Grant application
“Solidarity with the Caribbean Islands”
Guidelines
Following hurricane Irma, which badly affected the Caribbean Islands, including Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy and Cuba between September 6th and 8th 2017, the Fondation de Francelaunched an appeal for national solidarity towards the Caribbean Islands. It was widely diffused by the French media. On September 18th, hurricane Maria was hitting Dominica and Guadeloupe.
Taking into account the consequences of Irma on the population in St Martin, the Fondation de France will give priority to this island in a first time, and later will consider the needs in St Barthélemy and Cuba, as well as in Dominica and Guadaloupe following hurricane Maria.
Fondation de France supports associative projects helping families rebuilding their lives: overcoming trauma, assisting them in the recognition of their rights, supporting them in their applications for social services, finding a shelter and start activity again. Mostly it supports projects allowing the development social, associative or educative life back, and restoring economy on those territories. Individual applications aren’t part of this process (see on the website: Solidarity with the Carribean Islands: Principles of action).
1. Framework and principles of action
1. 1. Principles of action
Fondation de France will respect the following principles of action:
· Supporting in priority sustainable projects, on the mid- and long-term, targeting the very affected populations and the remotest areas.
· Including the population receiving support in the planning and application of the actions.
· Seeking to improve the quality of the constructions, as well as the resilience of the local populations, in comparison to the situation prior to the hurricanes.
· Giving priority to integrated approaches and taking into account the criteria of sustainable development.
· Insisting on rigorous implementation of procedures and monitoring both in the field and at our headquarters, all the while remaining flexible in order to adjust the aid to possible changes in the priority needs.
· Ensuring complete transparency and traceability and informing both the donors and the public about the funded actions.
1. 2. Framework
Fondation de France will support projects in the 2 following areas:
1) Emergency/Post-emergency
These projects aim at helping the victims quickly so that they can find a decent living back, including the families that have been repatriated in metropolitan France or Guadeloupe.
- Psycho-social support: receiving people, helping them overcoming trauma, providing care, offering psycho-social and cultural activities and sport for children, young people and their families in order to re-build social ties between communities.
- Legal assistance: advising the victims and the people repatriated to metropolitan France recovering their rights to indemnity (insurance) or social welfare.
- Social support: helping the very affected population, especially in the entitlement for social welfare.
- Material assistance: recovering a safe environment respectful of human dignity; provide shelter and minimum conditions of hygiene and health, as well as basic necessities; provide the most vulnerable population with financial help for basic necessities.
2) Rehabilitation/Reconstruction
The projects, which can last from 36 to 48 months, contribute to the reconstruction of the islands concerned, and help the population start living a normal and social life again.
- Help to individuals and vulnerable families: meeting the needs of the most fragile individuals, guiding them towards medical and psychological care, helping them overcoming their financial difficulties and assisting them in the formalities.
- Economic stimulation: helping “auto-entrepreneurs” and small businessmen who lost their means of production getting an income back for their family: revive small business, services to people, and all activities generating incomes; encouraging access to professional training.
- Housing: supporting participatory rehabilitation for the modest homes.
- Reconstruction for buildings of community use: participating to the construction or rehabilitation of associative spaces, social and cultural centers, providing with small equipment for leisure or sport.
Except for specific cases with dedicated donations, public infrastructures - such as roads, port facilities, hospital, schools, etc… - and operational costs from public institutions are not eligible.
2. Eligibility criteria
2.1. Eligibility of applicants and partners
2.1.1 Eligibility of applicants
To qualify for a grant, applicants must:
· be non profit legal entities;
· be registered as a non-governmental organisation for more than one year;
· have led prior actions in the specified field;
· provide their governance model, review of their activities, annual statement of accounts...
2.1.2. Eligibility of partners
· The partners must be non-profit legal entities;
· The partners take part in defining and implementing the project.
2.2. Eligibility of resources and expenditure
2.2.1 Resources
Applicants are encouraged to highlight the co-financings as well as their own contribution expected on the project.
2.2.2 Expenditure
· all expenses necessary for the project’s implementation after the hurricanes
· accountable expenses, evidenced by receipts, bills etc.
· the cost of purchasing equipment, consumables, office supplies and services, as well as staff travel expenses and per diem living expenses
· project-related staff costs
· indirect costs (administrative costs of the association and its partner), that should not exceed 10 % of the project’s cost, except for justified exceptions
· Projects aimed solely at purchasing equipment or inputs cannot be financed under this programme.
· Organisms are required to plan in their budget:
- The possible increase for materials, workforce and rental of properties;
- The cost of evaluation and financial controls
- The cost of waste disposal caused by the project.
2.2.3 Criteria for selection of projects
· Projects that started before submitting the application and multi-year projects will also be considered.
· Projects presented by associations involved in the areas affected by the hurricane and which also have a holistic approach on an area or a group of people will be given priority.
· Presented projects must involve beneficiaries in the development and implementation of its actions.
· Projects must use local channels and expertise as much as possible.
· Projects presented by associations that work closely with national and local governments as well as local figures will be given priority in order to avoid a sudden break at the end of the project.
· Projects submitted should reflect the actions implemented by other organizations, and pay particular attention to coordinating aid (international or national, and local).
· Programs presented by several NGOs that have combined their complementary skills and which have a clearly identified leader will be given special attention.
· Projects focusing on most vulnerable populations, especially children, will be given special attention.
· Projects integrating risk prevention as a transversal objective will receive special attention.
Excluded projects:
- Heavy construction (roads, ports, hospitals, etc.)
- Except for particular dedicated funds, programs within local government and international agencies (public infrastructure).
