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Public Policy and Accountability Grant (PPAG) RfA

Clarifications

Feb. 27, 2015

Q. Can the project propose to monitor the problems of IDPs and property rights and

advocate for impovements to their situation?

We will consider supporting a broad range of issues provided that these issues directly relate

to specific Euro-Atlantic integration requirements (for example, the Georgian government

responsibilities described in the EU Association Agreement or NATO integration plans). The

applicant’s advocacy should be aimed at improving the implementation of these requirements

to strengthen Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration.

Q. Is it allowable as an eligible capacity building component for an organization to

purchase equipment for the government or a government-owned entity and provide

training for that government entity to use that equipment?

The optional capacity development portion of the grant (up to $10,000 of the $80,000) is

intended for the development of the applicant organization, not for government entities. Also,

the primary focus of the grant should be monitoring and advocacy, not training or service

provision.

However, if a relatively small portion of the grant is dedicated to the training of government

officials, and a significant majority of the grant is dedicated to monitoring and advocacy

activities, then we will consider the training as an allowable cost under the grant. If we were

to fund the project as proposed in the question, we would want the government co-fund the

project by purchasing the equipment. The purpose of the grant is to provide data and to

conduct activities that persuade the government to change its policies and/or its policy

implementation; the grant is not intended to purchase equipment for the government.

Q. Is it allowable for an organization to conduct pilot environmental research (ie, soil,

air, or water quality measurements) during the course of the project that will be used to

draw up recommendations for improved policies and larger scale research?

Yes, scientific research of this type is allowable if it is for the purpose of developing policy

recommendations and/or improving policy implementation related to Euro-Atlantic

integration requirements.

Q. Is a research institution at a university eligible to apply if it is not an independent

organization and therefore the university must receive and manage the grant and all

financial transactions and reporting?

Yes, research institutions at universities are eligible to apply even if the grant will need to

received and managed by the university.

Q. If organizations are submitting a coalition proposal, do all of the organizations in the

coalition need to complete the organizational background and information section of the

application?

No. Only the lead organization needs to complete the organizational background section.

Q. Can the PPAG involve a coalition between a CSO and a university?

Yes, a coalition that includes a university can apply.

Q. The RfA requests that a copy of an organization’s technical report be attached to the

application. Please define what is meant by a technical report.

On page 4 of the RfA, we request that organizations submit a copy of their annual report,

both financial and technical, if they are available. By “technical” reports, we mean a general

description of an organization’s major areas of focus, aims, activities, projects, and

achievements. If an organization does not produce an annual report that includes this

information, that organization may want to consider submitting a brief (2 – 3 page)

description of the topics mentioned above.

Q. What percentage of the grant can be used for full-time salaried staff or consultants

and invited experts?

There is no predetermined minimum or maximum limit in terms of how much of the grant

can be spent on full-time or part-time staff, consultant, or invited expert remuneration.

Applicants are encouraged to determine remuneration based on the needs of the project. If a

proposal is selected for funding, EWMI ACCESS will request documents verifying the salary

and compensation history for all staff and consultants on the project. Accordingly, applicants

should suggest salary rates that align with each employee’s salary history. Applicants should

also be sure to indicate the percentage of total work time (i.e., Level of Effort, or LOE) for

each salaried staff member.

Q. For applications involving coalitions, will ACCESS consider the experience of the

individual organizations with international donors? Or will it only consider the prior

experience of the coalition as a whole when assessing the application?

When evaluating a coalition proposal, EWMI ACCESS will assess both the previous

experience of each organization individually and the previous experience of the coalition, if

any.

Q. Is it possible for an organization to submit an application and also be a partner or

have some of its staff listed as consultants on another organization’s application?

Yes, this is allowed.

Q. How many grants will be awarded under this RfA?

Up to two grants will be awarded under this RfA. Each of these grants will be up to $80,000.

EWMI reserves the right to award one or no grants under this RfA depending on the

applications received.

Q. Do you prefer projects that propose policy research or monitoring?

We do not have a quota or a preference for one type of project or the other. For example, we

might fund two policy research grants, or two monitoring grants, or one policy research and

one monitoring grant.

Q. Is it possible to receive a grant if the applicant organization does not have extensive

experience with the proposed policy topic, but proposes to include highly qualified

experts?

It is possible to receive a grant if the applicant organization does not have strong experience

with the topic but proposes highly qualified expert consultants to be part of the project.

However, organizations that propose to address topics that fall within their experience and in-

house expertise will likely be able to produce stronger proposals. Both organizational and

team expertise are considered as part of the evaluation criteria we use to judge proposals

(please refer to pages 4 and 5 of the RfA).

Q. What is the point value of the evaluation system that will be used to evaluate the

proposals?

The general evaluation criteria for the proposals is described on pages 4 and 5 of the RfA.

The technical approach will be valued at 50%; organizational capacity will account for 30%;

and the budget will be valued at 20%.

Q. Is the entire application due on March 6, or just a concept note?

The entire application is due on March 6. The proposal, budget, and all supporting documents

must be submitted on that date.

