OFFICE
OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Office of
Federal Financial Management Policy Directive on Financial Assistance
Program Announcements
AGENCY:
Office of Management and Budget
ACTION:
Notice of proposed policy issuance directive.
SUMMARY:
The Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) proposes to establish
a standard format for Federal agency announcements of funding opportunities
under programs that award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements.
The purpose of the standard format is to have information organized in
a consistent way in program announcements for the hundreds of Federal
programs that make financial assistance awards to non Federal recipients.
The Federal awarding agencies jointly developed this format as one part
of the implementation of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement
Act of 1999 (Public Law 106 107). Consistent with the streamlining and
simplification purposes of that public law, a standard format will make
it easier for potential applicants to quickly find the information they
need.
DATES:
All comments on this proposal should be in writing, and must be received
by October 11, 2002.
ADDRESSES:
Due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of mail sent through
the U. S. Postal Service, we encourage respondents to submit comments
electronically to ensure timely receipt. We cannot guarantee that comments
mailed will be received before the comment closing date.
Electronic
mail comments may be submitted to: ephillip@omb.eop.gov.
Please include "Grant Announcement Format Comments" in the subject
line and the full body of your comments in the text of the electronic
message and as an attachment. Please include your name, title, organization,
postal address, telephone number, and E-mail address in the text of the
message. Comments may also be submitted via facsimile to 202-395-3952.
Comments
may be mailed to Elizabeth Phillips, Office of Federal Financial Management,
Office of Management and Budget, Room 6025, New Executive Office Building,
Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Phillips, Office of Federal Financial
Management, Office of Management and Budget, telephone 202-395-3053 (direct)
or 202-395-3993 (main office) and e-mail: ephillip@omb.eop.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION:
This notice
proposes to establish, by way of a policy directive, a standard format
for organizing the information that Federal agencies include in their
announcements of funding opportunities under programs that use discretionary
grants or cooperative agreements. This policy directive will implement
an outcome of the Federal agencies' streamlining and simplification efforts,
under Public Law 106 107. There may be subsequent OFFM policy directives
to implement other outcomes of those efforts where revision of OMB circulars,
or issuance of a rule or Executive Order is not warranted.
This action
addresses a need that non-Federal entities identified during the public
consultation process mandated by Public Law 106-107. Commenters suggested
that if all agencies' program announcements were to present information
in the same order, a potential applicant could more easily and quickly
find the key pieces of information it needed at each point in the process
(e.g., to decide at the outset whether it was eligible and wished to apply
and to later prepare and submit an application).
The proposed
announcement format is an interim product in that it addresses some, but
not all, of the public comments on program announcements. It responds
to comments on the need for consistency in placement and ease of locating
pertinent information within announcements. It also incorporates language
in Sections III and V to address comments that some announcements are
not sufficiently clear about the way in which applicants' cost sharing
is considered in selecting applications for funding. The Federal agencies
are proposing this announcement format as an interim product so that potential
applicants can begin to realize the benefits of a standard format while
we continue to consider other issues addressed in the public comments,
including suggestions that we try to establish a uniform approach to defining
what constitutes a late application. As we complete work on the issues
identified in those comments, we will propose updates to the announcement
format, as warranted.
The proposed
announcement format described in this Notice relates to another proposal
described in a subsequent notice in this section of today's Federal Register.
That proposal is a set of data elements that Federal agencies would use
to synopsize available funding opportunities at FedBizOpps, an Internet
site maintained by the General Services Administration. The purposes of
FedBizOpps synopses are to give potential applicants a single site to
search for Federal funding opportunities, to provide enough information
for them to decide whether they want to read the full announcement, and
to provide one or more ways (e.g., an electronic link to another Internet
site, an e-mail address or a telephone number) to get that announcement.
The FedBizOpps information therefore complements the full announcement
described in this Notice.
We welcome your input on any aspect of the proposed format. Questions
that you may wish to address include:
- Is there
additional information that should appear in the overview segment preceding
the full text of the announcement?
- Do you
feel that we need to add or delete any categories or subcategories of
information in the full text of the announcement? For example, should
you choose to apply, are the information elements sufficient for you
to determine what you must submit, and when and how you must do so?
If you suggest an additional information element, please explain why
you recommend its inclusion.
- Are terms
used in the format readily understandable? Are the terms generic enough
to cover all programs and agencies in which you might have an interest?
