Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) 2008

Updated: June 2008

PLEASE REFER TO THIS DOCUMENT WHEN PREPARING A FULL PROPOSAL.

PLEASE NOTE: The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) revised its PSI in June 2008. As there are currently two versions of the PSI, please refer to the solicitation to ensure that your organization uses the appropriate PSI.

TECHNICAL ELIGIBILITY
Technically eligible submissions are those which: 1) arrive electronically via www.grants.gov by the designated due date before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST); 2) have heeded all instructions contained in the solicitation document and Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI), including length and completeness of submission; and 3) do not violate any of the guidelines stated in the solicitation and this document.

Complete applications should include the following for proposal submission:
1. Completed and signed SF-424, SF-424a and SF424b, as directed on grants.gov.

2. Table of Contents (not to exceed one [1] page in Microsoft Word) that includes a page-numbered contents page, including any attachments.

3. Executive Summary (not to exceed one [1] page in Microsoft Word) that includes:

a) the target country(ies),
b) name and contact information for the project’s main point of contact,
c) a one-paragraph “statement of work” or synopsis of the program and its expected results,
d) a concise breakdown of the project’s objectives and activities,
e) the total amount of funding requested and program length, and
f) a brief statement on how the project is innovative, sustainable, and will have a demonstrated impact.

4. Proposal Narrative (not to exceed ten [10] pages in Microsoft Word). Please note the ten page limit does not include the Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Attachments, Detailed Budget, Budget Narrative or NICRA. Applicants may submit multiple documents in one Microsoft Word file, i.e. Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Proposal Narrative, and Budget Narrative in one file or as separate, individually-submitted files. Submissions should address the specific criteria outlined in the solicitation, which may include:

a) An explanation of why the program meets the HRDF mandate. Proposals should clarify how the program is innovative and necessary in the country. This may include how program methods are creative or approach an issue in a new and unique way. Moreover, in countries where similar activities are already taking place, an explanation should be provided as to how new activities will not duplicate or merely add on to existing activities.
b) Demonstrated Program Planning. The program plan should clearly describe the proposed objectives and activities, demonstrating clear linkages between activities and objectives. If applicable, proposals should identify local partners, target areas for activities, target participant groups or selection criteria for participants, purpose/criteria for subgrants, among other pertinent details. Where appropriate, applicants may include back-up plans if the program or components of the program are not able to be implemented as initially conceived.
c) Multiplier Effect and Sustainability. The proposal should demonstrate how the program will include elements of sustainability and achieve lasting impact.
d) Institution’s Record and Capacity. The organization should briefly describe any experience it has in the target country and/or similar experience elsewhere, as well as specific and relevant program successes which demonstrate the organization’s record and capacity. Given the page limitations, it is recommended applicants avoid including general organizational history.

5. Budget Narrative (preferably in Microsoft Word) that includes an explanation/justification for each line item in the detailed budget spreadsheet, as well as the source and description of all cost-share offered. For ease of review, it is recommended that applicants order the budget narrative as presented in the detailed budget. Primarily Headquarters- and Field-based personnel costs should include a clarification on the roles and responsibilities of key staff. In addition, it is recommended that budget narratives address the overall cost-effectiveness of the proposal, including any cost-share offered (see below for more information on cost-sharing and cost-effectiveness).

6. Detailed Line-Item Budget (preferably in Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet format) that includes three [3] columns including DRL request, any cost sharing contribution, and total budget (see below for more information on budget format). Costs should be in USD.

7. Attachments (not to exceed seven [7] pages total, preferably in Microsoft Word) that include the following in order:

1. Pages 1-2: Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (see below for more information on this section).
2. Page 3: Short bios of key program personnel that highlight relevant professional experience. Given the limited space, CVs are not recommended for submission.
3. Page 4: Timeline of the overall proposal. Components should include activities, evaluation efforts, and program closeout.
4. Page 5-7: Additional optional attachments. Attachments may include further timeline information, letters of support, memorandums of understanding/agreement, etc. For applicants with a large number of letters/MOUs, it may be useful to provide a list of the organizations/government agencies that support the program rather than the actual documentation.
   

8. If your organization has a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA) and includes NICRA charges in the budget, your latest NICRA should be sent as a .pdf file. This document will not be reviewed by the panelists, but rather used by program and grant staff if the submission is recommended for funding. Hence, this document does not count against the submission page limitations. If your proposal involves subgrants to organizations charging indirect costs, and those organizations also have a NICRA, please submit the applicable NICRA as a .pdf file (see below for more information on indirect cost rate).

