Dem Com template and instructions 2020 v4 CLEAN.doc

DEMOCRACY COMMISSION SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM

Public Affairs Section (PAS) U.S. Embassy Belgrade

Serbia

APPLICATION FORM

The application must be filled out in English.

Note: Important guidelines for answering the questions are at the end of this form.

Please type your answers UNDER (not above) each question.

Please limit length of the application to TEN (10) PAGES maximum.

I. Which Democracy Commission THEME does this project fall under? (See website for list of this year’s themes.)

II. A. Name of Project:

II. B. Name of Organization in English:

II. C. Name of Organization in Original Language:

II. D. Mailing Address:

II. E. Phone and fax numbers; e-mail address; website address:

II. F. Name and title of person in organization who has signature authority:

III. A. Background of the main representatives and key personnel (See instructions below. Also attach CVs of all individuals):

III. B. Background on the organization (See instructions below. Please attach a copy of the registration papers.):

IV. Previous U.S. Government funding (include Dem Com, U.S. Embassy, USAID, and NED funding):

V. Proposed Program Dates (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

VI. Amount Requested (in US$):

VII. Executive Summary (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

VIII. Problem Statement (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

IX. Overall Approach (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

X. Project Beneficiaries (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

XI. Description of Project Activities (see instructions at bottom of the page):

XII. Project Justification (see instructions at bottom of the page):

XIII. Measuring Outcome (see instructions at bottom of the page):

XIV. Project Sustainability (see instructions at bottom of the page):

XV. Detailed Budget Including Supporting Narrative (see instructions at bottom of the page):

XVI. Reporting Requirements (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

XVII. Other Sources of Support for This Project (see instructions at the bottom of the page):

XVIII.

Other organizations you applied to with the same project and status of your application:

Name of Applicant

City and Date

Signature of Applicant

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Each application must be submitted electronically via E-MAIL.

As a back-up, we strongly recommend sending a paper copy via POST.

I.

Project Theme: List which priority theme the project covers. If your project covers more than one, then please list all of them with one sentence explanation.

II.

Grant Applicant Details: Name of the organization, address, phone/fax number/e-mail address, name and title of director and other significant staff members, particularly those who will be involved in the project.

III. A.

Background the Main Representatives and Key Personnel:

Key Personnel and Partners: Give the names, titles, roles of key personnel in this project, including any organizational staff and trainers, and 1-2 sentence about each person’s qualifications. What partner organizations or individuals will be involved in and in what capacity? Note: Partner organizations will need DUNS numbers, but contractors delivering goods or services – including suppliers, trainers, webs developers – will not.

Applicants must also attach a CV, resume or personal history of the people who will be engaged in the project. No one CV should exceed one page.

III. B.

Background on the Organization: When was the organization founded? what are its principle activities and significant achievements?

Again, please attach a copy of the organization’s registration papers issued by host country authorities.

IV.

Previous U.S. Government funding: Please list all previous U.S. Government funding which will include previous grants from the U.S. Embassy (including Democracy Commission) as well as USAID- or NED-funded projects. Please list year, amount of project and name of project.

V.

Proposed Program Dates: When will the project be carried out, if it is funded? Be realistic about dates. Remember that, even if approved, funds from the Democracy Commission may not be available until two or three months from the time the application is submitted. Please let us know, too, what kind of flexibility you have regarding dates.

VI.

Amount Requested: List exact amount request from Democracy Commission for this project.

VII.

Executive Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed program, including program objectives, concrete activities, and anticipated impact or results. In 5-10 sentences describe the project. This paragraph should be very concise and very clear. You do not need to provide a justification for the project here.

VIII.

Problem Statement: Briefly explain what problem or challenge this project addresses. Feel free to provide some basic background. This should help answer the question: Why have you decided to do this project? What is the purpose behind your project?

XI.

Overall Approach: What approach are you taking to solving this problem or challenge? Who are you trying to help? Are you going to provide some training, run workshops, develop some curriculum, create opportunities of some sort for participants, create a traveling exhibit or a website, host an event, etc.? Will you be partnering with any other organizations or institutions? How will all this help fix the problem or overcome the challenge, and make a positive contribution to your community or to Serbian society more broadly?

X.

Project Beneficiaries: Who are the specific target audiences for your program activity? What specific groups of people – from what professions, from what socio-economic class, from what age ranges – will benefit from the project? In what town(s) will the activity take place? Please list the towns where the project will take place, even if that is tentative.

XI.

Description of Project Activities: What does the applicant propose to do? The proposal should contain sufficient information that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do and why. The more specific, detailed, and clear the program description, the better.

What will be the specific “outputs” of your project, i.e., what specific activities will take place and how many times will you carry out? How many individuals will be directly involved in these activities? What is the project schedule? What events are taking place at what points in time, or what are milestones during the lifetime of the project? How and when will you publicize what you are doing through public events, press coverage, media interviews, social media, or other means of communication?

XII.

Project Justification: This is a very important aspect of the proposal and applicants should pay particular attention to it. What is the importance of the project? Why should it be funded? Who will be affected by this project? What difference will it make for your country?

XIII.

Measuring Outcome: What are your anticipated outcomes? Make sure that your goals or objectives for what you want to accomplish by the end of program are S.M.A.R.T., i.e., ensure that they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Don’t tell us you are going to achieve an unrealistic goal or will impact 1 million Serbian citizens.

What is the impact you hope to achieve by the time the program activities are completed? What changes in attitude or perceptions or awareness are you seeking? What actions do you want individuals to take as a result of this program? How will you measure how successful you were? Will you conduct a before and after survey or quantify progress in some other way?