Do you have suggestions for alternate terms?
Mark W.
Everson
Controller
TO THE
HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS
SUBJECT:
Format for Financial Assistance Program Announcements
1. Purpose.
This policy directive establishes a government wide funding opportunity
announcement format for Executive Branch departments and agencies to use
in programs that make discretionary awards of grants or cooperative agreements.
Program announcements include all paper and electronic issuances that
Federal departments and agencies use to announce funding opportunities,
whether they are called "program announcements," "notices
of funding availability," "broad agency announcements,"
"research announcements," "solicitations," or something
else.
2. Authority.
This policy directive is a part of the implementation of the Federal Financial
Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 (Public Law 106 107).
3. Background. The Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement
Act of 1999 required the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to direct,
coordinate, and assist Executive Branch departments and agencies in establishing
an interagency process to streamline and simplify Federal financial assistance
procedures for non Federal entities. It also required each Executive agency
to develop, submit to the Congress, and implement a plan for that streamlining
and simplification.
Twenty six
Executive Branch agencies jointly submitted a plan to the Congress in
May 2001, as the Act required. The plan described the interagency process
through which the agencies would review current policies and practices
and seek to streamline and simplify them. The process involved interagency
work groups under the auspices of the Grants Management Committee of the
Chief Financial Officers Council. The plan also identified substantive
areas in which the interagency work groups had begun their review.
One of the
substantive areas that the agencies identified in the plan was the form
and content of program announcements. The agencies stated in the May 2001
plan that their preliminary analysis suggested a potential for developing
a more consistent announcement format across the many Federal agencies
and programs. A standard announcement format with information content
organized in a consistent way will let applicants quickly and efficiently
find the information they need, in order to decide whether a particular
funding opportunity is of interest and to prepare an application. An interagency
work group developed the format attached to this policy letter and recommended
that the OMB's Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM) issue it
as the standard for all programs that use discretionary grants or cooperative
agreements.
4. Policy.
The format attached to this policy directive is the government wide standard
format for programs that make discretionary awards of grants or cooperative
agreements, with the exception of programs that do not issue separate
announcements apart from the program description in the Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance (CFDA). For those excepted programs, the format will
continue to conform with the guidance in OMB Circular A-89 for program
information in the CFDA.
5. Responsibilities.
a. Agency
Responsibilities. Executive Branch departments and agencies:
(1) Must
issue any needed direction to offices that award grants or cooperative
agreements under discretionary programs, in order to establish the attached
format as the standard for those programs' announcements. All announcements
must include information elements that are marked "required"
in the format. An announcement for a given program may use elements
that are marked "optional," as appropriate for the program.
Whether or not the announcement includes any "optional" elements,
the information that is included must be organized to conform with the
standard format.
(2) Are
to request exceptions from this OFFM policy directive for any program
announcement(s) with information organized in a way that deviates from
the standard format.
b. OMB
Responsibilities. The OMB:
(1) Will
update this policy directive as needed, based on recommendations from
interagency work groups such as those sponsored by the Chief Financial
Officers Council.
(2) Must
respond within 30 days to an agency's request for an exception from
this policy letter, either with a final decision or an estimate of the
time needed to render that decision.
6. Information
Contact. Direct any questions regarding this policy directive to Elizabeth
Phillips, OFFM, 202 395 3053 (direct) or 202-395-3993 (main office).
7. Effective
Date. The policy directive is effective 30 days after issuance. All
implementing actions other than regulatory revisions must be completed
by the Executive departments and agencies within 6 months of the effective
date; regulatory revisions must be completed within 12 months.
Mark W.
Everson
Controller
Attachment
Announcement
of Federal Funding Opportunity
This document
is a uniform format for Federal agencies' announcements of funding opportunities
under which discretionary awards of grants or cooperative agreements may
be made. The format has two parts, the first for overview information
and the second for the full text of the announcement.
OVERVIEW
INFORMATION
The agency
must display prominently the following information (not necessarily in
the same sequential order) in a location preceding the full text of the
announcement:
FULL
TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT
The full
text of the announcement is organized in sections. The format indicates
immediately following the title of each section whether that section is
required in every announcement or is an agency option.
The format
is designed so that similar types of information will appear in the same
sections in announcements of different Federal funding opportunities.
Toward that end, there is text in each of the format's sections to describe
the types of information that an agency would include in that section
of an actual announcement.
