BOLD Grants for BOLD Members – second part

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2022-08-26

Opis

Funding Opportunity Title: Bold Initiatives Small Grant Program

Funding Opportunity Number: 012-FY2022

Deadline for Application: August 26, 2022, by close of business, COB 17:00

CFDA Number: 19.900

A. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The United States Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the Public Diplomacy Section (PDS), is pleased to announce a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the BOLD (BiH Omladinski Lideri, Bosnia and Herzegovina Young Leaders) Small Grants Competition.

The BOLD network is a project of PDS that seeks to empower young people across BiH, age 18-35, through leadership opportunities and training, to implement projects for positive change in their communities.

The goal of these small grants, up to $15,000, is to empower BOLD members to develop their leadership skills by implementing projects in their communities that will contribute to economic development or encourage increased civic engagement.

Project proposals may be submitted by one BOLD member or a group of BOLD members and may be implemented in partnership with organizations, government authorities, or educational institutions.

An approved grant can only be issued to one individual.

*Grant activities are expected to be completed within 14 months of awarding the funds. However, due to the uncertainty of circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, selected proposals may be considered for an extension to accommodate any necessary in-person activities.

Mandatory components:

Applicants should propose a project that will improve a community in BiH in the areas of economic development or civic engagement.

Outcomes of proposals can include developing a business or business plan that will involve more people in the economy or encouraging more people to be involved in community development or starting an initiative to address a specific problem in the community that citizens can work on together to solve.

A community can be in one or more specific locations or can be a targeted group that the project brings together online.

The proposal should clearly state who the audience is and the beneficiaries of the project.

Applicants should present a plan for engaging the BOLD network in the planning, implementation, or the outcomes of the project.

Applicants may solicit assistance or participation from other BOLD members or report out to the network about the progress, successes, and lessons learned throughout the project activities.

Winning grantees will work closely with a mentor, provided by PDS, to fulfill all of the grant responsibilities and to report in interim and final narrative reports on the progress and implementation of the project to PDS.

Grantees will also be required to regularly report to a mentor, provided by PDS on their key activities, by providing brief narratives about the implemented activity and a few photos, which will be used to inform BOLD community members and may be posted on the U.S. Embassy’s social media platforms.

A detailed budget should be expressed in USD, with a maximum amount of $15,000. PDS reserves the right to reduce, revise, or increase proposed budgets, and participant numbers, based on program needs and the availability of U.S. government funding.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of Performance Period: 16 months

Number of Awards Anticipated: At least seven depending on the amount for each grant.

Award Amounts: Awards may range from USD 1,000 to USD 15,000

Total Available Funding: USD 83,275

Type of Funding: FY21/2022 Assistance to Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia (AEECA) under the Foreign Assistance Act

Anticipated Award Date: First half of September 2022

Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement or Grant

B1. Awards related to this notice are subject to availability of funding. The U.S. Embassy reserves the right to cancel this Notice of Funding Opportunity at any time without any commitment to any applicant. Awarding of non-competitive continuations in FY 2023 is contingent on the availability of funding and successful performance.

B2. Project performance period. All activities should last for a maximum of 14 months and take place between October 2022 and December 2023.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:

All members of BOLD are eligible to reply to this NOFO. To join BOLD, visit www.BOLD.ba.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

D1. Mandatory application forms: Your application cannot be reviewed without all of the below elements.

SF-424 I (Application for Federal Assistance – Individual).
SF-424 A- (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs)
SF-424B I-(Assurances for Non-Construction Programs-Individual)
Project Proposal: The proposal should be submitted exclusively in the appropriate application form from the Embassy’s website and should contain sufficient information so that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do.

D2. General Guidelines: Please read all instructions carefully – proposals that do not meet the requirements listed here will not be considered for funding.

All proposals must be written and submitted in English.
One individual may submit only one proposal to this NOFO.
Proposals may not exceed 6 pages in length (including budget and checklist) in Times New Roman size 12 font.
All fields in the grant application form and checklist must be completed and sent via email as one document.
Project duration may not exceed 16 months.

The deadline for submission of proposals /supporting documentation is August 26, 2022, by 17:00 p.m.

