The references are an integral part of the application process and help us better understand your work from the eyes of other organizations. Our office will contact them individually for a confidential response.
It is a requirement to have at least one WFTO organization listed as a reference, preferably from the applicant’s country. If you do not know any, that is fine! We encourage applicants to reach out to local WFTO members and invite them to visit your workspace. A list and contact details can be found here. The other references could be business partners, local NGOs or other Fair Trade organizations. Having reputable references helps to make a stronger “case” for your application.
Before listing an organization, you must have contacted the referee to ensure that they are willing to write a reference that supports your application. This usually depends on the type of past relationship you have had with them and how well they know your organization. Note that there should be no charges associated with the reference process. Three references should be listed on the last page of the profile. If the organization does not know you, the applicant, well enough they may not be able to give you a reference.
Next, after all of the information has been collected and analyzed we will email a regional recommendation to the regional board and then to the Global office to assess. Sometimes the whole process can take up to 3 months, but we usually aim for less than 6 weeks. The results will come directly from the Global office.