Grants procedure explanation
1. GRANT PROCEDURES
Grant Procedures include:
a) Providing information on the program for the public, associations, institutions, interest groups, individuals that may be interested for application;
b) Collection and pursuance of presented proposals;
c) Their evaluation from the Commission of Selection;
d) Notifications of applicants on the Commission’s decision;
e) Approval and signing of the Grant agreement between ABC Foundation and the winning applicant;
f) Grant monitoring.
Criteria for Grant Provision
Grants are provided through a competition process, starting with an open announcement for presentation of proposals or projects. The conditions of competition and evaluation will be clear. A subject can benefit from the program once a year, if the project is accomplished within the annual period. The basic criteria for evaluating the presented proposal are:
- Compatibility of application’s activities with the announced objectives of ABC Foundation’s program;
- Implementatory capacity of the organization/association/subject, previous experiences with donors;
- Compilation of a real and correct budget related to the activities proposed in the application;
- Respecting an administrative cost presented by the applicant, not bigger than 15% of the proposed and approved budget for any grant;
- Willingness to co-finance and part of the applicant in co-financing the proposed project;
- Other criteria may be adjusted during the process depending on the presented cases.
- Selection and Process Development
- Initial selection of applications is made by the Commission of Selection. The Commission of Selection will be comprised of different sectors experts according to the cases presented for examination.
PAYMENTS OF GRANTS
Basic criteria that determine how Grants are paid are:
- Amount of approved grant;
- Time of grant accomplishment;
- Financial capacities of grant receiver;
- Receipt of intermediate reports in planned terms;
- Projections for the purchase of goods or services from third parties.
ADJUSTMENTS of received Grant
Adjustments include changes in the in terms and conditions of a grant agreement.
REPORTS of grant receivers
The grant receiver should report on the obtained grant according to the conditions of the agreement. The grant beneficiary should send all its written reports, intermediate or final in official letters (with logo) to the grand provider.
Narrative report (click for the sample of narrative report)
The narrative report prepared by the grant receiver should:
- Confirm the fund’s receipt, time and amount of grant;
- Confirm that the grant receiver has used the funds for the initial goal in accordance with the grant agreement;
- Describe the development and implementation of the project and its impact;
- Describe the progress made related to the non-for-profit objectives;
- Include supporting documentation (as photographs, different recordings of activities, etc);
- Signed by a person in management position in the grant beneficiary subject.
- Financial report (click for the sample of financial report)
The financial report prepared by the grant receiver should:
- Detail expenses in accordance with the original budget presenting the necessary expenses and those occurred;
- Describe any purchased equipment;
- Provide details of any amount that is not expensed (which should be returned or for which is required a postponement of the term of use);
- Signed by a person in management position.
Process MONITORING
The grand provider, ABC Foundation will monitor the grants provided during the process of project accomplishment in order to evaluate the capability of the grant receiver to achieve the grant’s goal, general effectiveness of the project and to assure for the proper usage of the Foundation’s funds. Through visits at the premises of project implementation, permanent communications through meetings, telephone, e-mail, reports of grant receivers, etc., is monitored the capability of the grant receivers to achieve the goal of the project proposal.
Grant Closure
The grant may close after the grant receiver has handled the final financial and narrative reports, in compliance with the respective criteria of reporting and project implementation.
There may be several cases of Grant closure:
1. Closure when the grant receiver has achieved the goal
2. Closure when the grant receiver has not achieved the goal or has not spent all the funds
3. Closure when the grant receiver has not executed the conditions of grant agreement – are put into the black list
1. Closure when the grant receiver has achieved the goal
If the grant receiver has reached the goal and his reports are satisfactory, ABC Foundation files their receipt and prepares its “evaluation report”. The grant will be closed after ABC has received the financial and the narrative report and has evaluated that the whole grant is properly used.
2. Closure when the grant receiver has not achieved the goal or has not spent the whole funds
If the grant receiver has not been able to achieve the goal or to spend the whole amount of the provided grant, ABC files the receipt of report and contacts the grant receiver for further clarifications. If possible, ABC Foundation should work with the grant receiver to determine new terms for the grant or new reporting requirements or to arrange the return of unspent funds.
3. Closure when the grant receiver has not executed the conditions of grant agreement – are put into “black list”
The grant will be interrupted and the subject will be entered into “the black list”, if the grant receiver has violated these terms of agreement:
- Has used the grant partly or fully for electoral and/or political propaganda;
- Has used the grant partly or fully for illegal activities pursuant to the Albanian legislation;
- Has used the grant for purposes not prescribed in the agreement;
- Has not reported for a part or for the whole amount of the received grant.