3. Application procedure
3.1. Submitting an application
Applications can be submitted in two different forms:
1- Grant application – Annex 2
OR statement of intent (that must be followed by a grant application) – Annex 1
2- For reconstruction projects : Grant application + annex for houses and buildings reconstruction – Annex 3
3.1.1 Statement of intent for emergency/post-emergency projects
This process aims at facilitating the analysis of urgent grant application and/or the reinforcing of preliminary evaluations for the setting of a project, encouraging a prompt start of the project on site.
A detailed application form should be submitted in any case in the 3 months following the validation from la Fondation de France of the statement of intent.
The organisation can also fill up the Grant Application form directly.
3.1.2. Grant Application for emergency and post-emergency projects
Once filled-in, the Grant Application form can be submitted directly, or after prior consent from the Fondation de France on the Statement of intent.
Application forms must be submitted through the file in Annex 2 on Word (or compatible, such as .dot), with the budget on Excel that can be download on the website Fondation de France. Handwritten application will not be accepted. The form should be filled in French or English. Budgets should be in local currency or euro.
Some more lines can be added to the form, but the total should not exceed 20 pages. Please do not delete any section, and pay attention to ensure a paper-saving layout.
3.1.3 Appendices to the Grant application for reconstruction projects
The Annex 3 completes the general Grant Application form. The standard application includes two steps:
· A pre-project presentation with terms of reference describing the rehabilitation or reconstruction project, on which the committee “Solidarity with the Caribbean Islands” at Fondation de France will decide to support the project, provided that the applicant provides the “Project Form” before construction starts.
If the funding of the project is decided, a recommendation note might be addressed to the NGO by Fondation de France listing the potential precisions that should be added to the “Project Form”.
· A Project Form and operational framework resulting from in-depth investigation, and defining in detail the urban and/or architectural project, through a substantiated graphic documentation, technical notes, detailed costs, a planning estimation, specifying the modus operandi. The modifications (or evolutions) of the pre-project form must be indicated if need be. The “operational framework” table in the Project form should be filled and attached to the form. Construction work will be able to start after approval from the committee at Fondation de France.
3.1.4 Appendices
The following supporting documents must be available at the time of application. They must be scanned by the applicant and sent by email, in several batches if necessary since no file may exceed 10 Mb. Each piece required must be registered on a separate PDF file.
· a copy of the articles of association
· a list of board members
· the association’s bank account details (IBAN & SWIFT Code)
· minutes of the most recent annual general meeting
· the organisation’s financial statement approved at the general meeting (2016)
· the latest annual report
· an approval letter from each partner (if need be).
Please let us know if you encounter difficulties to provide these documents so that we can find an appropriate solution.
3.1.5 How to apply?
Applications must be sent by email only to
They must include:
· the Word (or compatible) file attachment with the grant application
· the Excel file attachment with the organisation’s budget and the project budget
· an approval letter or email from the main partner in the project if relevant
3.2. Selection procedure
The statements of intent and grant applications will be examined by the “Solidarity with the Caribbean Islands” Committee of Fondation de France.
The person in charge of the project at the applicant organisation must be reachable by email and telephone (land line or mobile) in case the examining body has any questions.
The selection committee will evaluate projects according to three types of criteria:
· Quality criteria
- The quality of the analysis of the situation and needs
- The inclusion of the beneficiaries and their information ; the awareness of their cultural and social specificities
- The inclusion of the other figures of aid
- The anticipation of the evolutions of the situation and the adaptability of the project
- The quality of the project, its relevance and its impact on affected people
- The feasibility of the project’s budget and plan of action, and coherence between the planned activities and expected results
- Budget/financing planning and consistency
· Impacts taken into account
- Ecological and environmental impact of the project
- Economic impact of the project and dependency risk on the aid
- Impact on the socio-political situation
- Impact on the safety of the population
- The procedures intended to ensure the sustainability of the project : economic, and technical terms and management
· Expertise of the applicant
- Administrative, financial and logistical management ;
- Quality of the fundraising and information analysis; especially the inclusion of safety matters and crisis response (cyclone, earthquake, flooding, social violence…)
- Transparency on the matter of decision-making responsibilities
- Employees’ availability and expertise
Concerning buildings’ rehabilitation or construction projects, the form should mention the policy of local authorities regarding the development of the district concerned (in urban area), the local habitat and the construction regulations applied to buildings.
4. Decision to support the project
Applicants will be informed of the decisions by email only (no replies will be given by telephone) just after the deliberation of the meeting of the “Solidarity with the Caribbean Islands” Committee.
Successful applicants will receive their grants in several instalments. The modalities will be specified along with the approval letter.
5. Follow-up: progress reports, control and communication
5.1 Instalments
Successful applicants will perceive their grant on several successive instalments, decided with the grant approval and specified in the approval letter.
The final balance will be paid when the project ends, upon validation of the technical and financial report.
Potential treasury issues related to the grant instalments’ rate should be anticipated in order to avoid the delay of the execution. In case you meet any difficulties, please get in contact with the person in charge of the project at Fondation de France.
5.2 Reports
The progress reports’ schedule will be sent to successful applicants along with the grant acceptance notice, and drawn up in accordance with the amount granted, the duration of the project and the number of instalments scheduled (cf. 5.1.). The reports will contain qualitative and quantitative data about the project’s execution. Fondation de France will notice about the format expected. In any case, the final report should be submitted to the examining body latest three months after the project has been completed.
In addition to the progress reports that need to be submitted for each instalment of the subvention, some more reports will be expected on those dates:
- On October 15th the current year : report stating the achievements effective on September 30th