U.S. Consulate Hyderabad Media Coverage Workshop Grant

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

The U.S. Consulate General Public Affairs Section in Hyderabad, India is soliciting grant proposals for fall into the area specified in Section II below from non-governmental organizations, and other legally-recognized non-profit institutions that meet U.S. and/or Indian technical and legal requirements to develop and implement educational and cultural programs as specified in Section II below. Information about the Public Affairs Section can be found at: http://hyderabad.usconsulate.gov.

Section II. Workshop on Local Media Coverage of Foreign Affairs

The awardee will develop and execute a multi-day workshop to familiarize Indian journalists with techniques for the accurate and uneditorialized local news coverage of foreign affairs in a manner relevant to the average domestic reader. The workshop will provide working and learning journalists with awareness of how U.S. journalists approach coverage of foreign affairs, including topics such as international economics, climate change, coverage of war zones, international organizations. This workshop will include a mixture of working journalists and senior students of journalism. No final project is required at the end of the workshop.

Non-Indian grantees will be required to partner with an Indian institution (see Section IV for qualifications) to conduct the training. While the successful grantee is strongly encouraged to propose partner institutions, U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad will also propose partners and will have the final decision on the partner selected. The workshop will take place in Hyderabad, though the partner institution will ideally have the capacity to virtually link the training to participants in up to two additional cities in the U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad’s district of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The project should use traditional media, Facebook and Twitter as amplifiers, and will use such means as digital video conferences (DVCs), Livestream, Google, or other platforms to broadcast events. All social media platforms must be approved by U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad before release. Any publications from the workshop must be approved in advance by the U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad and U.S. Embassy New Delhi.

Indians rely heavily on a vibrant and active press for the information that shapes their opinions and their views of their responsibilities vis-à-vis the international community, and motivates their judgment of the performance of elected officials who have international portfolios. By adding to the toolkit that journalists use when determining whether or how to frame a particular foreign event or phenomenon, we seek to foster recognition among Indians that foreign affairs have an increasing impact on India’s domestic political and economic fortunes, and that India’s domestic political and economic decisions, successes and challenges reverberate through the international community, as well. Working with the media, we seek to strengthen the foundation on which the U.S. and Indian governments, respectively, submit for public consideration options for bilateral or regional cooperation on global challenges. The workshop can be used in a variety of ways beyond the direct engagement with the participants: as an occasion to bring together academics, business people and government officials, or in electronic form to provide a platform for discussion with Indians following us on social media or elsewhere.

Recipient’s Role

a) The recipient must cover the myriad of expenses associated with the workshop, from the development of the overall agenda and calendar, securing the participation of expert speakers to organizing and paying for airfare, transportation, and hotel logistics. The proposal should include all relevant administrative and logistical costs for organizing this workshop.

b) The exhibit would be accompanied by an appropriate audio-visual version that can be used for other purposes.

c) The recipient will provide electronic versions of the workshop for use by U.S. Mission India with all necessary rights.

Section III. Award Information

1. Funding Type and Amount: Cooperative Agreement or Grant
Minimum (“Floor”) Award Amount: $30,000
Maximum (“Ceiling”) Award Amount: $60,000

The U.S. Consulate Hyderabad reserves the right to award less or more than the funds described under circumstances deemed to be in the best interest of the U.S. government, pending the availability of funds and approval of the designated grants officer.

2. Project and Budget Periods: Grant projects generally should be completed in one year or less. The Public Affairs Section will entertain applications for continuation grant funded under these awards, within and beyond the initial budget period, on a noncompetitive basis, subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the program, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the U.S. Department of State.

Section IV. Basic Eligibility Information:

1. Non-profit. The U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad Public Affairs Section only accepts applications from U.S. and Indian organizations that are legally registered not-for-profit non-governmental organizations / think tanks.

2. Proper and complete registrations and rights. Applicants must acquire all required registrations in the United States and / or India. All intellectual property considerations and rights must be fully met in the United States and India.

3. Additional requirements may apply.

Section V. Application Submission and Deadline
See “How to Apply” (http://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_faqs.jsp#applying) on
www.grants.gov for complete details on requirements, and note the following highlights:

1. Register. Organizations not registered with grants.gov should register well in advance of the deadline. It can take weeks to finalize registration (sometimes longer for non-U.S. based NGOs) to get the required registration numbers. To register with grants.gov, organizations must first receive a DUNS number and register with the SAM.gov, a process which can also take weeks.

2. Submit proposal. Proposals must be submitted to grants.gov and to the following email address HYDGrantApplications@state.gov. The subject line of your email should be as follows: Applicant Organization name – HRFP14-01 – Workshop on Local Media Coverage of Foreign Affairs.

If you encounter technical difficulties with grants.gov please contact the grants.gov Help Desk at support@grants.gov or by calling 1-800-518-4726 in the U.S.

Applications must be submitted by an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) of the applicant organization. Having proposals submitted by agency headquarters helps to avoid possible technical problems. Non-AOR personnel submitting applications will be rejected in Grants.gov.

