Priority Markets Expression of Interest

Who are we & why this open call?

The Dovetail Impact Foundation fuels extraordinary organizations serving individuals experiencing extreme poverty. In the next few years, Dovetail is interested in discovering new partners in a subset of our overall geographies of interest, which we are terming Priority Markets - high-need markets where overall poverty rates are very high and growing, and there's a lower density of private philanthropy. 

Dovetail Impact Foundation invites expressions of interest from organizations in the below priority markets for funding based on the following criteria (no need for current Dovetail partners to reply, or for organizations outside of these geographies).

Current Priority Markets are:

1. Madagascar

2. Mozambique

3. DR Congo

4. Burundi

5. Zambia

6. Niger

7. Tanzania

8. Burkina Faso

9. Chad

10. Ethiopia

11. Bangladesh

Funding priorities

We will prioritize prospects with a laser focus on solutions that put people on a meaningful pathway out of poverty. We will consider organizations with the potential for at least national level scale, and where appropriate, beyond country borders. Dovetail will look for organizations embodying the following qualities (“SEEDS”):

• Scalability: Model is designed to achieve accelerating, increasingly cost-effective and sustainable impact at scale for individuals and families experiencing extreme poverty.

• Endurance: Organization has a theory of change and financial health to thrive in various economic conditions. Always open to adapting the model for long-term impact.

• Evidence-based: Right-sized evidence that the intervention delivers durable results and can expand reach over time without substantially sacrificing impact.

• Drive: Leadership team is highly coachable and operates with urgency to solve big problems. They radically collaborate with peers to achieve scaled impact at an accelerated pace.

• Servant Leadership: Leadership and board inspire trust, operate with integrity, and demonstrate great care for their team and those they serve. They are intentionally curious and consistently demonstrate a desire to be “forever improving.”

Sector Focus

Given the multi-dimensional nature of poverty, Dovetail does not grant in only one sector, but is open to organizations whose model focuses on poverty alleviation efforts in one of these four core sectors. We are looking for organizations who are focused on addressing a piece of a big problem with a simple enough model to achieve measurable results, most often in just one of the following categories; prioritizing solutions that deliver results against one or more of the following indicators: 

• Health

• Decreases in maternal and/or under-five mortality rates

• Increases in access and uptake of WASH

• Increases in coverage of essential health services

• Reductions in disease 

• Positive shifts in mental health

• Education

• Increases in primary school learning levels/completion rates

• Increases in functional literacy and numeracy rates

• Increases in the proportion of 2-6 yr olds developmentally “on track”

• Increases in caregiver and/or teacher competency (in service of learning outcomes)

• Livelihoods

• Increases in productivity and yield of small-scale farmers

• Increases in income & income diversification

• Increases in household assets and savings

• Decreases in Food Insecurity

• Justice

• Increases in adults who perceive their rights as secure

• Increases in documented and secure tenure rights to land

• Deterrence or prevalence reduction for particular crimes

• Reductions in violence or exploitation for vulnerable groups

To express your interest in exploring the funding opportunity with Dovetail Impact Foundation, please fill out this short expression of interest format. This is not an application for funding, simply a way to introduce your organization to our team. We will be reviewing these letters on a rolling basis.