An agency
that wishes to include information on a subject that the format does not
specifically discuss may address that subject in whatever section(s) is
most appropriate. For example, if an announcement chooses to address performance
goals in the announcement, it might do so in the funding opportunity description,
the application content, and/or the reporting requirements.
Similarly,
when this format calls for a type of information to be in one particular
section, an agency wishing to address that subject in other sections may
elect to repeat the information in those sections or use cross references
between the sections. For example, an agency may want to include in Section
I information about the types of recipients who are eligible to apply.
The format specifies a standard location for that information in Section
III.1 but that does not preclude repeating the information in Section
I or creating a cross reference between Sections I and III.1, as long
as a potential applicant can find the information quickly and easily from
the standard location.
The sections
of the full text of the announcement are described in the following paragraphs.
I. Funding
Opportunity Description - Required
This section
contains the full programmatic description of the funding opportunity.
It may be as long as needed to adequately communicate to potential applicants
the areas in which funding may be provided. It describes the agency's
funding priorities or the technical or focus areas in which the agency
intends to provide assistance. As appropriate, it may include any program
history (e.g., whether this is a new program or a new or changed area
of program emphasis). This section may communicate indicators of successful
projects (e.g., if the program encourages collaborative efforts) and may
include examples of projects that have been funded previously. This section
also may include other information the agency deems necessary, such as
citations for authorizing statutes and regulations for the funding opportunity.
II. Award
Information - Required
Provide sufficient
information to help an applicant make an informed decision about whether
or not to submit a proposal. Relevant information could include the total
amount of funding that your agency expects to award through the announcement;
the anticipated number of awards; the expected amounts of individual awards
(which may be a range); the amount of funding per award, on average, experienced
in previous years; and the anticipated start dates and periods of performance
for new awards. This section also should address whether applications
for renewal or supplementation of existing projects are eligible to compete
with applications for new awards.
This section
also must indicate the type(s) of assistance instrument (i.e., grant,
cooperative agreement, and/or other instrument) that may be awarded if
applications are successful. If cooperative agreements may be awarded,
this section either should describe the "substantial involvement"
that the agency expects to have or should reference where the potential
applicant can find that information (e.g., in the funding opportunity
description in Section I or award administration information in Section
VI). If procurement contracts also may be awarded, you must say so.
III. Eligibility
Information
This section
addresses considerations or factors that make an applicant or application
eligible or ineligible for consideration. This includes the eligibility
of particular types of applicant organizations, any factors affecting
the eligibility of the principal investigator or project director, and
any criteria that make particular projects ineligible. You should make
clear whether an applicant's failure to meet an eligibility criterion
by the time of an application deadline will result in your agency's returning
the application without review or, even though an application may be reviewed,
will preclude the agency from making an award. Key elements to be addressed
are:
- Eligible
Applicants - Required. You must clearly identify the types of entities
that are eligible to apply. If there are no restrictions on eligibility,
this section may simply indicate that all potential applicants are eligible.
If there are restrictions on eligibility, it is important to be clear
about the specific types of entities that are eligible, not just the
types that are ineligible. For example, if your program is limited to
non profit organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code,
your announcement should say so. Similarly, it is better to state explicitly
that Native American tribal organizations are eligible than to assume
that they can unambiguously infer that from a statement that non-profit
organizations may apply. Eligibility also can be expressed by exception,
(e.g., open to all types of domestic applicants other than individuals).
This section should refer to any portion of Section IV specifying documentation
that must be submitted to support an eligibility determination (e.g.,
proof of 501(c)(3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service
or an authorizing tribal resolution).
- Cost
Sharing - Required. You must state whether there is required cost sharing,
matching, or cost participation without which an application would be
ineligible (if cost sharing is not required, you must explicitly say
so). Required cost sharing may be a certain percentage or amount, or
may be in the form of contributions of specified items or activities
(e.g., provision of equipment). Cost sharing as an eligibility criterion
includes requirements based in statute or regulation, as well as those
imposed by administrative decision of the agency. This section should
refer to the appropriate portion(s) of Section IV stating any pre award
requirements for submission of letters or other documentation to verify
commitments to meet cost sharing requirements if an award is made.
