Inter-American Development Bank

Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank (“IDB” or “Bank”) is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social, and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It provides loans, grants, guarantees, policy advice and technical assistance to the public and private sectors of its borrowing countries.

The IDB is particularly interested in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship to listen, inspire, experience and co-create solutions for LAC.

IDB’s Community Relations Program supports Latin American and Caribbean communities in the Washington DC metropolitan area through three (3) main components: (a) a grant program, (b) the IDB Volunteer Network, and (c) surplus equipment donations.

THE COMPETITION 

The IDB is seeking the five (5) most inspiring and creative solutions to primarily address the needs of the Latin American and/or Caribbean communities in the Washington DC, metropolitan area.

The IDB will award each of the selected organizations a grant of up to US$50,000.00. The dollar amount of each grant will be determined at the sole discretion of the IDB and in accordance with each project’s needs, as specified in each proposal for project implementation. In no event shall any single grant award exceed US$50,000.00.

The funds could be used to expand a recently implemented project (up to 1 year) or as a seed capital to implement a new one.

Up to 7% of the total grant budget can be used for administrative costs of the project.

REQUIREMENTS

All proposals should direct their services primarily to the neediest segments of the Latin American and/or Caribbean communities in the Washington DC (WDC), metropolitan area. NOTE: This area includes the District of Columbia, Maryland (Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties) and Virginia (Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Prince William and Loudon Counties).

Of the five (5) selected organizations, at least three (3) of the awarded will be small- and/or medium-sized. For the avoidance of doubt, organizations are considered small- and/or medium-sized if their total organizational yearly budget is less than US$5 million.

All proposals should have an innovative/creative approach to an identified need.

The funds could be used to expand a recently implemented project (up to 1 year) or as a seed capital to implement a new one.

Participating organizations must be non-profit community-based organizations with tax-exempt status under Section 501 (c)(3) or Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code registered and operating within the WDC metropolitan area with at least 3 years of constitution.

Applications must be submitted online through the NEXSO platform and must include all requested attachments specified in the application. All applications will be subject to NEXSO’s User Agreement, the terms and conditions of which may be found under the following link: https://www.nexso.org/en-us/User-Agreement.

All applications should provide the following documents:
1. IRS Tax Exemption Certificate [501(c)(3) or 509(a)]
2. Project Budget
3. Organization’s Current Budget
4. Last Audited Financial Statements (not older than 3 years)
5. Organization’s Projected Budget (2016/2017)

Applicants who have received a grant from the IDB last year, are required to submit the Final Report of the previous cycle by June 2nd, 2016, indicating how the IDB funds were used. Failing to submit this report will automatically DISQUALIFY them from the competition.

Each selected organization must be available to participate in the “Improving Lives Campaign” event.

The five (5) selected organizations will not be eligible to participate in the following edition of the IDB’s Improving Lives Grant Program.

The deadline for submitting applications is May 19th, 2016, at 5:59 pm (EST). 

The five (5) selected organizations will be required to submit a report on how grants were used by April 19th, 2017.

Individuals who have close family members employed by the IDB are ineligible to apply.  This restriction applies to the spouse, to relatives up to the fourth degree of relationship by blood (consanguinity) and by adoption, and up to the second degree of relationship by marriage (affinity).
NOTE: Spouse, domestic partner, mother, father, brother, sister, child, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, (son-daughter-brother-sister)-in law, grandparent, great grandparent, great-great grandparent, grandchild, great grandchild, great-great grandchild, first cousin, step-(parent-children-brother-sister), (parent or grandparent)-in law, and spouses of brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law, great (grandchild-uncle-aunt-nephew-niece-grandparent).

A video lasting no more than two (2) minutes must be uploaded, showing the project and answering the following questions:

• What challenge in the community does this project address?
• How has this project proven the validity of the need?
• Why should your organization’s project be selected?

Each selected organizations will sign an individual letter agreement with the IDB that will set forth the terms and conditions upon which the grant will be awarded, and will include the project proposal as an attachment.

All five (5) organizations must present their projects in the so-called “pitch by fire” format during the “Improving Lives Campaign” event, taking place at the IDB Headquarters in Washington DC on September 2016, or at any other date determined by the IDB in the future.

Each organization will have two (2) minutes to make a presentation to IDB’s employees giving them the opportunity to get to know the organization/project and to pledge their pro-bono professional volunteer services.
NOTE: The IDB does not guarantee that IDB employees will be recruited as pro-bono volunteers during the “Improving Lives Campaign” event, or subsequently thereafter, nor does the IDB have any obligation to provide such pro-bono volunteer services to any of the awarded organizations. An IDB employee’s pledge to provide pro-bono professional services will be completely voluntary and at his or her discretion, subject to the concurrence of his or her organizational unit.

