Xtracycle Access Foundation (XAccess) is seeking proposals for joint projects on low-cost transportation to aid farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries.

• Do you represent a locally focused NGO, appropriate technology group, nonprofit, clinic, or church, working to meet the needs of a community in a developing country?
  
  
• Would you like to offer dependable low-cost transportation options to your community or target groups?

If you have read about our technologies, and determined that cargo-hauling bicycles would make an impact for the community you serve, please consider preparing a joint proposal with XAccess for a partnership to distribute our technologies.

A joint proposal will detail and account for the costs of:

•  Research
•  Technology purchases
•  Maintenance
•  Project overheads of both organizations
•  Documentation

In the proposal, you will focus on establishing the local need and project capacity:

•   Background of your group.
•   Regional background
•   Number of people who will benefit directly from the project
•   Anticipated increase in incomes due to improved transportation
•   Other measures of social benefit from the project
•   Information on the Micro-Lending program

And we will focus on:

•   Transportation expertise, including photos and prior research
•   Proposed technology solution
•   Proposed maintenance scheme

Together, we will outline a documentation system that we will use to will measure the success of the project.

Our donors will be choosing between your proposal and several other active XAccess projects, not to mention the many worthy projects of other environmental and economic development charities. When considering where to make social investments, they choose the projects that yield the highest social returns:

•   They want to create a long-term benefit that will not diminish, but grow over time.
•   They want to give to communities with clear, compelling needs.
•   They want to give to communities that will see profound improvements from our technologies.
•   They want to give to projects that help XAccess advance as an organization.
•   They prefer us to work through partnerships with well-regarded local NGOs, as this increases our chances of an effective project.
•   They expect to see regular and richly detailed reports of the progress of the projects they fund.

To attract funding, we must sculpt projects that meet these concerns. Please address these points in your proposal:

1. Distribution
   • How will you distribute the bicycles to the project's beneficiaries?
   • Will people buy the bicycles? Rent them? Borrow them?
   • Approximately how many bicycles do you plan to distribute?
   • If you are selling bicycles, will you consider a Micro-Credit Lending Scheme to help people make the purchase? If so, has your organization done a micro-credit agreement in the past? Do you have a bank to sponsor the micro-credit loans?
2. The need
   • What specific problems are you trying to address in your community/region through improved transportation?
   • Who will benefit?
   • How many people will benefit?
   • What local challenges are we trying to address?
   • Can this project be tied in to causes that American donors have readily funded in the past: children, women, health, AIDS, education.
3. Agricultural background [address this question if your project is focused on agricultural transportation.]
   • What are the cash crops in the district?
   • Do farmers bring crops to a market?
   • If so, how far is the journey? How large is the market?
   • How much money can a farmer make at the market?
   • How much food do they sell (in kilograms) to earn this amount?
   • If there is no market in your region or district, where do farmers sell their produce?
4. Micro-Entrepreneurship background [address this question if your project is focused on transportation for micro-entrepreneurs. Please answer both #3 and #4 if your project is focused on both groups.]
   • Which small businesses/entrepreneurs in your region would benefit from improved transportation?
   • Do you have any anecdotal, statistical, or photographic evidence to show the need for better transport?
     
5. Terrain
   • Describe the roads and routes in your region. Hilly? Flat? Muddy? Dry? How many months of the year have ideal riding weather?
     
6. Popularity of bicycles in your region
   • Do you have any estimates of the popularity and uses of bicycles in your community/region, that could help us predict the demand for XAccess technologies?
   • Are there currently bikes in use in your district?
   • If so, what kind, and how common are they?
   • How do people use their bicycles?
   • What repairs or improvements are most needed?
   • Do people spend money repairing their bicycles?
7. Maintanence
   • Chains break. Gears wear out. Tires go flat. Wheels wobble. Who will maintain the bicycles?
   • Is there a repairer in your town?
   • How do you propose to keep the entire fleet rolling?
   • Who will pay for repairs, spare parts?
8. Project space
   • Do you have space in mind for the project?
   • Please elaborate on the space you have in mind for the project.
   • Would that include: desk space, repair space, storage space?
   • If so for how many bikes? -
9. Travel considerations
   • Executing a successful project together may require that an XAccess volunteer travel to your region to train, teach, organize, and support the project.
   • Please describe how one travels to your region from the United States
   • Language considerations: do people speak English? If not, what is the language of the region?
   • Please describe the hospitality available, either through your organization or in the town/district
10. Demonstrating strong partnership
    • Starting small is a great way to demonstrate a strong partnership potential.
    • Can your organization afford a small pilot project of $300 - $3000 which would include shipment of a handful of bicycles?
    • If not, can you point to successful partnerships with other NGO's? Please provide a reference to contact at one or more of these partners?
11. Growth potential
    • What network is in place in your region that would enable us to spread this technology easily to other location?
    • Are you connected to local government, other NGO's? What contacts do have in the press or development community that would help publicize a successful project?
12. Documentation
    • Who will be responsible for documenting this project with photographs and reports, to help us evaluate the impact we have had in your region?
    • What will be their expenses, and who will cover those expenses?
    • What cameras, video cameras, voice recorders, and other equipment would be used?
    • Do you have samples available of project reports prepared for other projects that would show the quality of your documentation?
13. Fundraising
    • Have you identified any potential sources of funding for this project?