TB REACH employs a two-stage application process. At the initial stage, applicants submit a proposal which is focused to demonstrate the organizational capacity of the applicant to implement a TB centered project. Further, the stage-1 proposal should help demonstrate the ability and track record of the applicant’s organization to deliver on fast-track timetables and present a logical, consistent flow of proposed interventions aimed at achieving optimal outcomes in regard to TB REACH’s project evaluation category. The stage-1 application window is generally open for five to six weeks.
Once the stage-1 application window closes, the TB REACH team screens all proposals for eligibility and completeness. All proposals screened are subsequently assigned to two independent Proposal Review Committee members who remotely assess the proposals and score these, in a standardized manner, for their quality, innovative approaches, needs-based approaches and potential for impact. Where both reviewers score a proposal with a ‘pass’, TB REACH invites the respective applicant to the stage-2 application step for full proposal development. Where a stage-1 proposal is scored a ‘pass’ and a ‘fail’ by the two reviewers, a third remote reviewer will assess the proposal and break the scoring tie. Only if the third reviewer assigns a ‘pass’, the applicant will move towards stage-2 full proposal development stage. If a stage-1 proposal is scored with two ‘fails’ by the reviewers, the applicant will not be invited to submit a full proposal in the stage-2 process.
The subsequent stage-2 application window is generally open for approximately six weeks. Proposals submitted to TB REACH in this stage build on the applicants’ respective stage-1 proposals, but contain much more information about the implementation of proposed interventions, set targets, process indicators, an established framework for impact evaluation as well as budget details. Following their submission, TB REACH’s independent M&E review team and a finance consultant check if clarifications the PRC formulated for stage-1 proposals have been adequately addressed in the full proposal, but also provide comments to guide the subsequent PRC review. Each full proposal is assigned to a random pair of PRC members. Proposals are then independently assessed by each reviewer and subsequently presented to and jointly discussed at an in-person PRC meeting, where final funding recommendations are made. The in-person PRC meeting, lasting up to two weeks, is always led by a Chair, selected by the PRC members on the first day of the in-person meeting.
Comments and outstanding clarification needs that have been provided by the M&E reviewers, finance consultant and PRC members ultimately need to be addressed by the applicant if their project successfully enters TB REACH grant-making.