GRANTS NOT SUPPORTED

• Academic research programs
• Individual petitions for scholarships
• Individuals applying on their own behalf, including grant requests for travel or studies
• Political activities
• Religious activities
• Capital campaigns/infrastructure projects/galas

SELECTION CRITERIA

In alignment with the Bank’s strategy set for the next three (3) years, priority will be given to those projects addressing needs in one (1) or more of the following areas:

1. Gender equality and diversity
2. Social inclusion and equality
3. Institutional capacity building

The proposed projects should demonstrate that they are capable of improving lives of LAC communities in the WDC metropolitan area. Each project will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Problem — 4 points
Challenge or needs assessment, ability to demonstrate the challenge.
a. Clear identification of the challenge/need that the project is addressing.
b. Who will benefit from this project?
c. How many people will benefit from this project and what percentage is from LAC communities?
d. Video — 1 point

Innovative approach — 10 points
Ways to address a challenge/need either through a new approach or adding value to an existing one with a creative point of view, including improvement of methods, design, implementation and/or measurement of results.
a. Is this a new project or an enhancement to an existing one?
b. What is unique or different about it?
c. How does your innovative project improve the quality of life among the Latin American and/or Caribbean people you serve?
d. Is anyone else doing something similar in this area?

Pro-bono component — 10 points
The IDB does not guarantee that IDB employees will be recruited as pro-bono volunteers during the “Improving Lives Campaign” event, or subsequently thereafter, nor does the IDB have any obligation to provide such pro-bono volunteer services to any of the awarded organizations. An IDB employee’s pledge to provide pro-bono professional services will be completely voluntary and at his or her discretion, subject to the concurrence of his or her organizational unit.
What kind of professional expertise (ways in which an IDB employee will be able to advise and support your project or organization utilizing his/her knowledge and expert skills) will you need to support primarily this project or your organization? The pro-bono profiles that IDB may offer to support the projects or organizations are:
a. Accounting, budget, and finance
b. Communications
c. Impact evaluation
d. Human Resources
e. Information Technology Support
f. Advisory in specific sectors in which the IDB does business

Cost/Budget & Sustainability — 4 points
Funding beyond current cycle.
a. How do you plan to fund this project in the year following the grant?
b. What other resources will you need to continue improving lives through your innovative project?
c. Are you partnering with other organizations in this project? — 1 point

Impact — 5 points  
Ability/mechanism to measure success.
a. How will you measure this project’s impact in the quality of life of the Latin American and/or Caribbean people you serve?

Implementation — 5 points 
a. How your organization is planning to implement this project (goals, objectives, institutional capacity, and time needed).

Total — 40 points

All participating organizations represent that the individual submitting the organization’s proposal is duly authorized to bind its organization to the proposal as submitted. All participating organizations also represent that they have read the terms and conditions outlined in this document and have the experience, skills and resources to perform their projects as outlined in their respective proposals. Submission of proposals affirms the understandings set forth in these terms and conditions.

For any questions or clarifications with respect to the requirements set forth in this document, the IDB’s contact is listed below and all communication with the IDB shall be directed as follows: IDB Community Relations, idbcommunityrelations@iadb.org.

All participating organizations may be asked to clarify and/or amplify their proposals at the Bank’s sole discretion.

All proposals will be evaluated exclusively on the basis of the materials submitted by each participating organization. Proposals shall be evaluated on the basis of a participating organization’s ability to meet the selection criteria outlined in article 5 of this document. Incomplete or inadequate proposals, lack of attention to any particular item or items, or misrepresentation in responding to the required criteria may result in a rejection of a participating organization’s proposal. To ensure that all proposals are evaluated in an equivalent fashion, each participating organization must submit a proposal that conforms to the terms and conditions of this document. All participating organizations represent that the information contained in their proposals will be the basis for the Bank’s understanding and evaluation of their proposals. All participating organizations should ensure that their proposals clearly explain all issues addressed in these terms and conditions.

All grant awards will be made at the sole discretion of the IDB. In no event shall any participating organization have any recourse to appeal the IDB’s decision not to award a grant to a particular organization. Any effort by a participating organization to influence the IDB in the process of examination, clarification, evaluation and comparison of proposals, or in decisions regarding the award of a grant, may result in the rejection of the participating organization’s proposal.

The IDB reserves the right to reject any and all proposals for any reason or for no reason without recourse, to request substitution and/or clarification of any information provided, to ask for interviews with a participating organization’s management staff and/or to visit the participating organization’s site, as deemed necessary at the sole discretion of the IDB.

After receipt of proposals, information relating to the evaluation process shall not be disclosed to participating organizations, or to any persons whatsoever.

It is the intent of the IDB to select five (5) proposals and award five (5) grants to five (5) organizations as soon as practicable after receipt of, and evaluation of, all submitted proposals. However, if for any reason whatsoever the IDB Improving Lives Grant program cannot be carried out, executed or fully completed as originally foreseen, the IDB reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the IDB Improving Lives Grant program, regardless of the stage in which it is in, and will not incur in any responsibility towards participating organizations or any other third party.

The IDB reserves the right to terminate any agreement resulting from the Improving Lives Grant program at any time upon written notice, when in the discretion of the Bank a participating organization has failed to uphold the terms and conditions upon which a grant has been awarded, or has failed to implement the project as specified in the project proposal that shall be attached to any such agreement, as may be amended from time to time.