$10/29/2024$ ACROSS Organization $2361$ ACROSS Road Raleigh, NC$,27513$ Dear ACROSS Team, We have enjoyed reading your project proposal and are excited to be able to say that on behalf of our funding organization, our decision is to partially fund your proposal regarding financial support for the work you wish to accomplish in South Sudans Boma District. We would be honored to award you the amount of $$38,200,20\%$ of what you have requested. We acknowledge the promising impact of your proposal on advancing development in the less$-$industrialized region of Sudan. We applaud your focus on bringing resources to an area that is economically and technologically underdeveloped. After a thorough review of your proposal, our team has identified some areas where specific improvements could enhance the projects overall impact and sustainability. While your goals and objectives are commendable and align with our organizations mission to support underserved and underdeveloped communities, the proposal would benefit from additional detail in key areas. To better gauge potential success, we recommend incorporating clearly defined metrics that will measure programming progress and long$-$term sustainability. Providing explicit information on operational capacitysuch as team structure, resource allocation, and logistical supportwould also strengthen the proposal, as would more detailed descriptions of monitoring processes and evaluation strategies to assess effectiveness and address challenges promptly. A well$-$structured breakdown of milestones with realistic, achievable benchmarks would improve this proposal. This level of transparency will enable us to ensure our funding maximizes value for the people of Boma and meets our accountability standards. We encourage your organization to resubmit this proposal with a more robust outline of intended outcomes and clearly defined, comprehensive evaluation methodologies. These enhancements would provide a framework for ongoing measurement of program effectiveness, ensuring that each project milestone is supported by data$-$driven insights into both immediate and long$-$term impact. This level of detail is especially valuable for assessing the sustainability and adaptability of the project as it progresses, allowing us to determine if additional funding or resources may be warranted in the future. By outlining specific benchmarks and indicators for success, your organization can better demonstrate the potential for lasting, positive change within Bomas communities. This strengthened approach will also allow us to assess how effectively the project is addressing local needs and adapting to any emerging challenges on the ground. We believe that with these refinements, your team will be exceptionally well$-$equipped to deliver a meaningful and sustainable impact on South Sudans underserved populations, helping build the foundations for long$-$term growth and resilience within these communities. We also think that it would be beneficial to incorporate local efforts on a smaller scale to build a sense of community. As we have experienced in the past, progress proceeds much faster when the community sees each other coming in to help rather than outsiders. This is an important staple for our organization and mission. Thank you for your commitment to development work in the region, and we look forward to witnessing the positive changes your organization aims to bring. Sincerely, Jacob Lynch Chair, Appropriations Committee Lynch Foundation for Global Development jwlynch@lynchfound.org