Call for Applications: Work4Progress Program

The W4P programme promotes social innovation platforms for action and learning upon which innovative solutions can be scaled. The programme focuses on prototyping high-impact solutions that are identified in spaces for co-creation and collaborative learning.

Objectives

• The main objective is the creation of employment for vulnerable populations, primarily in rural environments of India, Mozambique and Peru, with special emphasis on young people and women.
• To meet it, inclusive businesses will be developed and their impact, sustainability and resilience maximised by establishing and strengthening the W4P ecosystems which, under a network of local agents, include support services for the entrepreneurial ecosystem and financial and non-financial services focusing on local and sustainable economic development in the regions in which the W4P programme operates.
• Therefore, the focus must remain on promoting multi-agent (involving private and public agents, social entrepreneurs, civil society, etc.) and multi-variable (acting on several levels) solutions for true systematic changes that provide for greater scaling and sustainability of the proposed models, thus increasing the impact on the communities.
• To develop the sub-objectives, the call has two financing models:
  • Donation model: 
    • Design, start-up, acceleration and scaling of business and service prototypes, seeking their commercial and financial viability at all times while generating long-term employment for the populations of the respective regions.
      • Design of new medium- to large-scale prototypes associated with the portfolio of prototypes implemented by Work4Progress, with a special focus on the circular economy, the energy transition, and the adaptation to climate change.
      • Encouragement of access to the markets of the portfolio of prototypes implemented by Work4Progress, with particular priority given to the involvement of the business sector.
      • Development of technological innovations to improve business competitiveness, including their digitisation and giving priority to innovations that supplement the activities implemented by the Work4Progress programme.
  • Refundable financing model: 
    • Design and start-up of a financing scheme that contributes to the acceleration and scaling of business and service prototypes to:
      • Close financing gaps during the early stages of innovation and in growth stages of MSMEs, due to the lack of adequate products or the high perception of risk by local investors or financial backers.
      • Give support to the two MSME target segments:
        • Impact MSMEs: The companies developed through the prototypes of the W4P programme which deal with the impact objectives of the programme.
        • Aggregator or ecosystem driving SMEs: The companies from the W4P ecosystem environment that can act as aggregators (cooperatives, marketers, or service providers) or driving forces of the value chains related with the prototypes of the programme.
• With a focus on ecosystem development and networking, applying for the models in the call can be strategically combined in an attempt to implement supplementary objectives:
  • Improving access to financing for the beneficiary population, especially women and young people.
  • Strengthening collaboration among sectors (government, social sector, academia, and companies) and networking.
  • Access to sources of co-financing (calls, local philanthropy, impact investment, grant programmes of state institutions, etc.).
  • Raising awareness of the impact potential and systematisation of best practices and lessons learned.
  • Development of a technological and skill-based infrastructure for the objectives of the call.

Funding Information

• The financing models will be as follows:
  • Donation model: 
    • Proposals of up to a maximum of 800,000 euros, including tax, if applicable:
      • For networks of up to a maximum of 4 principal institutions.
      • With a focus on streamlining the current portfolio of prototypes in each country, preferably in the geographical areas of operation, connecting to markets and designing larger scale prototypes as specified in section 2.
    • Proposals of up to a maximum of 250,000 euros, including tax, if applicable: 
      • For applicant institutions that have not previously received funds from the Work4Progress programme.
      • For networks of up to a maximum of 2 institutions (provided one of them is local). For this model, particularly innovative proposals submitted by just one institution will also be accepted, provided it is local.
      • For projects focusing on developing particularly innovative solutions for businesses developed on Work4Progress platforms in the areas of:
        • e-commerce.
        • Connection to markets and/or production chains of large companies.
        • Technology for improving the competitiveness of inclusive businesses.
        • Innovative financing instruments.
        • Circular economy, the creation of green jobs and energy transition for business competitiveness.
  • Refundable financing model: 
    • Proposals of up to a maximum of 500,000 euros, including taxes, where appropriate, to pilot or scale a financing scheme that seeks the deployment of one or several adequate and accessible instruments for the maturity and financing needs of the impact MSMEs supported by the Work4Progress networks or aggregator SMEs from the Work4Progress ecosystem environment.
    • Refundable financing is established under the following parameters, into which the design of the proposed financing scheme must fit:
      • Resource payment term by “la Caixa” Foundation of up to 2 years.
      • Annual payments in accordance with an action plan to deploy the financing scheme. Each payment will be approved against submission of the financing plan and its approval by “la Caixa” Foundation.
      • The term for placing resources in MSMEs will be suitable for the deployment of funds in line with the conditions of the direct financing instrument for the target MSMEs, to be defined by the institution.
      • The agreement will determine the manner and frequency of repayment to “la Caixa” Foundation according to the scheme proposed:
        • The repayment term will be between 3 and 5 years, starting once the payment period has ended. Other schemes for terms may be considered provided they are justified in the design and with the recovery conditions of the direct financing instruments to target MSMEs.
        • Structures proposing payment based on the share of net profits will be favourably viewed.