- Other
- Required, if applicable. If there are other eligibility criteria (i.e.,
criteria that have the effect of making an application or project ineligible
for award, whether you refer to them as "responsiveness" criteria,
"go-no go" criteria, "threshold" criteria, or in
other ways), you must clearly state them. For example, if entities that
have been found to be in violation of a particular Federal statute are
ineligible, it is important to say so. In this section you also may
indicate whether there is any limit to the number of applications an
applicant may submit under the announcement. You also should use this
section to address any eligibility criteria for beneficiaries or for
program participants other than award recipients.
IV. Application
and Submission Information
- Address
to Request Application Package - Required. You must tell potential applicants
how to get application forms, kits, or other materials they need to
apply (if this announcement contains everything they need, this section
need only say so). You may give an Internet address where they can access
the materials.* Since high speed Internet access is not yet universally
available for downloading documents, there also should be a way for
potential applicants to request paper copies of materials, such as a
U.S. Postal Service mailing address, telephone or fax number, Telephone
Device for the Deaf (TDD) number, and/or Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) number.
- Content
and Form of Application Submission - Required. This section should identify
the required content of an application and the forms or formats that
an applicant must use to submit it. This section also should address
any preliminary submissions that the agency requires or encourages,
either to facilitate its own planning or to provide potential applicants
with feedback to help them decide whether to submit a full proposal.
For a
full application, this includes all content and forms or formats that
constitute a complete application, including: general information
(e.g., applicant name and address), budgetary information, narrative
programmatic information, biographical sketches, and all other required
information (e.g., documentation that an applicant meets stated eligibility
criteria or certifications or assurances of compliance with applicable
requirements). If any requirements are stated elsewhere because they
are general requirements that apply to multiple programs or funding
opportunities, this section may refer to where those requirements
may be found. You must either include required forms or formats as
part of this announcement or state where the applicant may obtain
them.
In this section,
you should specifically address content and form or format requirements
for:
- Pre-applications,
letters of intent, or white papers that your agency requires or encourages
(see Section IV.3), including any limitations on the number of pages
or other formatting requirements similar to those for full applications.
- The application
as a whole. For hard copy submissions, that could include any limitations
on the number of pages, font size and typeface, margins, paper size,
number of copies, and sequence or assembly requirements. If electronic
submission is permitted or required,* that could include special requirements
for formatting or signatures.
- Component
pieces of the application (e.g., if all copies of the application must
bear original signatures on the face page or the program narrative may
not exceed 10 pages). This includes any pieces that may be submitted
separately by third parties (e.g., references or letters confirming
commitments from third parties that will be contributing a portion of
any required cost sharing).
- Information
that successful applicants must submit after your agency notifies them
of its intent to make awards, but prior to award. This could include
evidence of compliance with human subjects requirements or information
your agency needs to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA).
-
Submission Dates and Times - Required. Your announcement must identify
due dates and times for all submissions. This includes not only the
full applications but also any preliminary submissions (e.g., letters
of intent, white papers, or pre-applications). It also includes any
other submissions of information before award that are separate from
the full application. If the funding opportunity is a general announcement
that is open for a period of time with no specific due dates for applications,
this section should say so. Note that the information on dates that
is included in this section also must appear with other overview information
in a location preceding the full text of the announcement (see "Overview
Information" segment of this format).
For each
type of submission that you address, this section should indicate whether
the submission is encouraged or required and, if required, any deadline
date for submission (or dates, if the agency plans more than one cycle
of application submission, review, and award under the announcement).
The announcement should state (or provide a reference to another document
that states):
- Any deadline
in terms of a date and local time.
- What the
deadline means (e.g., whether it is the date and time by which the agency
must receive the application, the date by which the application must
be postmarked, or something else) and how that depends, if at all, on
the submission method (e.g., mail, electronic, or personal/courier delivery).
- The effect
of missing a deadline (e.g., whether late applications are neither reviewed
nor considered or are reviewed and considered under some circumstances).
- How the
receiving Federal office determines whether an application or pre application
has been submitted before the deadline. This includes the form of acceptable
proof of mailing or system-generated documentation of receipt date and
time.
This section
also may indicate whether, when, and in what form the applicant will receive
an acknowledgment of receipt.
