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Notes on Submitting Proposals
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1. Essential Criteria for Projects
SSACI provides financial and technical support to vocational skills training and job creation projects aimed at disadvantaged young South Africans (aged 16-35). All projects and programmes that seek funding from SSACI must:
- Serve out-of-school youths
- Be located within a growth sector of the economy
- Plan to produce measurable results in terms of employment created
- Incorporate a strong technical, vocational or entrepreneurial training component
- Provide comprehensive post-training support that will help successful trainees to find wage-employment or establish their own enterprises
- Be cost-effective, with an efficient management structure, low overhead costs, high levels of technical expertise and an effective means of service delivery
- Have a strategy for sustainability beyond the period of donor funding
- Bring equal benefits to men and women
- Have potential for systemic impact
Project grants do not normally exceed R1'000'000 per year or more than three years.
2. Exclusions
2.1. SSACI operates only within the borders of the Republic of South Africa. Proposals from other countries, or for projects that will be implemented in other countries, cannot be considered.
2.2. SSACI may partner with government departments or parastatal organisations in the implementation of specific projects but we do not subsidise their operations.
2.3. Recipients of SSACI grants (as distinct from service-provision contracts) must be non-profit, public-benefit organisations with 18A tax-exemption status. For-profit companies may be contracted on a commercial basis to provide goods or services to projects but they may not themselves be the project-holders.
2.4. SSACI funds projects, not organisations. Proposed budgets may include the costs of all goods and services required for the implementation of the project. SSACI will not, however, cover organisational running costs that are unrelated to the project.
2.5 SSACI does not fund:
- Bursaries, scholarships or study awards for individuals
- Overseas study trips
- Company start-ups
- Political or religious activities
3. The Content and Organisation of Proposals
Proposals should be written under the following headings and should answer these questions:
3.1. Objectives
What exactly does this project aim to achieve in terms of youths helped to acquire marketable skills or engage in income-generating activities? How many young people are likely to benefit from it? (Be specific about the intended final outcomes of the project, e.g. "To train fifty youths from Soweto in construction carpentry over a period of twelve months, leading to a CETA-accredited certificate of competence at NQF level 3 and then, within another two months, to place at least forty of them in contract work of not less than one year's duration".)
3.2. Organisational Information
Provide some background information on your organisation and any other organisation that will be involved in the project. How is your organisation legally constituted and structured? How does it operate? How long has it existed? Who are its members, shareholders or trustees? Who are the executive managers? How is it funded? How is it connected to the community it serves? What has it achieved to date?
3.3. Action Plan
How will the objectives and desired outputs be achieved? When will the project start and end? What are the important milestones along the way and when will they be reached? What factors may hinder the attainment of the objectives? What assumptions have to be made about the environment within which the project will be implemented and what are the implications of changes in that environment? How will the project's outcomes be sustained in the longer term?
3.4. Partners and People Involved
Who will participate in the project (i.e. names of all organisations involved and people within them who will be responsible for implementing the project)? Who will be responsible for what? What experience do they have that is relevant to this project? Who will be the beneficiaries? Who else besides SSACI will sponsor the project?
3.5. Co-ordination and Reporting
How and by whom will progress be monitored? What will be considered indicators of success? Who will write progress reports and how often?
3.6. Budget and Financial Controls
What is the total amount being requested from SSACI? What are the main line-items and costs? Who within your organisation will manage the project's day-to-day finances? What financial controls exist within your organisation? Who audits your accounts and how often? Does anyone in, or connected with, your organisation receive any part of grant-funding received by the organisation?
N.B. It is an express condition of any SSACI grant that no percentage- or commission-based fundraising fee may be paid out of it.
4. The Format
4.1. The length of your proposal should not exceed six A4 pages, excluding supporting documents.
4.2. All proposals should be submitted electronically, either by e-mail or on CD, in MS-Word or pdf format. Financial documents attached to the main proposal may be in MS-Excel or pdf format.
4.3. Supporting documents may be submitted on paper, by fax, hand delivery or through the post.
5. Supporting Documents
Your proposal should be supported by the following documents (which may be submitted electronically or in hard copy as soon as possible after your e-mailed submission):
- A certified copy of your organisation's founding document (i.e.. its Constitution, Articles of Association or Deed of Trust)
- Your most recent annual report (if your organisation has existed for more than a year)
- An audited financial statement for the previous year
- Any external evaluations which have been made of the work of your organisation
And, if you are seeking grant funding:
- A certified copy of your organisation's certificate of registration by the Department of Social Development as a non-profit organisation
- A certified copy of the letter from SARS granting 18A tax status to your organisation
6. The Submission
Your proposal may be submitted to us :
- by e-mail at projects@ssaci.org.za
- or on CD posted or delivered to:
The Programme Manager
Swiss - South African Co-operation Initiative
PostNet Suite 267
Private Bag X30500
Houghton
2041
- You can also contact us :
By phone : +27 11-642-2110
By fax : +27 11-642-4206
From our webpage : www.ssaci.org.za
7. The Process After Submission
7.1. Immediately upon receipt of your proposal by SSACI we will send you a written acknowledgment. Within ten working days thereafter, we will send a further response informing you whether the proposed project falls within our current scope of interest. If it does, we will arrange to meet with you to discuss it in more detail. We may suggest modifications to the project that would make it more compatible with SSACI's funding criteria, but you are not bound by these: the proposal must reflect what your organisation believes it can do best.
Please note that an initial expression of interest does not in any way commit SSACI to funding your project or providing any other form of support.
7.2. Once agreement has been reached on a final proposal, SSACI's programme manager will present it to our Board of Trustees for a decision at their next quarterly meeting. Please note that the trustees are not bound to accept proposals recommended by the programme manager. In all matters of policy and funding only decisions of the Board of Trustees are binding upon SSACI.
7.3. Within five working days of the trustees' meeting you will be informed in writing of their decision regarding your proposal. During the interim period, enquiries about the status of your proposal will not be answered. If your proposal is unsuccessful, a specific reason will be given. Unless the letter from SSACI indicates otherwise, you may not submit another proposal within six months and no further correspondence on the trustees' decision will be entered into.
7.4. If your proposal is successful, a formal Memorandum of Agreement between your organisation and SSACI will be drawn up. This agreement will specify how and when funds will be made available, along with procedures for reporting on the progress of the project. The first tranche of SSACI funding will be released on signature of the agreement.
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