ECONOMIC SUPPORT FUND-SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMS by the Department of Economic Support

This program will support NGO efforts to enable greater citizen participation in fighting corruption, preventing brain drain, enhancing human rights (including gender equality and the rights of persons with disabilities), building a tolerant and multi-ethnic society, supporting independent media, countering violent extremism, and protecting the environment.

Projects should deal with one of the following themes:

• Anti-corruption and increasing transparency
• Human rights including rights for persons with disabilities and the LGBT community
• Youth employment and activism
• Environment including energy efficiency, climate change, air pollution and waste management
• Media
• Euro-Atlantic integration
• Countering violent extremism

The budget for single project proposals for the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program should not exceed $25,000 and program activities should take place between April/May 2017 and October/November 2018. The U.S. Embassy will evaluate proposals based on the following criteria:

• Compliance with proposal guidelines and inclusion of mandatory components
• Clearly identified goals and target audiences
• Well-developed plan of activities that clearly support the program goals
• Concrete and logical budget
• Project sustainability
• Implementation capacity of applicant

Please submit your filled-in application to the following e-mail address: DemcomBiH@state.gov. The deadline for submission of the Democracy Commission Small Grants proposals /supporting documentation is December 16, 2016 by 17:00 p.m.

ELIGIBILITY:

Who can apply: All BiH non-profit organizations, educational institutions and independent media that are based and legally registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina are eligible to apply.

IMPORTANT! Organizations may only submit one proposal per program. Organizations that have received a grant from the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program in a previous cycle and have not completed their projects are not eligible to apply for another Democracy Commission grant until they have submitted their final reports, but may still apply for grants from the Women’s Empowerment Small Grants Program or the Inter-ethnic Reconciliation and Youth Small Grants Program.

General Guidelines:

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

• You can find the application on the web page: https://sarajevo.usembassy.gov

• All proposals must be written and submitted in English.

• 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 check-list must be completed and sent via email as one document.

• Project duration may not exceed 18 months.

• Grants are normally made on a one-time basis. A repeat grant may be issued if the U.S. Embassy determines the activity advances a clearly defined priority objective.

• 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.

• The U.S. Embassy receives hundreds of proposals and takes time to carefully review each application. We expect to inform applicants of the status of their proposals approximately 4-6 months from the date of closing this Notice of Funding Opportunity.

• For more information, please contact us by phone: + 387 33 704-344, 704-285, 704-333, fax: + 387 33 704-432 or an e-mail DemcomBiH@state.gov

Budget Guidelines:

• Detailed budget should be written in USD, with a maximum amount of $25,000.
• Budget should NOT include VAT expenses.
• Budget costs should be grouped into the following categories:
o Personnel costs (salaries of the engaged personnel, fees for project manager, project coordinator/assistant, and or accountant)
o Fringe (social and pension insurance contributions)
o Travel (transportation costs, lodging, meals and incidentals)
o Supplies (office supplies and other materials for project implementation)
o Contractual (fees for trainers, moderators, experts, and educators, engaged to implement certain project activities on a one-time basis, printing of the promotional materials, renting of space/equipment, broadcasting of TV and radio shows, web site development, and other contractual services needed for project implementation.)
o Other direct costs: (office rent, utilities, phone/fax/internet, office supplies, bank charges, etc.)
• The total of personnel costs, fringe and other direct costs should not exceed 30% of total award amount.
• Costs for food or drink should not exceed 10% of the total award amount.
• The total costs of promotional materials (brochures, banners, T-shirts, posters, leaflets, etc.) should not exceed 10% of the total award amount.
• Alcohol, entertainment, or “miscellaneous” are not allowable expenses.
• 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
• Materials and equipment (unless purchased for the purpose of providing training to the participants)
• Expenses incurred outside of the territory of BiH, such as travel to international conferences, or the purchase of goods or payment of services in other countries
• 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

**ANY APPLICATION NOT MEETING THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR FUNDING**

Application Instructions – Please read carefully:

Program Type: Please indicate which program you are applying for.

1. Applicant’s Contact Information

a. Implementing organization:
Specify the officially registered name of the organization.

b. Contact person and title:
Name and the title of the Project Coordinator, or the person who is authorized to sign official documents, if different from the Project Coordinator.

c. Address/Postal Code and City
d. Phone number
e. E-mail:
Please include both the general email address for your organization and the email address of the project coordinator.

2. Basic Information about the Proposal
A. Project title:

B. 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 about and why it should receive support from the U.S. Embassy.

4. Problem statement:
Clearly identify the problem your project will address, including brief background information for context, if necessary. For example, “Women in my community are under-employed. Many make food products or handicrafts, but are unable to earn much from this pursuit because they only sell at local fairs.”

5. Project goals and objectives:
Please explain how you want to solve this problem by explaining the goals and objectives of your project. Following the above example, the project goal might be “Reduce under-employment among women in my community by empowering women artisans to sell their products to a wider audience” and the objectives might be “Teach participants how to market their products and sell them through online marketplaces.”

6. Description of activities:
Explain the activities you plan to implement in the scope of your project and how they will help achieve the project goals you described above. Example: “My project will create a series of workshops for women artisans where they will learn about marketing, pricing, and how to use existing digital marketplaces to sell their products.”

7. Project locations:
List the cities/towns/communities where you will implement the project activities.

8. Project beneficiaries:
Describe the anticipated beneficiaries of your project, including estimated number and age range, i.e., “approximately 50 unemployed women in Capljina, ages 25-40” or “about 100 high school students in Rogatica.”

9. Project duration:
Note your project duration in months. If you have a specific timeframe, please list the dates and explain why your project must take place within that timeframe.

10. Anticipated outcomes of project:
Explain the outcomes you hope to achieve and how you will measure whether the project has succeeded. For example, “As a result of my project, women artisans and entrepreneurs will be equipped with the skills they need to sell their products online. To measure the success of the program, I will carry out a survey with the participants to see how much their knowledge has increased and I will also report on how many of the participants begin selling their products online or have concrete plans to do so in the near future.”

11. Project sustainability:
Please explain your plans for follow-on activities after the grant period to ensure project impact continues. Example: “After the workshop series, the participants will continue to meet and serve as a support network to each other, as well as mentor other female artisans and entrepreneurs.”

12. Background of implementing organization:
Briefly explain the mission of the organization, examples of past and current programs implemented, as well as its technical and management capacity.

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. In case of cost sharing, clearly separate the costs which will be funded by the U.S. Embassy from those which will be funded by the applicant or other donors. If you include co-sharing in your application, you are accountable for providing additional funds and justifying the costs.

15. Budget narrative:
Please explain your budget in narrative form, detailing personnel duties, explaining costs and justifying expenditures as needed.