U.S. Embassy Zagreb Alumni Grants Program 2017

U.S. Embassy Zagreb is opening a call for Alumni Grants for 2017. Through this program, the Embassy invites alumni of U.S. Government-sponsored programs and Croatian citizens who have studied in U.S. high schools or universities to apply for funding for small-scale projects, workshops, seminars and/or to bring an U.S. expert for a seminar, workshop or similar educational activity.

Grants are awarded to individual alumni/ae. In projects where a group of alumni are coordinating, one individual must be listed as the project leader. Funds should be received through a non-profit and non-governmental institution (usually grantee’s employer: an NGO, an academic institution, school etc., registered in Croatia). However, the alumnus listed as the project leader is fully responsible for the project – not the organization. The grantee will be in charge of communicating with the Embassy, reporting on project results and submitting financial reports on time.

We will consider proposals for projects ranging from $3,000 to $10,000.

The program aims to promote the application of knowledge acquired in the United States. Preference will be given to proposals that:

clearly articulate the benefit of the project to Croatia;
encourage U.S. – Croatia scientific and professional exchange;
include cost-sharing (part of funding for the project requested or secured from other sources);
include a sound plan of follow-up activities and knowledge transfer to wider public;
include a clearly written, detailed budget;
Themes – This year, priority will be given to projects that address one or more of the following themes: entrepreneurship promotion or education, women’s empowerment, anti-corruption education, youth empowerment, media literacy, and civic responsibility.

This grant program may not be used to fund:

Individual travel to conferences or for consultations outside Croatia (only in very rare, well-justified occasions)
Project activities that take place outside of Croatia
Laboratory research
Equipment such as laptops, ipads, cameras, etc.
Financial guidelines:

Grants range from $3,000 to $10,000; Grants must be used to fund activities that take place in Croatia;
Budgets are submitted in US$. The committee will not review projects with budgets written in kuna;
Cost sharing is strongly encouraged. Please indicate which costs you are asking the Embassy to cover and which costs will be covered by other partners;
Budgets must include line items clearly broken down (example: instead of “$400 for accommodation,” your budget should specify “X nights accommodation at $Y per night for Z number of U.S. speakers”);
Embassy grants cannot be used to fund religious organizations or political activity; humanitarian or charitable activities; trade activities; fundraising campaigns or commercial projects;
The Embassy may offer partial funding for any project and/or offer funding with conditions for changes to the project.

Application Process:
The project proposal must be written in English and must include:

Application
Form SF-424 for organizations;
Background information on the applicant;
Program Description: one-paragraph overview of the project and its goals; detailed description of the project activities and timeline, including follow-up activities; description of your target audience; explanation of the project goals with respect to this year’s themes and importance for the alumni community. The more specific, detailed, and clear the program description, the better, but please do not exceed 2 pages;
Detailed budget in US $ not to exceed $10,000;
Proposed dates and venues for your program;
Description of any cost-sharing by the host or other institutions;
CV for project leader(s) and U.S. guests, if applicable;
Letter of support from potential partners or hosts.
Please list all previous grants from the U.S. Government, if applicable.

Important note: In order to receive an award from the Embassy, you need to have a DUNS number and SAM.gov registration. We advise that you begin this process immediately: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/index.jsp
&https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM

Submission of proposals
The proposal must be written in English and submitted by February 6, 2017 via e-mail to zagrebalumnigrants@state.gov. Late submissions will not be considered. You should receive an auto-reply stating that your email has been received. If you do not receive such a reply within 1 day, please contact us.
Proposals will be reviewed by a committee and decisions will be made by March 10. Applicants will receive emails regarding the results by that date. The Public Affairs Section may contact applicants for additional information or clarification. Note: receiving grant funds will take weeks; do not submit projects for which you need Embassy funding before May 2017.
Grant proposals should include all of the information requested in the application guidelines. Proposals must be in English, and budgets must be calculated in U.S. dollars. Supporting documents may be in Croatian.
Grants will be issued by the Public Affairs Section of U.S. Embassy Zagreb.
Every grantee will be required to submit a timely financial and narrative report.
Questions about the program can be addressed to Ms. Vanja Ratkovic at ratkovicv@state.gov