You should
consider displaying the above information in ways that will be easy to
understand and use. It can be difficult to extract all needed information
from narrative paragraphs, even when they are well written. A tabular
form for providing a summary of the information may help applicants for
some programs and give them what effectively could be a checklist to verify
the completeness of their application package before submission. For example,
a summary table might look like:
What
to submit |
Required
Content |
Required
Form or Format |
When
to
submit it |
Preapplication
(optional, but encouraged) |
Described
in Section IV.2 of this announcement |
Format
described in section ____ of grants policy manual at (give URL or
where to obtain the manual).* |
By (give
pre application due date) |
Application:
Cover sheet
|
(per required form) |
Form
SF-___, available from (give source) |
|
Budget
information |
(per
required form) |
Form
SF-___, available from (give source) |
|
Narrative |
Described
in Section IV.2 of this announcement |
Format
described in Section IV.2 of this announcement |
|
Assurances
|
(per
required form) |
Form
SF-___, available from (give source) |
|
Letters
from third parties contributing
to cost sharing |
Third
parties' affirmations of amounts of their commitments |
No
specific form or format |
|
Statement
of intent to comply with human subjects requirement |
(per
required form) |
Form
SF-___, available from (give source) |
Prior
to award, when requested by grants officer (if application is successful) |
-
Intergovernmental Review - Required, if applicable. If the funding opportunity
is subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372, "Intergovernmental Review
of Federal Programs," you must say so. In alerting applicants that
they must contact their State's Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to find
out about and comply with the State's process under EO 12372, you should
inform them that the names and addresses of the SPOCs are listed in
the Office of Management and Budget's home page at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html
to ensure the most up-to-date contact information is made available.
- Funding
Restrictions - Required. You must include information on funding restrictions
in order to allow an applicant to develop an application and budget
consistent with program requirements. Examples are whether construction
is an allowable activity, if there are any limitations on direct costs
such as foreign travel or equipment purchases, and if there are any
limits on indirect costs (or facilities and administrative costs).
- Other
Submission Requirements - Required. This section must address any other
submission requirements not included in the other paragraphs of this
section. This might include the form of submission, i.e., paper or electronic,
for each type of required submission. Applicants should not be required
to submit in more than one format and this section should indicate whether
they may choose whether to submit applications in hard copy or electronically,
may submit only in hard copy, or may submit only electronically.
This section also must indicate where applications (and any pre-applications)
must be submitted if sent by postal mail, electronic means, or hand
delivery. For postal mail submission, this should include the name of
an office, official, individual or function (e.g., application receipt
center) and a complete mailing address. For electronic submission, this
should include the "url" or e-mail address; whether a password(s)
is required; whether particular software or other electronic capabilities
are required; what to do in the event of system problems and a point
of contact that will be available in the event the applicant experiences
technical difficulties.*
V. Application
Review Information
- Criteria
- Required. This section must address the criteria that your agency
will use to evaluate applications. This includes the merit and other
review criteria that evaluators will use to judge applications, including
any statutory, regulatory, or other preferences (e.g., minority status
or Native American tribal preferences) that will be applied in the review
process. These criteria are distinct from eligibility criteria that
are addressed before an application is accepted for review and any program
policy or other factors that are applied during the selection process,
after the review process is completed. The intent is to give applicants
visibility into the evaluation process so that they can make informed
decisions when preparing their applications and so that the process
is as fair and equitable as possible.
The announcement should clearly describe all criteria, including any
sub criteria. If criteria vary in importance, the announcement should
specify the relative percentages, weights, or other means used to distinguish
among them. For statutory, regulatory, or other preferences, the announcement
should provide a detailed explanation of those preferences with an explicit
indication of their effect (e.g., whether they result in additional
points being assigned).
If an applicant's proposed cost sharing will be considered in the review
process (as opposed to being an eligibility criterion described in Section
III.2), the announcement must specifically address how it will be considered
(e.g., to assign a certain number of additional points to applicants
who offer cost sharing, or to break ties among applications with equivalent
scores after evaluation against all other factors). If cost sharing
will not be considered in the evaluation, the announcement should say
so, so that there is no ambiguity for potential applicants. Vague statements
that cost sharing is encouraged, without clarification as to what that
means, are unhelpful to applicants.
- Review
and Selection Process - Required. This section may vary in the level
of detail provided. The announcement must list any program policy or
other factors or elements, other than merit criteria, that the selecting
official may use in selecting applications for award (e.g., geographical
dispersion, program balance, or diversity).
