Grant to an international NGO for t

Grant to an international NGO for technical assistance[edit]

Technical assistance is available from specialized international NGOs in a number of areas. If the USAID mission determines that TA needs expressed by local implementing partners can best be met by an NGO (rather than by contracting for specific inputs), the relevant technical office will draft a request for proposals that the contracting office will issue to solicit responses from the NGO community. The process is similar to a grant to a local NGO, except that U.S. and international NGO applicants are pre-registered as being eligible to receive USG financing.

These experienced NGOs also frequently make unsolicited proposals to USAID, requesting funding for their own planned assistance activities. In general, USAID provides financial assistance (grants) to organizations who design their own programs (when those programs correspond to the areas that USAID wants to support), while USAID uses contracts to procure services (or products) when USAID and its counterparts have determined in advance what is specifically needed.

In addition to the types of projects described above, USAID uses various other assistance mechanisms for different U.S. objectives. Budget agreements with other USG agencies, which differ from contracts and NGO grants, are common in supporting collaboration between the U.S. and other countries on global issues. To pursue high-profile U.S. foreign policy interests, the State Department may direct USAID in making large-scale budget-support grants to other governments, referred to as "non-project" assistance.

For more details about how USAID manages funding agreements, the required procedures followed by USAID staff—the "Automated Directives System" (ADS) -- are available to anyone who is interested.[20]. In particular, ADS Series 300 on "Acquisition and Assistance" covers many details about agreements with implementing partners