Grant Proposal Writer – Ethical Fintech & Interest-Free Microfinance

Host entity: Rousto Charity

Areas of expertise: Partnerships, resource mobilisation, Project management, programme development, strategy, Writing, editing, proofreading

Application deadline: 12/11/2026

Mission and objectives

Our mission is to promote the social, economic, intellectual and informational development of cities and districts of Tajikistan, particularly through the empowerment of youth and women.

Assignment context

Our organization, Rousto Charity, is working to launch the first scalable, interest-free, and ethical crowdfunding platform dedicated to empowering low-income entrepreneurs, smallholder farmers, marginalized communities, and charity organizations across Tajikistan and beyond in the CIS region. In these target markets, high traditional borrowing costs and limited fundraising mechanisms present significant barriers to growth for both grassroots micro-businesses and local non-profits.

To address this, our platform utilizes innovative digital technology to connect local borrowers and civil society groups with zero-percent interest capital and direct charitable funding, advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals for No Poverty (SDG 1) and Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8). We are actively preparing an application for the Cisco Global Impact Cash Grant Program to secure the critical financial resources and technological backing required to deploy our initial software build. The selected online volunteer will directly contribute to this mission by ensuring our application on the Cisco portal is articulated professionally, technically compliant, and submitted successfully to pave the way for a scalable regional rollout.

Task description

We are seeking an online volunteer to directly assist our nonprofit in completing and submitting the grant application on the Cisco Grants and Cash Donations portal for our interest-free microfinance platform in Tajikistan.
The volunteer will perform the following hands-on tasks:
• Support with completing the Cisco Eligibility Quiz on the portal alongside our team to ensure formal compliance with Cisco’s global giving parameters.
• Support with drafting and filling in the formal Letter of Inquiry (LOI) fields within the Cisco portal, writing precise answers regarding our organization's target metrics.
• Support with framing our technical and Shariah-compliant microfinance mechanics into the application fields, showcasing how our zero-interest framework uses digital tools to drive impact.
• Support with coordinating with our internal team to gather required organizational documentation, proof of non-profit equivalence, and operational overhead details requested by the form.
• Support with reviewing, editing, and finalizing all text fields within the online portal interface to ensure a polished, professional submission before final submission.

Skills and experience

• Experience in grant writing, resource mobilization, or corporate fundraising, with a proven track record of securing institutional or corporate foundation grants.
• Experience navigating online grant portals and managing complex application workflows, specifically with corporate philanthropy tools (experience with the Cisco Grants portal is a strong asset).
• Professional writing, editing, and communication skills in English, with the ability to translate complex fintech and alternative financial models into clear, high-impact social development narratives.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to coordinate with cross-functional remote teams (such as financial analysts and IT architects) to aggregate data required for portal forms.
• Familiarity with international development frameworks, inclusive finance initiatives, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.