American Institute in Taiwan

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program. This is an Annual Program Statement (APS), outlining our funding priorities, the strategic themes we focus on, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding.  Please carefully follow all instructions below.

Purpose of Small Grants: PDS AIT Taipei and PDS AIT Kaohsiung invite proposals for programs that strengthen cultural ties between the U.S. and Taiwan through cultural and exchange programming that highlights shared values and promotes bilateral cooperation. The programs may take place anywhere within Taiwan. All programs must advance one or more of the policy goals listed below.

Examples of PDS Small Grants Program programs include, but are not limited to:

• Academic and professional lectures, seminars, speaker programs, events involving alumni of U.S. government exchange programs, and podcasts
• Artistic and cultural workshops, joint performances, and exhibitions
• Cultural heritage conservation and preservation programs
• Professional and academic exchanges and programs
• Training sessions to develop skills relevant to a policy goal

Policy Goals:

Proposals must advance one or more of the following policy goals:

• Provide programming for American Spaces and other PDS initiatives throughout Taiwan on key AIT goals that bolster people-to-people ties, provide outreach to diverse audiences, entrepreneurship training, empowerment of women and girls, promotion of democratic values, and programs that advance DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility) principles.
• Assist in efforts to promote media literacy, build fact-checking capabilities and techniques, and increase Taiwan society’s capacity for civilian response to disasters.
• Help generate digital content to support AIT messaging campaigns on key goals including, but not limited to, expanding Taiwan’s international space, promoting global supply chain resilience and U.S.-Taiwan trade relations, and raising awareness of cybersecurity and climate change.
• Promote or showcase Taiwan as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific region
• Leverage or complement the efforts of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative to enhance educational exchanges, especially on STEM or through university-to-university partnerships.
• Highlight and raise public awareness and importance of key economic collaboration and cooperation between the United States and Taiwan, including by promoting entrepreneurship through provision of training or networking opportunities, especially to under-served communities.
• Enhance local climate change mitigation and adaptation actions, including issues related to oceans and marine conservation; raise youth awareness of climate or energy issues; facilitate the local stakeholder communications that help meet sustainability and energy transition goals; and build capacity and networks of climate-focused social enterprises.

Participants and Audiences:

• Target audience and participant selection must align with the United States government’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility.
• This funding opportunity is available to organizations and individuals who have projects that directly benefit the people of Taiwan.

The following types of programs are not eligible for funding:

• Programs relating to partisan political activity
• Charitable or development activities
• Construction programs
• Programs that support specific religious activities
• Fund-raising campaigns
• Lobbying for specific legislation or programs
• Personal scientific research
• Programs intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization
• Programs that duplicate existing programs.

Authorizing legislation, type and year of funding:

The source of funding is Fiscal Year 2024 AIT Funding 

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Address to Request Application Package

Application forms required below are available to download directly by just clicking the title of each from below. Or here: Grant Forms | GRANTS.GOV

2. 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 Submission

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 (please round up to the nearest hundred)
  • All pages are numbered
  • All documents are formatted to 8 ½ x 11 (letter-size) paper, and
  • All Microsoft Word documents are single-spaced, 12-point Calibri font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins.

Form of Application Submission

The following documents are required:

(1) Mandatory application forms that must be completed and signed

ORGANIZATION

• • • SF-424(Application for Federal Assistance – organizations)
    • SF-424Instructions
    • SF-424B (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs – organization)

INDIVIDUAL

• • • SF-424-I(Application for Federal Assistance – individuals)
    • SF-424-I Instructions
    • SF-424B(Budget Information for Non-Construction programs – individuals)

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

(3) Proposal (10 pages maximum): The proposal should contain sufficient information that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do. You may use your own proposal format, but it must include all the items below.

• • Proposal Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed program, including program objectives and anticipated impact.
  • Introduction to the Organization or Individual applying: A description of past and present operations, showing ability to carry out the program, including information on all previous grants from the AIT 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 Taiwan 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.

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

(5)  Attachments (suggested examples):

• • 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
  • Official permission letters, if required for program activities

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

Required Registrations:

All organizations applying for grants (except individuals) must obtain Unique Entity Identifiers (UEI) and an active registration with the www.SAM.gov . All are free of charge – be wary of someone requesting payment for registration as it is never required.
(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.

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.

• • 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.
  • 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 plan to do business with the DoD in addition to the American Institute in Taiwan should follow the below instructions: 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

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.

4. Submission Dates and Times

The Public Diplomacy Section will accept and review proposals on a rolling basis throughout the year. Applications may be submitted for consideration at any time before the closing date July 31, 2024. No applications for fiscal year 2024 funding under this Funding Opportunity will be accepted after that date.

5. Funding Restrictions

The following activities and costs are not covered under this announcement and are classified as not allowable – please read this section carefully and match it to your project activities:

• • Activities that appear partisan or that support individual or party electoral campaigns.
  • Procurement of vehicles.
  • Activities that appear partisan or that support individual or party electoral campaigns.
  • Direct support or the appearance of direct support for any religious organization, to include repair or building of structures used for religious purposes.
  • Military assistance of any kind, including weapons buy-back or rewards programs.
  • Purchase of firearms, ammunition, or removal of unexploded ordnances.
  • Para-police (i.e., militias, neighborhood watch, security guards) and prison-related projects. This restriction includes no funding of any secondary need in a law-enforcement organization.
  • Payments for any partner government, military, or civilian government employee salary or pension.
  • Duplication of services immediately available through municipal, provincial, or national government.
  • Funds for market research, advertising (unless directly related to publicizing grant activities), or other promotional expenses.
  • Expenses made prior to the approval of a proposal or unreasonable expenditures will not be reimbursed.
  • Charitable or development activities.
  • Fund-raising campaigns.
  • Lobbying for specific legislation or projects.
  • Personal scientific research.
  • Activities with unmitigated and negative environmental consequences (such as dams or roads through forest lands).
  • Activities that benefit any employee of the United States Government.
  • Procurement of pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides.
  • Provision of capital to beneficiaries through either loans or grants.
  • Revolving credit schemes.
  • Lobbying for specific legislation or projects
  • Purchase of alcohol, medicine, school uniforms, school fees, bursaries, or personal expenses.
  • Purchase of food and food parcels, unless the grantee can demonstrate that such expenses are reasonable and necessary to meet the goals and objectives of the grant.
  • Purchase of used equipment – to avoid recurring maintenance and support cost. There is a general policy for financing only new equipment unless it is simple in design and spare parts are available locally.
  • Projects intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization.
  • Projects seeking funds for personal use.
  • Projects that require a participation fee.

6. Other Submission Requirements

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

G. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

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

Note:  We do not provide any pre-consultation for application related questions that are addressed in the NOFO. Once an application has been submitted, American Institute in Taiwan officers and staff may not discuss this competition with applicants until the entire proposal review process is completed.