Note: To ensure all applications receive a balanced evaluation, the DRL Review Committee will review the first page of the requested section up to the page limit and no further. DRL encourages organizations to use the given space effectively.

1. Type of Submission: Application
2. Type of Application: New

PROGRAM MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Complete proposals will include a detailed plan on how the project’s impact and effectiveness will be monitored and evaluated throughout the project. Incorporating a well-designed monitoring and evaluation component into a project is one of the most efficient methods of documenting the progress and potential success of a program. Successful monitoring and evaluation depend on the following:

• setting objectives that are clear, specific, attainable, measurable, results-focused, and placed in a reasonable time frame;
• linking program activities to stated objectives;
• developing key performance indicators that measure realistic progress towards the objectives.

A performance indicator is an observable measurement related to the achievement of a stated objective. Two types of performance indicators are outputs and outcomes. Findings on outputs and outcomes should both be reported.

Outputs are products and services delivered from the program activities, often stated as an amount. Output data show the scope or size of project activities, but they cannot replace information about progress towards outcomes or the project’s impact. Outputs may include the number of people trained or the number of seminars conducted. An example of a program output: train 100 civil society organization members in organizational fundraising.

Outcomes, in contrast, represent the specific, realistic results of a project and are usually measured as an extent of change. Outcomes may include progress toward expected program objectives or other results of the program. For example, a program’s objective could be to increase the participation of female candidates in elections. One outcome of the program would be that after receiving training, women run and win seats in the Parliament.

The Bureau recommends that applicants include a clear description of the methodology and data collection strategies/tools to be employed (e.g. pre- and post-surveys, interviews, focus groups) and, where feasible, samples of evaluative tools such as draft survey questionnaires. The Bureau expects that the grantee will track participants or partners as appropriate and be able to respond to key evaluation questions, including satisfaction with the program/training, information learned as a result of the program/training, changes in attitude and behavior as a result of the program, and effects of the program on institutions in which participants work or partner institutions. Applicants should include the monitoring and evaluation process in their timeline.

Overall, the quality of your monitoring and evaluation plan will be judged on how well it incorporates the abovementioned components. Since a quality evaluation should be as objective and unbiased as possible, DRL highly encourages all applicants to include an independent evaluation (e.g., hiring an outside evaluator to assess the program from its inception) as part of their overall monitoring and evaluation plan. Costs for an outside evaluation may be charged to the DRL grant.

Grantees will be required to provide reports with an analysis and summary of their findings, both quantitative and qualitative, in their regular program reports to the Bureau. All data collected, including survey responses and contact information, must be maintained for a minimum of three years and provided to the Bureau upon request. DRL conducts quarterly reviews of all of its programs in order to meet its Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART) requirements as set by OMB and to ensure grants are being administered and implemented successfully.

Activities	Performance Indicator	Outputs	Expected Outcomes	Data Source
1.1 Train journalists on investigative journalism	1. Knowledge of investigative journalism 2. Quality of reporting of human rights issues 3. Number of journalists trained with USG assistance*	1. 5 2-week trainings are held 2. 100 human rights pieces are written 3. 50 journalists trained	1. Journalists have improved investigative reporting skills 2. Journalists’ articles are featured in top international media outlets	1. Pre- and post-survey from participants 2. Content analysis done on articles 3. Information in media outlets 4. Program monitoring and reports
1.2 Develop a training manual on how to report on human rights issues	1. Quality of training manual 2. Usage of the training manual	3. 500 copies of the manuals are distributed 4. 2,000 website hits on the manual	1. Participants use manual as key reference guide 2. Manual is incorporated into journalism curriculum in country	1. Feedback from participants (interviews or focus groups) 2. Website data analysis 3. Program monitoring and reports

*Note: Beginning with FY2008 funds, the Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance (F) requires all DRL programs to report 1-3 standard indicators at the appropriate F Framework Governing Justly and Democratically (GJD) Element level. Therefore, applicants are requested to review the F Framework GJD Indicators and Definitions document and to include 1-3 standard indicators in the Monitoring and Evaluation plan. Please denote these indicators with an asterisk.