You also may include other details you deem appropriate. For example,
this section may indicate who is responsible for evaluation against
the merit criteria (e.g., peers external to the agency or Federal agency
personnel) and/or who makes the final selections for award. If you have
a multi-phase review process (e.g., an external panel advising internal
agency personnel who make final recommendations to the deciding official),
you may describe the phases. You also may include: the number of people
on an evaluation panel and how it operates, the way reviewers are selected,
reviewer qualifications, and the way that conflicts of interest are
avoided. In addition, if you permit applicants to nominate suggested
reviewers of their applications or suggest those they feel may be inappropriate
due to a conflict of interest, that information should be included in
this section.
- Anticipated
Announcement and Award Dates - Optional. This section is intended to
provide applicants with information they can use for planning purposes.
If there is a single application deadline followed by the simultaneous
review of all applications, the agency can include in this section information
about the anticipated dates for announcing successful applicants and
for having awards in place. If applications are received and evaluated
on a "rolling" basis at different times during an extended
period, it may be appropriate to give applicants an estimate of the
time needed to process an application and notify the applicant of the
agency's decision.
VI. Award
Administration Information
- Award
Notices - Required. This section should address what a successful applicant
can expect to receive following selection. If your practice is to provide
a separate notice stating that an application has been selected before
you actually make the award, this section would be the place to indicate
that the letter is not an authorization to begin performance (except
at the recipient's own risk, to the extent that you allow charging to
awards of pre award costs). This section should indicate that the notice
of award signed by the grants officer (or equivalent) is the authorizing
document, and whether it is provided through postal mail or by electronic
means and to whom. It also may address the timing, form, and content
of notifications to unsuccessful applicants.
- Administrative
Requirements - Required. This section should address the administrative
requirements your agency's awards include, so that a potential applicant
may identify any requirements with which it would have difficulty complying
if its application is successful. In those cases, early notification
about the requirements allows the potential applicant to decide not
to apply or to take needed actions before award. The announcement need
not include all of the award terms and conditions, but may refer to
a document (with information about how to obtain it) or Internet site*
where applicants can see the terms and conditions.
If this funding opportunity will lead to awards with some special terms
and conditions that differ from your agency's usual (sometimes called
"general") terms and conditions, this section should highlight
those special terms and conditions. Doing so will alert applicants who
have received awards from your agency previously and might not otherwise
expect different terms and conditions. For the same reason, you may
wish to inform potential applicants about special requirements that
could apply to particular awards after review of applications and other
information, based on the particular circumstances of the effort to
be supported (e.g., if human subjects were to be involved).
- Reporting
- Optional. If the funding opportunity may attract first time applicants,
it is helpful to include in this section some general information about
the type (e.g., financial or performance), frequency, and means of submission
(paper or electronic) of post award reporting requirements, even if
the details are included in the award terms and conditions.
You also should highlight any special reporting requirements for awards
under this funding opportunity that differ (e.g., by report type, frequency,
form/format, or circumstances for use) from what your agency's awards
usually require. This section should clearly indicate whether any special
reporting requirement is in addition to or in lieu of the usual reporting
requirements.
VII. Agency
Contact(s) - Required
You must give potential applicants a point(s) of contact for answering
questions or helping with problems while the funding opportunity is open.
The intent of this requirement is to be as helpful as possible to potential
applicants, so you should consider approaches such as giving:
- Points
of contact who may be reached in multiple ways (e.g., by telephone,
FAX, and/or e mail, as well as regular mail).
- A fax
or e-mail address that multiple people access, so that someone will
respond even if others are unexpectedly absent during critical periods.
- Different
contacts for distinct kinds of help (e.g., one for questions of programmatic
content and a second for administrative questions).
VIII.
Other Information
This section
may include any additional information that will assist a potential applicant.
For example, the section might:
- Indicate
whether this is a new program or a one-time initiative.
- Mention
related programs or other upcoming or ongoing agency funding opportunities
for similar activities.
- Include
Internet addresses for agency Web sites that may be useful to an applicant
in understanding the program (NOTE: you should make certain that any
Internet sites are current and accessible).*
- Alert
applicants to the need to identify proprietary information and inform
them about the way the agency will handle it.
- Let applicants
know where the agency will post any subsequent amendments to the announcement,
particularly if an alternative medium is used for that purpose.
- Include
certain routine notices to applicants (e.g., that the government is
not obligated to make any award as a result of the announcement or that
only grants officers can bind the government to the expenditure of funds).
________
* With respect to electronic methods for providing information about funding
opportunities or accepting applicants' submissions of information, each
agency is responsible for compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.
|