Some of the prerequisites for applying to USAID for assistance grants are:
- Your organization’s mission and capabilities must be aligned with USAID’s proposed program and you must go through the eligibility criteria in detail based on the terms of the USAID solicitation.
- Read the solicitation completely and very closely. Make sure you understand the program description, expected goals, results and objectives, the kind of work and activities that will be or will not be supported, cost implications, budgetary requirements and application formats.
- A USAID assistance implies a binding contract. Therefore, your organization will be financially and programmatically responsible for complying with the terms of the USAID assistance award, and your organization will be accountable for achieving USAID’s desired results in line with your organization’s own objectives if awarded.
We understand that programmatic aspects are directly linked with the budgetary items/ cost implications. Therefore, when you prepare your proposal or application that will outline your programmatic approach, you need to ask yourself certain basic cost related questions. For example:
- Which activities would the program need? What would be the frequency of these activities?
- Would the program staff need to travel? If yes, will it be national or international travel?
- What capital costs might the program incur?E.g. What might be the costs of the equipment or supplies needed to implement the program?
- What might be the additional costs?
All of these questions are important for you to ask yourself as you determine your program’s costs. Every USAID solicitation would need you to complete a budget in predefined formats, which will include a ‘Standard Form’ format, an additional budget with more detail, and if needed, additional formats for sub-contracting or sub-awarding.
