ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH THE PROMOTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE GRANT

უნიკალური ნომერი: 001740

კონკურსის შესახებ:

Democracy Commission Small Grants Program – Economic Growth through the Promotion of Cultural Heritage

Funding Opportunity Title: U.S. Embassy Tbilisi PDS Democracy Commission Small Grants Program – Economic Growth through the Promotion of Cultural Heritage

Funding Opportunity Number: PDS-DOS-GEO-FY24-005

Deadline for Applications: May 31, 2024

CFDA Number: 19.900 AEECA/ESF PD Programs

Total Amount Available: $158,000

Maximum for Each Award: $50,000

This notice is subject to availability of funding.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The U.S. Embassy Tbilisi Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) is pleased to announce an open competition for organizations to submit applications through its Democracy Commission Small Grants Program – Economic Growth through the Promotion of Cultural Heritage. This is an Annual Program Statement, outlining our funding priorities, the strategic themes we focus on, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding. Please carefully follow all instructions below.

Program Objectives:

The purpose of the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program — Economic Growth through the Promotion of Cultural Heritage is to award grants for specific projects that strengthen cultural ties between the U.S. and Georgia, foster economic growth through the promotion of cultural heritage and develop strategies for building tourism in the community.

Priority Program Areas:

• Support tourism and economic development in Georgia
• Increase awareness of and/or access to cultural heritage sites or locations of cultural importance
• Education initiatives for local audiences
• Community-based cultural heritage revitalization projects
• Setting up tourist information centers
• Improving access to the sites, including ramps for people with special needs
• Cleaning, fixing, and maintaining pathways, installing signs.

Participants and Audiences:

The U.S. Embassy seeks geographically and demographically diverse audiences within the country and prioritizes proposals with a significant programming component outside of the capital. Priority will be given to projects in ethnic minority or border regions.

The following types of programs are not eligible for funding:

• Restoration/preservation of monuments
• Programs relating to partisan political activity;
• Charitable or development activities;
• Construction programs;
• Programs that support specific religious activities;
• Fundraising campaigns;
• Lobbying for specific legislation or programs;
• Scientific research;
• Programs intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization; or
• Programs that duplicate existing programs.

Authorizing legislation, type, and year of funding:

19.900 AEECA/ESF PD Programs FY24

FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of performance period: up to 12 months

Number of awards anticipated: 4 awards (dependent on amounts)

Award amounts: $50,000

Total available funding: $158,000

Type of Funding: Fiscal Year 2024 19.900 AEECA/ESF PD Programs

Anticipated program start date: four to six months after submission deadline

Funding Instrument Type: Grant, Fixed Amount Award, or Cooperative agreement. Cooperative agreements are different from grants in that PDS staff are more actively involved in the grant implementation.

Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 12 months or less.

PDS will entertain applications for continuation grants funded under these awards beyond the initial budget period on a non-competitive basis subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the program, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the U.S. Department of State.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

Eligible Applicants

The Public Affairs Section encourages applications from organizations that are:

• Registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations with programming experience.
• Non-profit or governmental educational institutions.
• Governmental Institutions/Municipalities
• Legal Entities of Public Law.

For-profit or commercial entities/educational institutions are not eligible to apply.

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost sharing is not required.

Other Eligibility Requirements

Applicants are only allowed to submit a maximum of one proposal per organization. If more than two proposals are submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number issued via www.SAM.gov as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 for more information.

APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Address to Request Application Package

Application forms required below are available in the Additional Resources tab above.

Content and Form of Application Submission

Please follow all instructions below carefully. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.

Content of Application

Please ensure:

• The proposal clearly addresses the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity,
• All documents are in English,
• All budgets are in U.S. dollars,
• All pages are numbered,
• All documents are formatted to 8 ½ x 11 paper, and
• All Microsoft Word documents are single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins.

The following documents are required:

Mandatory application forms

• SF-424
• SF424A

Summary Coversheet: Cover sheet stating the applicant name and organization, proposal date, program title, program period proposed start and end date, and brief purpose of the program.

Proposal/Application: The proposal should contain sufficient information that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do.

• Proposal Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed program, including program objectives and anticipated impact.

• Introduction to the Organization Applying: A description of past and present operations, showing ability to carry out the program, including information on all previous grants from the U.S. Embassy and/or U.S. government agencies.
• Problem Statement: Clear, concise, and well-supported statement of the problem to be addressed and why the proposed program is needed.
• Program Goals and Objectives: The “goals” describe what the program is intended to achieve. What aspect of the relationship between the U.S. and XXX will be improved? The “objectives” refer to the intermediate accomplishments on the way to the goals. These should be achievable and measurable.
• Program Activities: Describe the program activities and how they will help achieve the objectives.
• Program Methods and Design: A description of how the program is expected to work to solve the stated problem and achieve the goal.
• Proposed Program Schedule: The proposed timeline for the program activities. Include the dates, times, and locations of planned activities and events.
• Key Personnel: Names, titles, roles, and experience/qualifications of key personnel involved in the program. What proportion of their time will be used in support of this program?
• Program Partners: List the names and type of involvement of key partner organizations and sub-awardees.
• Program Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: This is an important part of successful grants. Throughout the timeframe of the grant, how will the activities be monitored to ensure they are happening in a timely manner, and how will the program be evaluated to make sure it is meeting the goals of the grant?
• Future Funding or Sustainability Applicant’s plan for continuing the program beyond the grant period, or the availability of other resources, if applicable.

