Bidder's Conference: G/TIP Grant Requirements, Monitoring and Reporting

Grant Requirements

• OMB Circulars.
• Reports (Progress and SF 269).
• Special Grant Conditions.
• Amendments.

OMB Circulars

• A-122 Cost Principles for Nonprofit Organizations.
• A-87 Cost Principles for State and Local Government.
• A-21 Cost Principles for Educational Institutions.
• A-133 Compliance Requirements.
• A-110 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements with State and Local Governments.
• A-102 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other Non-Profit Organizations.

Reports

• Reporting requirements per the OMB Circulars state: no more than quarterly and no less than annually.
• All reports financial (SF 269) and programmatic should be submitted on time simultaneously to the Grant Officer and Program Officer/Grant Officer Representative (GOR) for review.
• Site Visits.

Special Conditions

• Program funds cannot be used to promote, support, or advocate the legalization or practice of prostitution.
• Organizations cannot promote, support, or advocate the legalization of prostitution or practice of prostitution during the term of the grant.
• Provisions must be included in any sub-agreements.

Amendments

• Changes to the grant agreement:
  
  
  • All change requests must be submitted simultaneously to both the Grant Officer and the Program Officer. Requests can be submitted by email or mail.
  • The Grant Officer, Program Officer, and recipient should work closely together as a team to determine if an official amendment to the legal agreement is required.
  • Budget reallocation:
    
    
    • In accordance with Provision VI of the grant agreement document:
      
      --"Grantee is permitted to move up to 10% of program funds over the life of the grant without consulting the Grant Officer. Grantee may not move funds between program and administrative expenses without the written consent of the Grant Officer."  

    • Extension of the period of performance.
    • Request for additional budget line items (not included in original approved budget). 

  • The Grant Officer will have final determination of allowability and reasonableness of requested change.
  • All official responses regarding amendments must come from the Grant Officer.

What changes will likely not be approved?

• Changes that have no relation to the original scope of the program.
• Transfer of money for a different program.
• Request for extensions after the grant has already expired (a reasonable amount of time to submit a request is 30 days prior to the end of the project period).

The request should contain the following:

1) the dollar amount remaining (the unspent amount of the grant).
2) the amount of time to continue the grant.
3) the justification for the extension/change.
4) the time task plan for spending the funds.

NOTE: All reports must be up to date.

G/TIP's Grant Monitoring and Oversight Role

Monitoring Goals

• To ensure the effective use of grant funds to improve the response to human trafficking.
• To provide technical assistance.
• To identify promising practices and models for replication.
• To identify future directions for programming.
• To address common themes and needs among grantees.

Program Effectiveness and Impact

• Begins during pre-award process and continues throughout the life of the project.
• Assessing outcomes and outputs of projects.
• New initiatives: award of evaluation projects (embedded within projects & external evaluations).

How G/TIP Monitors Projects

• Factors to consider: budget, length of project, project activities/outputs, funding mechanism.
• Review program and financial reports.
• Ongoing communication.
• Review of key documents and products.
• Coordination and consultation with Embassy.
• Site visits: Program Officer, and/or Embassy representative and/or Grant Officer.

Challenges to Monitoring and Evaluating Effectiveness

• Limited resources and size of portfolios.
• Wide range of grantees and activities with varying levels of G/TIP involvement.
• Wide range of projects make application of common indicators difficult.
• Changes in country conditions that impact project implementation and monitoring.
• Competing priorities and time consuming grants process in State Department.

G/TIP Reporting Requirements

Program Progress Reports

• Required as provision of Grant Agreement or Inter-Agency Agreement.
• Within Grant Agreement, look to Provision on Monitoring/Reporting and Statement of Work for guidance.
• Due quarterly to G/TIP (No more than 30 days from March 31st, June 30th, September 30thand December 31st).
• Please send electronically to the Program Officer (GOR) and Grant Officer (GO).
• Failure to submit reports may affect further payment of the award or the processing of new awards, amendments or supplemental funding.  

Progress Report Recommended Format

There is no standard format, but G/TIP recommends the following:

• Identifying Information: organization, grant number, project title and project period dates, reporting period.
• Use Statement of Work attached to Grant Agreement as guide.
• Organize information according to the goals/objectives of the project.
• For each goal/objective:
  
  
  • detail activities conducted in effort to achieve the goal/objective.
  • indicate any problems/challenges in reaching the goal/objective and offer corrective solution or request assistance.
  • indicate progress toward indicators and targets, offering quantifiable information.
    
      
• Assess effectiveness of project up to that point and discuss keycontextual issues related to the project.
• Include preparation activities conducted during the reporting period, such as recruiting staff, coordinating logistics for a training, etc.
• Provide update on expenditures during reporting period.

Supporting Information/Highlights

Paint us a Picture -Provide Key Documents

• Articles, brochures, posters, agendas, manuals, photos and curriculum are all useful indications of a projects progression and reach.
• G/TIP reports to the larger State Department, Congress and the public on the projects we fund and we look to grantee's progress reports for project highlights.
• It is helpful to include a project highlight that can be extracted and used by our office as an example of the accomplishments G/TIP funding supports.
• We encourage you to let us know about your accomplishments as they happen; please don't wait until the end of the quarter to send us highlights.

Final Report

• Due 90 days from project end date.
• More than the last progress report.

Please include:

• Analysis of success in meeting indicators and targets.
• Final synthesis of project's effectiveness.
• Best Practices/Lessons Learned.
• Recommendations for future projects.

Financial Reports

• SF-269 Standard Financial Form.
• Must be submitted quarterly.
• Please send electronically to Program Officer (GOR) along with Program Progress Report.
• Also provide a copy to the Grants Officer.
• The SF 269 tells what has been obligated during the reporting period.

Coming Improvements

• We are developing a standard email box to receive progress and financial reports.
• Both the Program Officer (GOR) and Grant Officer will have access.
• We will notify you when it is operational.