Runs donor-compliant calls for applications across the EAC, which are not normal marketing campaigns: the goal is transparent access, fair and consistent information, eight-state reach, bilingual readiness where needed, applicant support, evidence of dissemination and a clean handoff into the application register. Default assumptions: Uganda/East Africa, British English, WhatsApp-first outreach, English plus French where Burundi/DRC participation matters, and evidence over vanity metrics.
Use When
- A donor-funded programme, grant or accelerator is opening applications and needs the announcement and applicant guidelines.
- We need WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook, email and partner-kit copy, in English and French where Burundi or DRC applicants matter.
- Applicants will ask questions and we need an FAQ and a query-response protocol so everyone gets the same answer.
- The donor or programme manager wants evidence that outreach was fair, accessible and reached all eight EAC states.
Do Not Use When
09-campaign-strategyfor a commercial launch, offer or awareness drive with no beneficiary selection.playbook-sms-whatsapp-marketingfor ongoing broadcasts to an opted-in list.13-campaign-brieffor a creative brief handed to a production team.- Stop if eligibility and award criteria are not confirmed, and never invent partner directories, channel statistics or association names.
Required Inputs
| Artefact | Source/provider | Required? | If absent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programme summary, eligibility criteria, award/scoring criteria and selection process | Programme manager or donor | Yes | Stop; no call notice is drafted without confirmed eligibility and award criteria. |
| Application form link or fields, deadline (with timezone), languages and contacts | Programme manager | Yes | Hold the affected assets with visible placeholders; never guess a deadline. |
| Target countries, applicant profile, inclusion priorities and partner networks | Programme manager; verified partner sources | Yes | Mark each state with no verified partner channel as a gap and escalate before launch. |
| Approved brand/donor wording and any disclaimers | Donor or communications lead | Yes | Use neutral wording and flag every donor-wording slot for approval. |
| Application register requirements and query escalation rules | Programme operations lead | Yes | Draft the query protocol with escalation marked not assessed. |
Workflow
- Confirm the call is a beneficiary-selection intake (route a commercial launch to
09-campaign-strategy); stop if the eligibility and award criteria are not confirmed. - Write the master call notice and applicant guidelines in plain language, covering eligibility, benefits, obligations, selection process, timeline, data-use notice and contact route, and every item in the required call-notice content.
- Create channel-specific variants for WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook, email, partner newsletters and website/news posts while preserving identical substantive terms.
- Prepare bilingual English/French assets where francophone markets are in scope; translate meaning, not just words, and keep criteria identical.
- Build the partner dissemination kit: intro note, short post, long post, flyer text, FAQ link, deadline reminder and evidence-log instructions; verify every partner name, link and contact close to launch.
- Set a four-week outreach calendar with launch, mid-window reminder, final-week push and final 48-hour reminder.
- Define the applicant query protocol: material clarifications go to all applicants or into the FAQ, not only to the person who asked.
- Run the fairness, anti-bias, accessibility and evidence checks before launch and again before closing; correct any mismatch in criteria, deadline or benefits across channels and languages, then rerun the checks.
Outputs
| Artefact | Consumer | Acceptance condition |
|---|---|---|
| Call announcement and applicant guidelines | Applicants; donor | Contains every required call-notice item, including the statement that applying does not guarantee selection. |
| WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook, email and partner-kit copy (English, and French where in scope) | Channel owners and partners | Eligibility, deadline, benefits and obligations identical across all channels and languages. |
| Applicant FAQ and query-response protocol | Programme team | Material clarifications are published to all applicants. |
| Outreach calendar and dissemination evidence log | Programme manager; donor reporting | Four-week calendar; log covers all eight EAC states separately. |
| Fairness, anti-bias and accessibility checklist | Programme manager | Completed before launch and before closing. |
Evidence Produced
| Evidence | Format | Acceptance condition |
|---|---|---|
| Dissemination evidence log | Table with the log fields | Each entry has country, partner/channel, verified source, language, asset, date/time with timezone, owner and evidence. |
| Eight-state control | Row per state: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, DRC, Somalia | Every state shows a verified channel or an escalated gap. |
| Fairness check record | Completed checklist, pre-launch and pre-close | Every fairness check marked pass or fail with the correction made. |
Capability and Permission Boundaries
Read and search only; analysis is read-only. Publishing, spend, live account changes, outreach and personal-data processing need explicit, action-specific client authority. Applicant data is collected only under the programme's data-use and confidentiality notice.
Degraded Mode
Without confirmed eligibility and award criteria, return the narrowest qualified result and mark the affected checks not assessed. The asset structure, the query protocol, the four-week calendar skeleton and the empty eight-state evidence log can still be delivered.
Decision Rules
| Condition | Action | Failure or risk avoided |
|---|---|---|
| Burundi, DRC or other francophone applicants are in scope | Produce English and French assets with identical criteria. | English-only assets that exclude eligible applicants. |
| One applicant's question produces a material clarification | Add it to the FAQ or send it to all applicants. | Unequal information access. |
| A state has no verified partner channel | Mark it as a gap and escalate before launch. | A claim of eight-state reach the log cannot support. |
| A partner directory, association, hub, chamber, WhatsApp penetration or channel statistic is proposed from memory | Verify names, links, contacts and relevance close to launch and record the source and date, or leave it out. | Invented partner lists or undated statistics. |
| A channel variant changes the deadline, criteria or benefits | Correct it back to the master notice before release. | Different terms across channels. |
| The application form is long or not mobile-friendly | Shorten it and test on a phone before launch. | Accessibility barriers for mobile-first applicants. |
Quality Standards
- Eligibility and award criteria are identical across all channels and languages.
- The FAQ and query protocol prevent unequal information access.
- Outreach evidence can show reach across all targeted EAC states.
- Accessibility barriers are reduced: plain language, mobile-friendly instructions, deadline clarity and support route.
- No association, hub, chamber, WhatsApp penetration or channel statistic is shipped without verification and date.
- Selection-process notes include the reviewer-bias reminder, and outreach includes women-led, non-capital-city and smaller-market networks where relevant.
Anti-Patterns
- Optimising for clicks while ignoring fairness and evidence. Fix: judge the campaign by eight-state reach and the evidence log, not engagement.
- English-only assets for a genuinely EAC-wide call involving francophone states. Fix: produce French versions with identical criteria.
- Different deadline, criteria or benefits across channels. Fix: derive every variant from the master notice and check it against the fairness checklist.
- Inventing partner lists or country networks. Fix: verify each partner close to launch and record the source and date.
- No dissemination log for donor reporting. Fix: keep the evidence log from launch, one entry per outreach action.
References
- Call assets and fairness checklist: read when assembling the asset pack, checking the required call-notice content or running the fairness checks.
- EAC dissemination evidence log: read when setting up the evidence log fields and the eight-state control.
09-campaign-strategy: read when the brief is a commercial launch with no beneficiary selection.biz-dev-positioning: read when the request is really about how the programme or agency positions itself, not the call itself.- Legal and market release gate: read when the call makes data-use, eligibility or country-specific claims.
- Anti-AI slop production gate: read when drafting the notice and channel copy.
- Repository agent guide: read when checking the engine-wide market, safety and anti-slop gates.
Acknowledgement: Shared by Peter Bamuhigire, techguypeter.com, +256 784 464178.