Q. What do we need to include in the letters of support?

If you plan to engage a government institution, media organization, or civil society

organization (CSO) as a partner in the project, you must provide a letter of support from that

institution or organization. The letter needs to state that the entity is interested in the issue

and willing to work with you on the project. The letter of support does not need to be as

specific or formal as a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or a Memorandum of

Cooperation (MoC).

This does not mean that a CSO needs government support or consent to work on an issue. For

example, some government institutions may be resistant to support projects that monitor their

implementation of particular laws, or to participate in particularly important policy research.

This does not necessarily mean that CSOs should avoid these issues, and in such cases a letter

of support is not required.

Q. How are mentors selected? How is the need for them determined?

The use of mentors is entirely optional and based on demand from the grantee organization.

After a grant award, EWMI ACCESS will work with the grantee organization to determine if

there are any project-based or organizational needs that can be met by a mentor. EWMI will

then use its network of European, American, and Georgian experts to try to identify a mentor

to meet the need. The grantee organization can also propose its own mentor. The mentor is

paid for separately by EWMI ACCESS, not by funds from the grantee’s PPAG. EWMI offers

a modest consulting fee for these services. While EWMI usually succeeds in identifying a

mentor that can meet the grantee’s needs, this is not always possible and EWMI cannot

promise to meet every mentoring request.

Q. Is the 18-month duration required, or can the project be shorter?

The project can be shorter than 18 months and there is no required minimum duration.

However, EWMI does encourage applicants to plan plenty of time for extended

communications and advocacy activities, which are very important to the PPAG program’s

goals of engaging the public in policy discussions and achieving change.

Q. Please explain the statement in the RfA that encourages the use of partner

organizations in the regions. What type of collaboration or coalition should this be? Is it

required?

Partnerships with other organizations are not required.

EWMI ACCESS will give preference to projects that propose to partner with organizations in

the regions. One of the goals of the PPAG program is to spread policy discussions outside of

CSO and government policy circles in Tbilisi to include a broader range of citizens and

organizations throughout the country. One way of doing this would be for the applicant to

partner with regional CSOs and/or Tbilisi-based organizations that have a particular expertise

or resource that is useful for meeting the project’s goals. For example, depending on the

scope of the project and the particular organizations involved, regional organizations might

assist in conducting survey research, organizing discussion events in the regions, conducting

monitoring of local implementation of a national policy, or other activities. If applicants want

to conduct activities in the regions as part of their projects, they might consider using the

Centers for Civic Engagement (CCEs) www.cce.ge.

Q. Regarding the optional $10,000 in organizational development funding, is this

included in the overall grant amount of $80,000 or in addition to the $80,000? Does the

organizational development activity need to relate directly to the proposed project?

Up to $10,000 or organizational development funding is included in the $80,000. For

example, if your organization proposes $6,000 of organizational development activities,

$74,000 would remain for project activities. Any organizational development activities you

propose do not need to directly relate to the proposed project. For example, you might

propose to train staff on skills not directly related to the project, or purchase accounting

software and train your financial staff to use it. For a list of example organizational activities

you could conduct, please refer to page 3 of the RfA.

Q. Where should the optional institutional development costs be included? Should they

be listed in the budget template or separately?

Any optional institutional development costs should be included in the budget template.

Please use the categories provided (salaries, rent and utilities, supplies, equipment,

communications and postage, travel and per diem, contractual services, and other direct

costs). However, please change or add individual budget line items as needed for your

project.

Q. Can we propose an international reviewer for the peer review? Can we include our

own peer review? Do we have to budget for the EWMI required peer review?

The EWMI peer review process described on page 3 of the RfA is required. EWMI will

facilitate this peer review and will cover all associated costs (ie, the funds for this review do

not come from the PPAG). Applicants should not budget for this review.

In addition, applicants may also propose to conduct their own peer review, either with

Georgian or international experts. Applicants should include any costs for this peer review

(e.g., honoraria for reviewers) in their PPAG budgets.

Q. What type of documentation is necessary to show that we meet the financial

standards described on page 6 of the RfA?

It is sufficient for the applicant to provide a description of the organization’s financial

policies and procedures in response to section H. Also, if you publish your budget and other

financial information, please indicate where and how this information is published. The

applicant does not need to provide any proof of certification or other official documentation

of financial standards at the application stage. Following the grant award, EWMI ACCESS

will work with its PPAG grantees to ensure that their financial procedures align with the

financial reporting requirements of both EWMI and USAID.

Q. Can the project we propose build off of previous activities? Or does the project need

to be new and/or innovative?

Yes, you may propose a project that builds on previous activities or projects conducted by

your organization. Previous experience on a topic will strengthen your application, as noted

in the evaluation criteria.

The project does not need to be on an entirely new topic for your organization, and it does not

need to propose extremely innovative activities if the proposed approaches have been

effective in the past. That said, we appreciate new and innovative ideas, so innovation is also

part of the evaluation criteria.