Please submit your completed application to the following e-mail address: info@BOLD.ba.

D3. Budget Guidelines: Any application not meeting the budget requirements below will not be considered for funding.

The detailed budget should be written in U.S. Dollars (USD) and not exceed the maximum allowable amount for the type of project.
The budget should NOT include VAT expenses. Upon signing the award with the grantee, the Embassy will explain the procedure of VAT refund.
Budget costs should be grouped into the following categories:
Personnel costs (salaries for staff who already work for your organization, fees for project manager, project coordinator/assistant, and or accountant)
Fringe (social and pension insurance contributions)
Travel (transportation costs, lodging, meals, and incidentals)
Supplies (office supplies and other materials for project implementation)
Contractual (fees for trainers, moderators, experts, and educators, who do NOT normally work for your organization but who are engaged to implement certain project activities, printing of promotional materials, renting of space/equipment, broadcasting of TV and radio shows, website development, and other contractual services needed for project implementation.
Other direct costs: (office rent, utilities, phone/fax/internet, office supplies, bank charges, etc.)
Alcohol, entertainment, or “miscellaneous” expenses are not allowed.
Costs incurred before the grant period start date will not be reimbursed.

Grant funds may not be used for the following:

Long-term infrastructure needs
Provision of direct social services to a population
Partisan political activity. (Note: non-partisan election education and public information activities are allowable.)
Funding of charitable activity and humanitarian aid, commercial projects, or fund-raising campaigns

D4. Application Guidelines: Please read carefully and complete each question as instructed. Omitting any of the requested information will delay the review of your proposal and may result in it being eliminated from consideration.

1. Applicant’s Contact Information
Applicant(s) Name(s): Specify the name of the person(s) who apply.
Address/Postal Code and City
Phone number
E-mail:

2. Basic Information about the Proposal

Project title:
Amount requested (USD)/Amount of cost share (USD)/Total cost (USD):

Please list the amount of funding requested from the Embassy.

If there is a cost share (another organization covering part of the total cost of the project), please list the amount here. Please list the total cost of the project.

3. Elevator pitch: In 50 words or less, describe what your project is designed to accomplish, and why it should receive support from the U.S. Embassy.

4. Definition of the Situation: Please describe the problem or challenge in your community that you are addressing and would like to change or improve. Please explain what causes the problem, and what aspect of this cause you are addressing.

5. Project outcomes: Please explain how you want to solve this problem byexplaining the outcomes of your project. An outcome is defined as the impact or change in a participant’s knowledge, skills and/or attitudes as well as the longer-term impact on their communities. For example, an outcome could be the creation of new businesses started by young entrepreneurs. A longer-term outcome might be a more favorable environment for entrepreneurship in a community.

6. Description of project activities: Please provide a detailed explanation of mandatory activities stated in the NOFO, and how you plan to implement them as part of the project in order to reach the outcome.

7. Anticipated outputs: Outputs are defined as direct and tangible results ofthe project activities. For example, outputs could be 30 participants trained in basic business skills and entrepreneurial training, and 20 businesses plans are ready to start up.

8. Plan for Engagement with the BOLD network: Please present a plan for how you will engage with the BOLD network during the course of your project. You may publicize your project to the network, from its development phase through its completion, and/or utilize the network for support of your project.

9. Project locations: Please state project locations. Please consider backup options for virtual engagement as required by restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

10. Project beneficiaries: Describe the anticipated beneficiaries of your project, including estimated number and age range, e.g, “approximately 50 young people in Capljina, ages 18-25” or “about 100 high school students in Rogatica.”

11. Project schedule and timeline: Please submit a comprehensive timeline of major activities and give an overview of the schedule.

If you have a specific timeframe, please list the dates, and explain why your project must take place within that timeframe.

12. Monitoring and evaluation: Please indicate how you plan to measure the success of the project.

This could involve pre- and post-project surveys of participants; it could be evidence that your project changed/improved a situation or contributed to change in attitude/ behavior of participants.

13. Previous U.S. Government funding: Indicate whether the implementing organization has received previous funding from the U.S. Government.

If so, please state the name of the project, the year, and the amount of funding for each project.