Budget Justification Narrative: After filling out the SF-424A Budget (above), use a separate sheet of paper to describe each of the budget expenses in detail. See section H. Other Information: Guidelines for Budget Submissions below for further information.

Attachments:

• 1-page CV or resume of key personnel who are proposed for the program
• Letters of support from program partners describing the roles and responsibilities of each partner, if required for program activities
• Official permission letters, if required for program activities
• Copy of sam.gov registration

Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM.gov )

Required Registrations:

All organizations, whether based in the United States or in another country, must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and an active registration with the SAM.gov . A UEI is one of the data elements mandated by Public Law 109-282, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), for all Federal awards.

Note: As of April 2022, a DUNS number is no longer required for federal assistance applications.

The 2 CFR 200 requires that sub-grantees obtain a UEI number. Please note the UEI for sub-grantees is not required at the time of application but will be required before an award is processed and/or directed to a sub-grantee.

Note: The process of obtaining or renewing a SAM.gov registration may take anywhere from 4-8 weeks. Please begin your registration as early as possible.

• Organizations based in the United States or that pay employees within the United States will need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and a UEI number prior to registering in SAM.gov .
• Organizations based outside of the United States and that do not pay employees within the United States do not need an EIN from the IRS but do need a UEI number prior to registering in SAM.gov .
• Please note that as of November 2022 and February 2022 respectively, organizations based outside of the United States that do not intend to apply for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awards are no longer required to have a NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) code or CAGE code to apply for non-DoD foreign assistance funding opportunities. If an applicant organization is mid-registration and wishes to remove a CAGE or NCAGE code from their SAM.gov registration, the applicant should submit a help desk ticket (“incident”) with the Federal Service Desk (FSD) online at fsd.gov using the following language: “I do not intend to seek financial assistance from the Department of Defense. I do not wish to obtain a CAGE or NCAGE code. I understand that I will need to submit my registration after this incident is resolved in order to have my registration activated.”

Organizations based outside of the United States and that DO NOT plan to do business with the DoD should follow the below instructions:

Step 1: Proceed to SAM.gov to obtain a UEI and complete the SAM.gov registration process. SAM.gov registration must be renewed annually.

Organizations based outside of the United States and that DO plan to do business with the DoD in addition to Department of State should follow the below instructions:

Step 1: Apply for an NCAGE code by following the instructions on the NSPA NATO website linked below:

NCAGE Homepage:

https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/sc/CageList.aspx

NCAGE Code Request Tool (NCRT):

Exemptions

An exemption from the UEI and sam.gov registration requirements may be permitted on a case-by-case basis if:

• An applicant’s identity must be protected due to potential endangerment of their mission, their organization’s status, their employees, or individuals being served by the applicant.
• For an applicant, if the Federal awarding agency makes a determination that there are exigent circumstances that prohibit the applicant from receiving a unique entity identifier and completing SAM registration prior to receiving a Federal award. In these instances, Federal awarding agencies must require the recipient to obtain a unique entity identifier and complete SAM registration within 30 days of the Federal award date.

Organizations requesting exemption from UEI or SAM.gov requirements must email the point of contact listed in the NOFO at least two weeks prior to the deadline in the NOFO providing a justification of their request. Approval for a SAM.gov exemption must come from the warranted Grants Officer before the application can be deemed eligible for review.

NOTE: SAM.gov is not a State Department website and the U.S. Embassy Tbilisi is not involved in its operations. Please forward all questions related to registration process to SAM.gov helpdesk. Instructions and FAQs are available on Embassy website under Program Announcement Additional Resources. PDS will not be answering questions related to registration on SAM.gov

If the SAM.gov registration has not been finalized, applicants must demonstrate proof of their request for registration in SAM.gov . See Required Registrations below for further information

Submission Dates and Times

Applications will be accepted from March 28, 2024 until May 31, 2024 11:59 p.m. Georgia Standard Time.

No applications will be accepted after that date.

Funding Restrictions

The following types of programs are not eligible for funding:

• Restoration/preservation of monuments
  • Programs relating to partisan political activity;
  • Charitable or development activities;
  • Construction programs;
  • Programs that support specific religious activities;
  • Fundraising campaigns;
  • Lobbying for specific legislation or programs
  • Scientific research;
  • Programs intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization; or Programs that duplicate existing programs

Other Submission Requirements

All application materials must be submitted by email to tbilisicultural@state.gov

Please include the funding opportunity title in the subject line: “U.S. Embassy Tbilisi PDS Democracy Commission Small Grants Program – Economic Growth through the Promotion of Cultural Heritage”.

The application package must be archived only into ZIP archive. RAR archived packages will not be accepted. Emails exceeding 6MB will not be accepted.

FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

If you have any questions about the grant application process, please contact PDS at: tbilisicultural@state.gov

Please include the funding opportunity title in the subject line.

Note: We do not provide any pre-consultation for application related questions that are addressed in the NOFO. Once an application has been submitted, State Department officials and staff — both in the Department and at embassies overseas — may not discuss this competition with applicants until the entire proposal review process is completed.

For additional information please see the full Notice of Funding Opportunity.

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წყარო: U.S. EMBASSY IN GEORGIA

რეგიონი: მთელი საქართველოს მასშტაბით

პროექტის მიმართულება: სპორტი, კულტურა და ხელოვნება;

დამატებულია: 04-04-2024

განაცხადის წარდგენის ბოლო ვადა: 31-05-2024

განცხადების წარდგენამდე დარჩენილია: 31 დღე;

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