Do you have a plan to measure or track longer-term outcomes, e.g., conducting a survey or maybe tracking activities by participants in the project months after the main activities come to an end? Have you worked that evaluation process into your planning and perhaps into your budget?

XIII.

Sustainability: How might this activity continue in some form or fashion even after the grant project formally comes to an end? What kind of “multiplier effect” will this project have? (For example, if your participants include instructors, journalists, youth leaders, or others with significant reach into their communities or professions, they could potentially share their experiences in some way with others and magnify the impact of your project.) What actions do you predict your participants or audiences might take on their own in the weeks or months after the grant is finished? What are your possible follow-on plans after this project ends? Do you have a budget or funding for follow-up activities? Do you have an idea for ways to make sure further progress is made – by you, your partners, or other like-minded organizations – to solve the problem or challenge you are addressing in this proposal, even after this project finishes?

XV.

Detailed Budget Including Supporting Narrative: In order to be sure that the Commission understands why there is a need for money, the applicant should prepare a line-by-line list of expenses necessary to pay for the implementation of this project, prepared in a logical manner, and offering enough detail that a reviewer will be able to understand exactly how that figures were determined.

ALL PROJECT EXPENSES SHOULD BE CALCULATED IN ADVANCE AND MUST BE REALISTIC. THE DEMOCRACY COMMISSION MEMBERS WILL NOT AUTHORIZE FUNDS IF THERE IS ANY QUESTION ABOUT BUDGET ITEMS.

For example, do not just list “Travel: $3,000.” Instead, your budget should read: “Travel: $3,000. Explanation: Two-day conference in (X location) for 30 participants. Cost per person is $50/day x 2 days for grant to each participant for room, board and transportation costs.”

If the proposal seeks funding to procure some sort of a service, the application must include pro-forma estimates from at least three firms saying how much they would charge for that service. Simply listing “Services: $4,000" is not sufficient. The Commission will want to know what kind of service.

OTHER BUDGET GUIDELINES

Program expenses should cover all costs for project-related activities. They may include all honoraria to specialists or associates (maximum $250/day); travel, per diem, and lodging expenses for trips; and all expenses for seminars or conferences (speakers’ fees, preparation of materials, and room rental).

Fees can be paid only to the people who will spend a majority of their time on the project and have signed contracts. The fees should be calculated based on the total number of hours worked for the duration of the project. Fee levels should be reasonable and no higher than other local salaries and should include all local taxes.

Equipment, defined as property costing $5000 or more with a useful life of one year (or longer than the duration of the grant), cannot be purchased with this grant. Only rental of equipment is allowed. Do not plan to purchase computer, copying machine, printers, or other technical devices with this project. So, the purchase of a computer for organizing a conference is not a justified expense.

Administrative expenses include communication expenses (phone, fax, e-mail, postage); bank taxes; copying and print services; office materials (paper, toner, envelopes, etc.).

Bank charges should be pre-calculated and included in the budget. The use of “miscellaneous expenses” as a budget item is unacceptable.

Meals not integral to a program event are not an acceptable grant expenses. Every effort should be made to secure funding from other sources for food costs.

Entertainment costs (amusement, diversion, social activities, ceremonials, alcoholic beverages, cocktail parties) are not allowable expenses.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BUDGET ITEMS CANNOT BE CHANGED

DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT.

MAKE SURE ALL THE FIGURES ARE CORRECT.

XVI.

Reporting Requirements: If you receive funding from the Democracy Commission, you will be required to submit interim reports and a detailed report on project activities and financial expenditures. The Embassy will discuss with you when exactly you will be required to submit the reports. Please tell us the name of the person who will submitting the program reports and who will be preparing the financial reports (e.g., your accountant).

XVII.

Cost-Sharing Please describe the in-kind contribution of your organization. That can be volunteer work, use of premises, vehicles, classroom supplies, equipment or payment of a program event from your own funds, e.g. rental of a hall, printing of announcements, meals, travel, etc.

XVIII.

Other sources of support for this project: Please list all other organizations to whom you have applied or might apply to fund this same project, and tell us the status of those applications.

DO NOT SEND IN THE APPLICATION BEFORE YOU:

· Read through the Democracy Commission Guidelines which describe the Small Grant Program just one more time. Make sure you understand those guidelines and that your proposal fits the purposes it discusses.

· Carefully review the application to make sure it is complete and free of errors.

· Make sure the application is neatly typed and easy to read in English. Perfect English is not required but the proposal must be understandable to an English speaker.

· Ask someone who does not know anything about your project to read your proposal to determine if it is understandable. Remember that the members of the Democracy Commission will not know anything about your proposal until they read it. If they cannot understand it simply by reading what you have written, chances are it will not be approved.

· Try to ask someone with experience applying for grants to look at the application and provide advice on how to improve your application.

· Applications which do not include the required information or do not comply with the requirements of the Program guidelines will be considered technically ineligible and will not be reviewed by the Democracy Commission.

Applications which do not include the required information or do not comply with the requirements of the Program guidelines outlined above will be considered technically ineligible and will not be reviewed by the Democracy Commission.

YOU MUST SEND THE COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM BY EMAIL TO:

demcomserbia@state.gov

AS A BACKUP, WE ALSO STRONGLY RECOMMEND SENDING A PAPER COPY VIA POST (POSTMARKED BEFORE THE DEADLINE) TO:

· Democracy Commission

Public Affairs Section (PAS), U.S. Embassy

Bulevar Kneza Aleksandra Karadjordjevica 92

11040 Belgrade

In case of any questions please contact Public Affairs Office, U.S. Embassy Belgrade at: demcomserbia@state.gov.