The process of creating the Futuro Bem Maior call for proposals: a fusion of qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The "Futuro Bem Maior" (Greater Future) call for proposals , from the Bem Maior Movement (MBM), stems from the desire to collaboratively weave a more equal Brazil for all. We understand that, to co-create the country we want, it is necessary to connect the philanthropic threads of the territory with its municipalities, communities, and individuals.

In February of this year, the Getúlio Vargas Foundation conducted a survey indicating that the number of people living in poverty in Brazil jumped from 9.5 million in August 2020 to more than 27 million. Hunger has returned to the national agenda, with 19 million people experiencing severe food insecurity, according to 2020 data from the PENSSAN Network . This represents 9 million more Brazilians compared to 2018.

The pandemic highlighted social inequality at the national level and brought the issue of social vulnerability to the forefront. Data points to a fragile country facing the aftermath of the pandemic with its scars and consequences. At the same time, it reinforces the unity of organized civil society in attempting to heal these wounds through mobilization. And it is through the thread of philanthropy that we are creating bonds of solidarity to build solutions and address pressing social needs.

In its third edition, the Futuro Bem Maior (Greater Future) program is yielding results and building a thesis of systemic transformation in which, to leverage the socioeconomic development of municipalities with high social vulnerability in Brazil, it is necessary to encourage the protagonism of local leaders – as they are the only ones capable of understanding the challenges and building effective solutions. Social problems are complex and multifaceted, and the solution must be built through dialogue and the vision of a legitimate community agent.

By working to strengthen Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) or collectives with broad local recognition, MBM helps them increase their capacity to solve relevant social problems. This is done through capacity building of the management team, process improvement, and assistance with transparency, which consequently helps them attract new partners and investors, and supports local socioeconomic development. To this end, Futuro Bem Maior provides financial resources, exposure and credibility, training, and integration into exchange networks with other social entrepreneurs.

In the two previous calls for proposals, MBM supported a total of 86 social organizations in various states across the country, with a total investment of R$7,915,064.08. Diagnostic assessments were conducted in both editions to understand the organizations' perception of the partnership, and evidence of significant changes was observed after the support ended. These organizations developed institutionally and, consequently, were able to increase and improve the quality of their social work.

After completing the selection phase of the third edition of the Futuro Bem Maior qualitative and quantitative methodologies .

Methodology

The third call for proposals is based on the premise that isolated numerical data are easily misinterpreted; therefore, any selection analysis requires a human perspective. The process begins with understanding the ultimate goal and the desired profile. Encouraging an organization's leadership in a vulnerable community means, beyond financial support, investing in the institutional strengthening of the organization itself and the agents responsible for identifying and understanding local needs. Therefore, the selection matrix is ​​established through a structural analysis of the organization and the synergy of its activities with the demands of its municipality. The call for proposals goes beyond supporting a specific cause and focuses on the organization's development, enabling it to operate with greater quality and increase its local impact.

Greater Future begins , divided into four stages:

1. The first step is the automatic exclusion of those who did not correctly fill out all the fields on the form and/or did not submit all the requested documentation within the established deadline;
2. The second stage, also involving automatic exclusion, disqualifies those that do not meet the guiding criteria of the call for proposals. These criteria were created to increase the chances for social organizations that would generally be outside the field of vision of large funders, either because they are far from large urban centers or because they are not scalable solutions. The criteria were: 1) being a CSO with bylaws/statutes or being a collective with at least two legal representatives; 2) not being associated with any political party; 3) having a proven track record of at least 5 years, giving credibility and legitimacy to the work it performs ; 4) having a maximum annual budget of R$ 500,000 in 2020 and not exceeding R$ 500,000 in the forecast for the 2021 budget, ensuring access to small organizations generally outside the vision of large funders ; and, 5) operating directly (headquartered) in a municipality with up to 200,000 inhabitants, according to IBGE estimates for 2020.
3. The third stage involves an individual analysis of the selected organizations within a priority filter, followed by document analysis. The filters guided the risk assessment of each organization, taking into account factors such as: financial stability and sustainability, its network of local partnerships over the past year, and its transparency in disclosing processes and results. In addition, the organization's purpose and the submitted project proposal were evaluated, paying attention to feasibility and coherence. After that, a meticulous look was initiated at the data provided by the organization, the activity schedules, the project team table, document analysis, and cross-referencing in search of validation of the project's relevance using secondary data from the municipality (IVM, IDEB, school dropout percentage, among others);
4. In the final stage, a group of 50 organizations was selected and submitted to a specially formed committee for deliberation, responsible for the final decision. The committee, composed of 9 technical experts, 3 from MBM itself and 6 representatives of civil society, aimed to ensure that the choices represent an inclusive and plural decision-making process.

Among the processes used, it is considered relevant to delve into the construction of the scoring system for stage 3, which accompanied the individual analysis. The scoring system was used as an experiment to observe whether the quantitative approximated the qualitative . The criteria were built upon seven themes associated with transparency, people management, fundraising, financial management, and digital presence. Each criterion corresponds to a set of responses, classified on a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being the highest value. In the end, all criteria are added and ranked between 0 and 35 points. There was a hypothesis that the organizations relevant to the call for proposals would be present in the 20 to 30 point scoring range, due to the structural, financial, and fundraising difficulties they might present. The hypothesis was confirmed when comparing the qualitative analysis with the scoring results, where the cross-referencing proved to be very efficient and could be better utilized in future calls for proposals.

qualitative and quantitative approach to evaluating organizations, trying to find a humanized methodology amidst so much data. In this respect, it is important to emphasize that the success of a good scoring system stems from the correct formulation of the registration questionnaire, in which each question must have a purpose, a clear analysis behind it, and must be written in a way that does not direct answers or generate doubt about what is being asked.

It is worth highlighting that much of what we have learned has come from partnerships and collaborations with very experienced organizations, and we thank them all for their immense generosity. It is important to emphasize our partnership with the Phi Institute, which has been a great partner throughout these three editions and, based on its extensive experience in social project management, has been helping us build an initiative that truly adds value to those who need it most. 

We are aware that developing new tools to foster institutional development and strengthen impactful social actions at the grassroots level are continuous processes of active listening, adaptation, and improvement. The version presented here Lean Thinking concepts , has already generated ideas and new proposals for future calls .

We feel comfortable and excited to share this experience with you, managers of social organizations participating in calls for proposals like this one, or managers of social organizations that grant providers who, like us, want to continue improving their practices and are interested in applying similar methodologies in their selection/evaluation processes. Anyone wishing to learn more and exchange experiences or insights on the subject, please contact us. Let's work together towards a Brazil of opportunities!

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This article was written by

Beatriz Waclawek, Project Coordinator of the Bem Maior Movement

Larissa Guimarães, Data Analyst at the Bem Maior Movement

Read also: How institutions supported by Futuro Bem Maior acted during the pandemic.

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