Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI)

U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
April 1, 2002

GUIDELINES FOR ASSISTANCE AWARD PROPOSALS

Technically eligible submissions are those which: 1) arrive at the Bureau by the designated date before 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST); and 2) have heeded all instructions contained in the solicitation document and Proposal Submission Guidelines (PSI), including length and completeness of submission. Proposals should be submitted by overnight express courier services such as Federal Express or DHL or by local courier service to: the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Room 7802, Washington, DC 20520. Due to slow mail processing within the Department of State, we do not recommend submitting proposals via the US Postal system.

Organizations should be familiar with OMB Circulars A-110 (Revised) (Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Nonprofit Organizations), A-122/A-21 (Cost Principles for Nonprofit Organizations and Educational Institutions; Indirect Costs), and A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations) on cost accounting principles. For a copy of the OMB circulars cited, please contact Government Publications or download from http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars.

The recipient's proposal may include the cost of an audit if not already provided for elsewhere that:

(1) complies with the requirements of OMB Circular No. A-133, "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations";

(2) complies with the requirements of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement of Position (SOP) No. 92-9, "Audits of Not-for-Profit Organizations Receiving Federal Awards";

(3) Complies with AICPA Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards AU Section 551, "Reporting on Information Accompanying the Basic Financial Statements in Auditor-Submitted Documents," where applicable. When U.S. Department of State is the largest direct source of Federal financial assistance (i.e., the cognizant Federal Agency) and indirect costs are charged to Federal grants, a supplemental schedule of indirect cost computation is required.

An organization with an audited indirect cost rate negotiated with a cognizant federal government agency should include a copy of the cost-rate agreement as an addendum to the budget. An applicant must indicate in the proposal budget how the rate is applied. U.S. Department of State does not pay indirect costs against participant expenses.

Grant awards will be contingent upon satisfactory review of forms. Organizations should take care to ensure that all forms are up-to-date and on file at your organization in order to speed up the award process.

• The following forms are required upon submission of the grant proposal:
• Application for Federal Assistance: SF-424 http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/sf424.pdf
• Copy of IRS notification of current tax-exempt status
• Last three years audited financial statements
• List of U.S. Government grants over last three years (A-133 audit statements will include this)

Organizations that receive an award will be required to submit these additional forms before a grant can be written:

• Certification of Compliance with Federal Forms: Form DS-2014
• Certification Regarding Drug-Free Workplace Requirements for Grantees: Form DS-2012
• New Restrictions on Lobbying: Form DS-2018, and SF Form-LLL
• Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters for Primary and Lower Tier Covered Transactions: Form DS-2015
• Assurance of Compliance with Federal Regulations: Form DS-2016 attached.

An applicant organization's budget must respond to the solicitation guidelines and be included in the proposal. Applicants must provide a detailed line-item budget outlining specific cost requirements for proposed activities. Include narratives as necessary to explain specific line-items and how the amounts were derived. The budget must include these main components:

A. Summary Budget

B. Line-item Program Budget

C. Line-item Administrative Budget

1. SUMMARY BUDGET:

   A budget outlining total program and administrative costs as well as overall total project cost should be included. Costs per participant are to be included as shown in this example:

   SAMPLE SUMMARY BUDGET

   	DRL	Cost Sharing	Total
   PROGRAM COSTS
   Program costs per participant
   ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
   Administrative costs per participant
   TOTAL COSTS
   Total costs per participant: (Number of participants (if applicable):____)

2. LINE-ITEM PROGRAM BUDGET:

Guidance on admissible program costs is included in the solicitation document. Applicant organizations should follow, in general, the outline and sample budget format below. This format may not be applicable depending on the project being proposed. Regardless of the format, as much detail as possible should be provided. Funding requirements by source (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, cost-sharing, etc.) are to be listed for each line item. General program costs, which do not vary according to the number of participants, are separated from program costs which do vary according to the number of participants. Contributions should be included, whether cash or in-kind contributions. 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 to be provided by those sources.