F GJD Indicators and Definitions: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/101763.pdf

COST – SHARING AND COST – EFFECTIVENESS
DRL strongly encourages applicants to clearly demonstrate program cost-effectiveness in their proposal submissions, including examples of leveraging institutional and other resources. Additional information on cost-effectiveness as a review criterion can be found in the Request for Statements of Interest/Proposals.

Cost - sharing is the portion of program cost not borne by the sponsor. DRL encourages cost - sharing, which may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect costs, and offered by the applicant and/or in-country partners. Applicants should consider all types of cost sharing. Examples include the use of office space owned by other entities; donated or borrowed supplies and equipment; (non-federal) sponsored travel costs; waived indirect costs; and program activities, translations, or consultations conducted by qualified volunteers. The values of offered cost share should be reported in accordance with (the applicable cost principles outlined in) OMB Circular A-110 (Revised) Subpart C (23) “Cost-sharing or Matching.” Other federal funding does not constitute cost sharing.

	DRL Request	Cost Share	Total
A. Personnel
B. Fringe Benefits
C. Travel
D. Equipment
E. Supplies
F. Contractual
G. Construction	N/A
H. Other
I. Total Direct Charges (sum A-H)
J. Indirect Charges
K. Total (sum I-J)

BUDGET GUIDELINES
Applications will not be considered complete unless they include budgets that respond to the solicitation guidelines. Complete budgets will provide a detailed line-item budget outlining specific cost requirements for proposed activities. A minimum of three columns should be used to delineate the bureau funding request, cost-share by applicant, and total project funding. Complete applications will include a budget narrative to clarify and justify individual line-items (i.e. calculations of how the costs were derived per month or year, their necessity, and overall contribution to the program’s cost-effectiveness).

The three-column proposal line item budget should include the following components, in the suggested format below:
1. Summary Budget
2. Line-Item Budget

		DRL Request	Cost Share	Total
A. PERSONNEL
a) Primarily Headquarters-Based Personnel
-H.Q.-based project -dedicated staff salary (X months)	X% of $X/yr
-H.Q.-based administrative staff salary (X months)	X% of $X/yr
b) Primarily Field-Based Personnel
-Field-based Country Director salary (x months or year)	X% of $X/yr
-Field-based Program Assistant salary (x months or year)	X% of $X/yr
Subtotal Personnel
B. FRINGE BENEFITS
a) Primarily H.Q.-Based Fringe Benefits	fringe=X% salary
-H.Q.-based project -dedicated staff fringe (X months)	X% fringe
-H.Q.-based administrative staff fringe(X months)	X% fringe
b) Primarily Field-Based Fringe Benefits	fringe=X% salary
-Field-based Country Director fringe (x months or year)	X% fringe
-Field-based Program Assistant fringe (x months or year)	X% fringe
Subtotal Fringe Benefits
C. TRAVEL
a) Monitoring Travel
-Monitoring Trip: H.Q. to field (X)	$X/RT flight
-Per diem (X days)	$X/day
b) Field Travel
Activity 1: Workshop
-Staff Travel (# staff)	$X/RT flight/# staff
-Staff Per Diem (X days)	$X/day/# day/# staff
-Participant Travel (# participants)	$X/trip/# pax
-Participant Per Diem (X days)	$X/day/# day/# pax
Activity 2: Town Hall Meeting
-Staff Travel (# staff)	$X/RT flight/# staff
-Staff Per Diem (X days)	$X/day/# day/# staff
-Participant Travel (# participants)	$X/trip/# pax
-Participant Per Diem (X days)	$X/day/# day/# pax
Subtotal Travel
D. EQUIPMENT
a) Primarily H.Q.-Based Equipment (if applicable)
-H.Q.-equipment (if applicable)	$X/unit
d) Primarily Field-Based Equipment
-Field-equipment	$X/unit
Subtotal Equipment
E. SUPPLIES
a) Primarily H.Q.-Based Supplies (if applicable)
-Printing and Photocopying (X months)	X% of $X/yr
b) Primarily Field-Based Supplies
-Markers and dry erase board	$X/set
-Telephone (X months)	X% of $X/yr
-Office Supplies (X months)	X% of $X/yr
Subtotal Supplies
F. CONTRACTUAL
a) Subgrants
-Local Subgrantees (X subgrants)	$X/unit
b) Consultant Fees
-Media Specialist/Honoraria (X days/hours)	$X/consult
-Independent M & E specialist	$X/unit
-Translation Fees (X pages)	$X/page
Subtotal Contractual
G. CONSTRUCTION	N/A
H. OTHER
a) Other Direct Costs
-Field Office Rent (X months)	X% of $X/mo
Subtotal Other
I. TOTAL DIRECT CHARGES (Sum of A-H Subtotals)
J. INDIRECT CHARGES
a) Indirect Costs/NICRA (X% of costs)
Subtotal Indirect Charges
K. TOTAL COSTS (Sum I-J)

