Conservation, Food, & Health Foundation
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Frequently Asked QuestionsFrom Applicants: What are the deadlines? Plan way ahead. We are slow. The foundation has two 4-month funding cycles each year. The first begins in January and ends in May. The second begins in September and ends in December. Concept applications received by January 1 will be considered for eligibility for the March 1 full proposal deadline. Grant payout for this cycle will be in June. Concept applications received by July 1 will be considered for eligibility for the September 1 full proposal deadline. Grant payout for this cycle will be in December. May I fax or e-mail my concept application or proposal? We prefer email for concept applications but require paper copies for proposals. Please use a courier or regular mail so that we receive your proposal by the deadline. We redistribute all of the proposals to the trustees in one big mailing immediately following submission deadlines. Overseas applicants using regular mail should send materials at least 45 days in advance or have a colleague in the U.S. mail them for you. Fed-ExKinkos also provides an online service where you can email the proposal to be printed out and delivered. The closest office is listed below. Review their requirements before using this service. FedEx Kinkos 10 Post Office Square Will the foundation support indirect costs or administrative overhead? No. You have a better chance of competing for scarce dollars if you allocate direct costs to the CFH grant. May we submit our application in a language other than English? Unfortunately, we lack the capacity to translate proposals submitted in other languages. Can an organization submit two concept applications for consideration? In fairness to other organizations seeking support, we ask that organizations submit only one concept application per round of funding. Does the foundation provide multi-year funding? The foundation does not make multi-year grants. Applicants must re-apply through the competitive grants process each year. The foundation provides continued funding on a case-by-case basis depending on the past success of the project. Will the foundation support organizations that it has never heard of? Yes. However, it is difficult, to evaluate concept applications submitted from organizations totally unknown to us, particularly from organizations in the developing world, where it is difficult for the foundation to obtain information. Applicants that are not well known in the United States may provide references and printed materials showing the nature and functioning of the organization. Does the foundation require a format for reporting on grants? Yes, please refer to the reporting instructions that were sent with your grant check. If you are requesting continued funding, send an interim report and a financial status report form. We also enjoy reading the publications that emerge from research supported by the foundation. Will the foundation support travel costs to the developing world? The foundation prefers to maximize the impact of its grant dollars by supporting project expenses in developing countries. The money spent on one plane ticket, for example, could support the salary of a health worker, researcher, or agricultural extension agent for several months in a developing country. That being said, the foundation may consider supporting a small portion of travel expenses when costs are an integral and reasonable part of the project budget. Will the foundation support fellowships, scholarships, and training activities for university students? The foundation prefers to support the project-based technical and scientific training of early-career or established professionals from the developing countries who: 1) are working in the field on specific issues that address priority research concerns in its main areas of support and 2) demonstrate leadership potential in their field in their home countries. These grants are relatively rare. Will the foundation support comprehensive village level anti-poverty programs in developing countries, many of which address the intersection of conservation, food and health? The foundation prefers to support specific projects and strategies, which have potential for broad applicability to other organizations or communities in the developing countries. It seldom funds projects that only have a local impact. The foundation focuses its areas of interest with the hope of supporting projects that offer potential benefit beyond local action. One-third of all concept applications reviewed by the foundation are not considered for funding because they seek support for very general village improvement efforts, basic organic farming, animal husbandry training projects, or for general operating support. From Current Grantees: May we reapply for funding next year? Grantees may submit a proposal for continued funding if the project substantially continues the work of the currently funded project. In other words, if you need money for a totally new project or a very new direction or phase of the current project, please submit a new concept application. Should current grantees submit a concept application to request continued support? Only if they are seeking support for a totally new project. Please notify us as soon as possible if you plan to resubmit. How do we reapply for funding? Follow the proposal instructions on the web site as in the past. The proposal guidelines and forms may change from year to year, so make sure your information is up to date. If we reapply, should we complete the entire proposal again including the attachments? Yes. Do not assume that the reviewers remember your organization or your work. The foundation reviews many similar requests. Having all of the information readily available will help the reviewers answer questions that may support their understanding of the project. When do we report on the project? We encourage you to keep us up to date about the project. Always send a short interim report with any request for follow-up support. Please send a final report at the end of the grant period or project phase. Even if the particular phase of your project is not completed by the time you spend all of the grant money, let us know when you will send a final accounting of the project. How should we report? Please follow the guidelines provided by the foundation. We encourage you to bullet out evidence or indicators of progress on the objectives that you identified in the proposal. Attach relevant materials to your summary of progress. Is my information up-to-date? We update our Web pages frequently. Most pages have a "last revised" date at the bottom. Make sure your browser cache options are set to verify documents at least once per session or hit the "Reload" or "Refresh" button to load the latest version of the web page.
Last Updated: 1/28/08
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