1. General Program Costs: Program costs that do not vary according to the number of participants.

a. Lecture fees, consultant fees, honoraria, travel, and per diem for outside speakers:
List names and rates per day (e.g., 2 x $150/day x 2 days).

b. Staff travel and per diem: separate costs into three areas:
1)  Airfare
2)  In-country travel
3)  Per diem
4)  Incidental Travel Costs

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).

c. Materials: Film and video rentals, training and educational materials, etc., as appropriate.

2. Program Costs for Participants: Program costs that vary according to the number of participants.

a. Travel: separate costs into three areas:
1)  Airfare
2)  In-country travel
3)  Per diem

Explain differences in fares among travelers on the same routes (e.g., participant traveling for three weeks whose fare is higher than that of participant traveling for four months).

b. 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. Homestays, dormitory stays, hotel room-sharing, and similar means of lowering the per diem cost are permissible.

c. Orientation: Travel costs and per diem other than for participants, speaker fees, preparation of materials, printing and copying may be included with other expense categories or listed as a separate category. It may be necessary to identify additional costs under this heading, such as room rental.

d. Other Program Costs: These will vary depending on the nature of the project. The inclusion of each must be justified.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor DOES NOT PAY FOR THE FOLLOWING:

• Publication of materials for distribution within the United States;
• Administration of a program that will make a profit;
• Expenses incurred before or after the specified dates of the grant (unless the grant is amended);
• Projects designed to advocate policy views or positions of foreign governments or views of a particular political faction;
• Entertainment expenses;
• Contingency funds to cover unexpected costs, including salary increases, increased airfares, and other inflationary factors;
• Fund-raising costs.

The line-item administrative budget describes each type of cost and elaborates on the categories listed below.

1. Staff requirements: Identify staffing requirements by each position title and, as necessary, brief description of duties. List annual salary of each position, percentage of time and number of months devoted to 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).

2. Benefits: State benefit costs separately from salary costs and explain how benefits are computed for each category of employee.

3. Other Direct Administrative Expenses: List items separately using unit costs for photocopying, postage, telephone/telefax, printing, office supplies, and equipment (e.g., Telephone: $25/month x 12 months).

4.  Indirect Expenses: See OMB Circulars A-122, "Cost Principles for Non-profit Organizations" and A-21 "Cost Principles for Educational Institutions"

a. If your organization has an indirect cost-rate agreement with the U.S. Government, please include a copy of this agreement as an addendum to the budget.

b. Indicate how the rate is applied--to direct administrative expenses, to all direct costs, to wages and salaries only, etc.

c.  Do not include indirect costs against participant expenses in the Bureau budget as it does not pay these costs.

d.  If an organization does not have an approved negotiated indirect cost rate, all costs must be directly charged to the agreement.

• The limit on administrative costs includes both direct and indirect administration charges, whether or not the indirect charges are based on program or administration expenses.
• Preference is given to applicants proposing to waive or substantially cost share indirect expenses in order to utilize the highest possible proportion of funds for direct program costs.

SAMPLE LINE-ITEM ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET

	DRL	Cost Sharing	Total
1. Salaries: by position and rate
2. Fringe Benefits: specify type and rate
3. Telephone/fax
4. Copying
5. Postage
Other Direct Costs
6. Indirect Costs
TOTAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS

1. Provide double-spaced, single-sided Executive Summary and Proposal Narrative;
2. Provide proposal budget per RFP and Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI);
3. Provide completed Application for Federal Assistance: SF-424
4. Provide copy of IRS notification of current tax-exempt status;
5. Provide the last three years audited financial statements
6. List of U.S. Government grants over last three years (A-133 audit statements will include this)
7. Number all pages, including budget and addenda;
8. Use 81/2" x 11" paper for the package;

Two copies of the proposal should be arranged in the following order:

• Table of Contents (List all attachments)
• Tab A Application for Federal Assistance Form
• Tab B Executive Summary (One page)
• Tab C Narrative (Not to exceed 10 pages)
• Tab D Detailed Budget