1. Personnel
2. Fringe Benefits
3. Travel
4. Equipment
5. Supplies
6. Contractual
7. Construction
8. Other
9. Total direct charges (sum a – h)
10. Indirect Charges
11. Total

2. LINE-ITEM BUDGET –

A. Personnel – Identify staffing requirements by each position title and brief description of duties. For clarity, please list the annual salary of each position, percentage of time and number of months devoted to the project. (e.g., Administrative Director: $30,000/year x 25% x 8.5 months; calculation: $30,000/12 = $2,500 x 25% x 8.5 months = $5,312.).

B. Fringe Benefits - State benefit costs separately from salary costs and explain how benefits are computed for each category of employee - specify type and rate.

C. Travel - Staff and any participant travel:

1. international airfare
2. in-country travel
3. domestic travel in the U.S., if any
4. per diem/maintenance: includes lodging, meals and incidentals for both participant and staff travel. Rates of maximum allowances for U.S. and foreign travel are available from the following website: http:/www.policyworks.gov/. Per diem rates may not exceed the published U.S. government allowance rates; however, institutions may use per diem rates lower than official government rates.

Please explain differences in fares among travelers on the same routes: e.g., project staff member traveling for three weeks whose fare is higher than that of staff member traveling for four months. Please note that all travel, where applicable, must be in compliance with the Fly America Act.

D. Equipment – please provide justification for any equipment purchase/rental, defined as tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5000 or more.

E. Supplies - list items separately using unit costs (and the percentage of each unit cost being charged to the grant) for photocopying, postage, telephone/fax, printing, and office supplies (e.g., Telephone: $50/month x 50% = $25/month x 12 months).

F. Contractual –
a) Subgrants. For each subgrant/contract please provide a detailed line item breakdown explaining specific services. In the subgrant budgets, provide the same level of detail for personnel, travel, supplies, equipment, direct costs, and fringe benefits required of the direct applicant.
b) Consultant Fees. For example lecture fees, honoraria, travel, and per diem for outside speakers or independent evaluators: list number of people and rates per day (e.g., 2 x $150/day x 2 days).

G. Construction – Due to the nature of DRL programs, construction costs are not applicable.

H. Other - these will vary depending on the nature of the project. The inclusion of each should be justified in the budget narrative.

J. Indirect Charges - See OMB Circular A-122, "Cost Principles for Non-profit Organizations"

1. If your organization has an indirect cost-rate agreement with the U.S. Government, please include a copy of this agreement. This does not count against submission page limitations.
2. If your organization is charging an indirect rate, please indicate how the rate is applied--to direct administrative expenses, to all direct costs, to wages and salaries only, etc.
3. Do not include indirect costs against participant expenses in the Bureau budget, as it generally does not pay for these costs.
   
   

Cost Share/Cost-Effectiveness - Explanation of contributions should be included, whether cash or in-kind. Assign a monetary value in U.S. dollars to each in-kind contribution. If the proposed project is a component of a larger program, identify other funding sources for the proposal and indicate the specific funding amount to be provided by those sources. In addition, it is recommended that budget narratives address the overall cost-effectiveness of the proposal, including leveraging of institutional or other resources.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor will consider budgeted line-items for the following:

• § Independent evaluations to assess the project’s impact (costs must be built into the overall original budget proposal and must be reasonable);
• Costs associated with an internal evaluation conducted by the grantee (costs must be built into the overall original budget proposal and must be reasonable).
• Visa Fees and Immunizations associated with program travel.
  

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor does not pay for the following under any circumstances:

• Publication of materials for distribution within the U.S.;
• Administration of a program that will make a profit;
• Expenses incurred before or after the specified dates of the grant (unless prior approval received);
• Projects designed to advocate policy views or positions of foreign governments or views of a particular political faction;
• Entertainment expenses, including alcoholic beverages.
• Contingency funds.
  

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