14. Detailed budget: Present the budget in the form of a spreadsheet, in USD amounts, dividing the budget into the categories delineated in the application.

If the Recipient includes cost sharing in the project proposal, then the Recipient is accountable for providing additional funds and justifying the costs.

15. Budget narrative: Please explain your budget in narrative form and provide rationale for the items included.

D5. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION:

All proposals will be evaluated by the review panel according to the below criteria:

Quality and feasibility of the project idea: The proposal is well developed, innovative and offers creative solutions with all necessary details about how project activities will be carried out (location, number of participants, events to organize, media coverage etc.).
Outcomes: Project clearly identifies goals and objectives of the project and is likely to provide maximum impact in achieving proposed results.
Budget and narrative justification are completed and reasonable in relation to the proposed activities and anticipated results.
Monitoring and evaluation: The proposal outlines how project success and impact will be determined. Grantee needs to send a report 6 or 12 months after the project concludes to report any impact of the project’s progress toward achieving the outcomes outlined in the proposal.
Plan for engagement within the BOLD network: The proposal needs to contain information about how you will engage with the BOLD network during the course of your project. Project activities should continue to have a positive impact after the end of the project. Proposals should explain this future impact.

How you will engage with the BOLD network during the course of your project? You may publicize your project to the network, from its development phase through its completion, and/or utilize the network for support of your project.

E. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

E1. Federal Award Notices

The grant award will be written, signed, awarded, and administered by the Grants Officer and the grants management team. The Recipient may only start incurring project expenses beginning on the start date shown on the grant award document signed by the Grant Officer. The assistance award agreement is the authorizing document, and it will be provided to the recipient for review and signature by email.

Funding decisions are contingent on the availability of funds. The U.S. Embassy reserves the right to cancel this Notice of Funding Opportunity at any time without any commitment to any applicant.

A Cooperative Agreement (CA) may be issued, particularly in the case that the selected applicant is a first-time recipient of Federal Funding. Elements of substantial involvement include:

Participating in the design or direction of activities, design of conference agendas, and training delivery models
Participating in the selection of key project staff and trainers
Participating in the presentation of results
Assisting in the selection and/or analyses of data
Review and approval of each press release and other public statements and publications before their release to the public

If a proposal is selected for funding, the Department of State has no obligation to provide any additional future funding. Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the discretion of the Department of State.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S. government, nor does it commit the U.S. government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the U.S. government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

Payment Method:

The Recipient must request payment under this award by completing form SF-270—Request for Advance or Reimbursement and submitting the form to the Grants Officer. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of this award may result in payment delays.

The payment of the award amount will be made in two installments.

E2. Terms and Conditions

Before submitting an application, applicants may wish to review all the terms and conditions and required certifications which will apply to this award, to ensure that they will be able to comply. These include:

In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget’s guidance located at 2 CFR part 200, all applicable Federal laws, and relevant Executive guidance, the Department of State will review and consider applications for funding, as applicable to specific programs, pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity in accordance with the following: NOTE:

Guidance for Grants and Agreements in Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR), as updated in the Federal Register’s 85 FR 49506 on August 13, 2020, particularly on:
- Selecting recipients most likely to be successful in delivering results based on the program objectives through an objective process of evaluating Federal award applications (2 CFR part 200.205),
- Prohibiting the purchase of certain telecommunication and video surveillance services or equipment in alignment with section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (Pub. L. No. 115—232) (2 CFR part 200.216),
- Promoting the freedom of speech and religious liberty in alignment with Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty (E.O. 13798) and Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities (E.O. 13864) (§§ 200.300, 200.303, 200.339, and 200.341),

Providing a preference, to the extent permitted by law, to maximize use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States (2 CFR part 200.

Terminating agreements in whole or in part to the greatest extent authorized by law, if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities (2 CFR part 200.340

E.3. Reporting Requirements

Recipients will be required to submit financial reports and program reports. The award document will specify the forms and how often these reports must be submitted.

F. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

For more information, please contact us by phone: + 387 33 704-331, 704-345, fax: + 387 33 704-432 or e-mail at info@BOLD.ba .

ba.usembassy.gov

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