Geographical Areas of Action 

• India, Mozambique and Peru and, preferably, the regions where the Work4Progress programme is currently being implemented, or other regions in which it is possible to make connections and create synergies with Work4Progress programme activities.
• In the case of the Refundable financing model, “la Caixa” Foundation reserves the right to prioritise any proposals submitted for implementation in regions with regulatory frameworks that favour impact investment.

Eligibility Criteria

• Donation model 
  • Networks of 2-4 institutions led by a non-profit organisation that submit a proposal to strengthen any of the existing Work4Progress platforms in accordance with the general and supplementary objectives described in Section 2 may take part in this call.
  • Requirements
    • Institutions leading the proposal must meet the following requirements:
      • They must be not-for-profit institutions.
      • They must have an accounts audit report.
      • They must have at least 5 years experience in fighting poverty, generating employment, international cooperation and/or innovation, especially technological.
      • If Spanish or international institutions, they must be accompanied by at least one institution from the country in which the proposal is to be implemented.
      • If Spanish or international institutions, they must prove at least 3 years’ a experience in the country in which the proposal is to be implemented.
      • If institutions are not Spanish, they must prove experience of collaboration with Spanish organisations and/or multilateral bodies (UNDP, etc.).
      • Any specific experience in the geographical areas in which the Work4Progress networks operate will be considered particularly positive.
  • The networks must include one or more of the following types of partners (justification must be provided if they are not included):
    • Incubators and accelerators of social enterprises with a presence in the target countries.
    • Local social economy companies and business associations and other articulators of the social enterprise ecosystem, startups, small-scale local companies based in the countries of operation, cooperatives and similar, provided that the costs incurred by these associations and organisations as part of their proposals for the Work4Progress programme are exclusively direct and that the roles and responsibilities of these institutions are clearly defined in the proposal and reflected in the budget. Under no circumstances will the structural costs of such institutions be accepted.
  • Networks that incorporate the following types of partners will, moreover, be considered very favourably:
    • Institutions in the fields of academia and research from the countries of operation.
    • Micro-financing or social impact investment institutions from the countries of operation.
• Refundable financing model 
  • Networks of 2-4 institutions led by a non-profit or for-profit organisation specialising in financing and with social interest which submit a proposed scheme for the sustainability and scaling of the MSMEs in the Work4Progress ecosystems may take part in this call. Especially innovative proposals submitted by local institutions will be valued positively.
  • Requirements
    • Institutions leading the proposal must meet the following requirements:
      • They must be non-profit institutions or, if for-profit, they must specialise in the development of the activity and have a social interest (micro-financing institutions or development finance institutions or social impact investment funds).
      • They must have an accounts audit report, with full financial statements, notes and the auditor’s opinion, where applicable.
      • They must have proven experience of at least 5 years in the management of financing instruments or social impact investments in areas related with fighting poverty, generating employment, developing production sectors, international cooperation and/or innovation, especially technological, in the countries of the Work4Progress programme. They must have portfolio status, management and quality reports.
      • If Spanish or international institutions, they must be accompanied by at least one institution from the country in which the proposal is to be implemented.
      • If Spanish or international institutions, they must prove at least 3 years’ a experience in the country in which the proposal is to be implemented.
      • Any specific experience in the geographical areas in which the Work4Progress networks operate will be considered particularly positive.
• The following will be positively valued for both models:
  • The network of institutions is already linked or generates new ties and activities to innovate and maximise the impact within the framework of existing Work4Progress ecosystems.
  • The networks promote local ownership through greater presence of local partners and adapting structural costs wherever possible.
  • Institutions with quality certification.
  • Proven experience in networking and flexibility to form part of a social innovation platform.
  • Membership of bodies, networks and platforms of coordination and collaboration.
  • Proven experience in collaborating with local authorities in the countries and regions in which the Work4Progress networks operate.
  • Available experienced personnel based in the geographical areas of the Work4Progress networks.
  • Inclusion in the proposal of partners, either confirmed or potential, with the capacity or desire to become potential joint financial backers; the provision of commitment letters is therefore recommended.

Ineligible

• The Public authorities and international or multilateral organisations and bodies are excluded (the proposals of private institutions with a public shareholding and a social impact mandate will be considered).
• Applicant institutions may submit one proposal for each model (donation and refundable financing), provided the strategic complementary nature of both proposals is justified and, in all cases, the activities, structure or budgets are not duplicated. The agents of the network may or may not be the same in both proposals, although a strategy with a systemic and network-strengthening approach will be valued.
• The applicant institution may submit one proposal as the leading institution and form part of a network submitted in another proposal in which it is not the leader. In this case, the strategic complementary nature of both proposals will be favourably viewed and, in all cases, the fact that the activities, structure or budget are not duplicated.
• Institutions with projects in progress within the Work4Progress programme applying for a subsequent phase must submit the final reports or, in the absence thereof, a pre-finalisation technical and economic report, including a justification and audit of at least 80 % of the funds awarded by “la Caixa” Foundation. Where it has not yet been possible to implement 80 % of the funds awarded, detailed planning of the funds committed and/or pending implementation must be attached to the documentation required above and, in all cases, these must be implemented at the start of the subsequent phase.
• The structural costs of business or for-profit organisations will not be financed.

For more information, visit “La Caixa” Foundation.