Pursuant to U.S. Code, Title 218, Section 1001, stated on OMB Standard Form 424 (SF-424), Department of State is authorized to consolidate the certifications and assurances required by Federal law or regulations for its federal assistance programs. Please refer to the link below for a list of certifications and assurances:
http://fa.statebuy.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=161&menu_id=68

2. English. Applications are accepted in English only. Final grant agreements and any
subsequent amendments will be concluded in English only.

3. Proposal plus SF-424. When submitting a proposal, applicants are required to fill out a detailed budget and the Federal Assistance Application Standard Form 424. See two attachments “U.S. CONSULATE GENERAL GRANTS PROGRAM- SUGGESTED APPLICATION FORMAT” and “SF-424.” While the grant proposal format is somewhat flexible, we recommend you use the template as a starting point, and add additional information as necessary. Please insert “Applicant Organization name – HRFP1401 – Workshop on Local Media Coverage of Foreign Affairs” in the header, along with page numbers, on every page of your application. At the minimum, your proposal should include:

Cover sheet: Provide an executive summary of the project description (no more than one page) with reference to the amount and duration of the funding request.

Description and justification: Applicants must submit a full description of the
organization and project, including goals and objectives. Describe innovative aspects of the project. Include résumés for project partners and key personnel. List those
organizations, cooperating entities, consultants, or other key individuals who will work on the project, along with a short description of the nature of their effort or contribution.

Activities: Outline a plan of action that describes the scope and detail of how the
proposed work will be accomplished. Account for all functions or activities identified in the application. Cite factors that might accelerate or slow down the work and state reasons for taking the proposed approach rather than alternatives. Describe any unusual features of the project, such as design or technological innovations, reductions in cost or time, or extraordinary social and community involvement.

Accomplishments, monitoring and evaluation: Describe how you plan to monitor progress of research, and determine overall success and impact of the program.

Budget: Provide a detailed budget of every cost associated with the project. The more information and detail that you provide about the proposed budget, with a budget narrative, the better we can determine the viability and completeness of your proposal. For the budget line item “indirect costs” or “administrative overhead,” any figure you provide without a specific breakout will be returned for additional information or rejected. If your organization has an approved “Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement” or NICRA, please note that on your application and provide supporting documentation.

Section VI. Review and Selection Process

1. Criteria. Each application submitted under this announcement will be evaluated and rated on the basis of the criteria enumerated in Section VII below. The criteria are designed to assess the quality of the proposed project, and to determine the likelihood of its success. The criteria are closely related and are considered as a whole in judging the overall quality of an application.

Applications will be reviewed on the basis of their fullness, coherence, clarity, and attention to detail. Points are awarded only to applications that are responsive within the context of this program announcement.

2. Acknowledgement of receipt. Applicants will receive acknowledgment of receipt of their proposal. A technical review panel will review the proposal and, based upon the criteria noted below, assess the general qualification. A qualitative determination will be made regarding the program’s proposed area of activity and the Mission’s Priority Goals, and those proposals that are deemed to be the best fit will be given additional consideration. A proposal that is approved but not funded will be kept on file for one year should the panel wish to reconsider, or if additional resources become available.

3. Follow up notification. Organizations whose applications were not approved or funded will be notified thru email.

Section VII. Application Evaluation Criteria

1. Organizational Experience – Teaching Foreign Media. The applicant’s experience in designing and implementing programs in diverse and/or crowded media landscapes, and its detailed description in the proposal. (25 points)

2. Organizational Experience – U.S. policy priorities in India. The applicant’s understanding of the U.S. Mission to India’s strategic goals and its detailed description in the proposal. (10 points)

3. Innovation. Applicant clearly describes how its proposal will address the requested program within the proposed time frame and articulates an innovative strategy or plan. (20 points)

4. Organizational capacity. The organization demonstrates expertise in one or more of U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad Public Affairs Section priorities and demonstrates the ability to perform the proposed activities. Where project partners are included, the applicant details each partner’s respective role, provides partner organization information and résumés for all persons responsible for the project and its financial administration.
(20 points)

5. Budget and narrative justification. The budget and narrative justification are complete and reasonable in relation to the proposed activities and anticipated results. The plan for services and related cost estimates is realistic.
(15 points)

6. Monitoring and evaluation. The applying organization describes how to monitor progress of the program, and determine its overall success and impact of the program. (10 points)

Section VIII. Award Administration

1. Award notices: The grant award or cooperative agreement shall be written, signed,
awarded, and administered by the Grants Officer. The Grants Officer is the U.S. government official delegated the authority by the U.S. Department of State Procurement Executive to write, award, and administer cooperative agreements and cooperative agreements. The assistance award agreement is the authorizing document and it will be provided to the recipient. The grantee is likely to interact mostly with a Grant Officer Representative (GOR).

2. Anticipated time to award: Applicants of successful proposals will generally be notified within 90 days after the submission deadline.

3. Reporting requirements: All awards issued under this announcement require both programs and financial reports on a frequency specified in the award agreement. The disbursement of funds may be tied to submission of these reports in a timely manner. All other details related to award administration will be specified in the award agreement. The point of contact for questions or issues related to the administration of the grant will be specified in the award agreement.