tin Kalum­ba from Plan Inter­na­tion­al Zam­bia reflect­ed that although the process of shift­ing the pow­er to com­mu­ni­ties hasn’t been smooth sail­ing, par­tic­i­pat­ing in the Reverse Call pro­vid­ed a valu­able learn­ing jour­ney in com­mu­ni­ty led devel­op­ment.

“Our engage­ment with Nyankan­ga has been a learn­ing curve. We’ve been try­ing to change our mind­sets, change the way we think in terms of our pro­gram­ming… it’s an arrange­ment where every­thing begins from the com­mu­ni­ty.” Mar­tin Kalum­ba, Plan Inter­na­tion­al Zam­bia

Fredrick Simabisi from the Nyankan­ga Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion shared how this process has been trans­for­ma­tive for the com­mu­ni­ty as they were able to deter­mine how fund­ing was spent, where­as projects are usu­al­ly in the hands of the donors.  

Click here for the key points raised in the zoom chat

Is your organisation ready to participate in a Reverse Call for Proposals?

Dur­ing the ses­sion, we pre­sent­ed an oppor­tu­ni­ty for organ­i­sa­tions to join two new cohorts (one group of CSOs/networks, one group of INGO/funders) that RINGO coach­es will accom­pa­ny through a Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als process:

• If you are a CSO or net­work and would like to join a cohort to issue a Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als, click here
• If you are an INGO or fun­der and would like to join a cohort to bet­ter pre­pare to respond to a reverse call for pro­pos­als, click here

We are accept­ing expres­sions of inter­est until the end of August 2025.

Conclusion

The Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als is not just a new grant process, it is a step towards shared pow­er, local lead­er­ship and stronger part­ner­ships. 

Let us sup­port mod­els that put com­mu­ni­ties in the dri­ving seat.

• Click here for the RINGO Case Study on the Reverse Call for Pro­pos­als in Eng­lish
• Haga clic aquí para con­sul­tar el estu­dio de caso de RINGO sobre la con­vo­ca­to­ria de prop­ues­tas inver­sa en español
• Cliquez ici pour l’é­tude de cas RINGO sur l’ap­pel à propo­si­tions inver­sé en français