Table of Contents

Introduction
Project Selection Process
Project Selection Guidelines
Project Proposal Process
Project Timelines
Project Documentation

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to capture the policies and guidelines in selecting projects for funding by Asha-CO. Section II is the Project Selection Process and discusses the procedure followed for funding a project. Section III is about the Project Selection guidelines and outlines the criteria in choosing a project for funding. The Fourth section, Project Proposal Process describes how a project may be proposed to Asha-CO and what details the proposal needs to contain. Section V is about the timeline followed by Asha-CO. The last section contains the documentation required for a project and provides the templates.

The guidelines laid out here have been largely adapted from the guidelines used by other Asha chapters in the US. The following criteria are broad guidelines and Asha-CO will be flexible to evaluate projects outside these guidelines on a case-by-case basis based on the discretion of the members.

Project Selection Process

The following is a step-by-step process for the selection of a project:

• Receive the completed project proposal form
• Establish a channel of communication with the projects we propose to partner with and give them a tentative time-line
• Project steward (project lead) and the project coordinator go through the project selection guidelines, and check at first go, whether the project maps to our guidelines or not. If it does, we can continue with review.
• If the project does not match out selection criteria, or if we decide not to fund a project, the proposal should be sent to Asha-wide and other NGOs ASAP.
• Find a steward and critique for each new project and discuss the project using this method at the projects team meeting
• Send documents to the project team members at least one week prior to the project meeting so that the team can review the proposal
• Discuss the project at the project meeting and collect questions and feedback. The project steward should be responsible for obtaining answers for questions/concerns raised during the projects meeting from the contact person in the field.
• Contact previous funding agencies, if any, for feedback.
• If the projects team is satisfied, send documents to the core team for review at least one week before the core meeting
• Project steward is responsible for collecting questions from the core team and making sure that these questions are answered from the field
• Have a second review of the proposal, if necessary.
• Make a decision to approve or reject funding of the project at the next core meeting. If a consensus cannot be obtained, the majority vote should be honored.
• A site visit is mandatory to finalize funding a project. Site visits can be conducted by an Asha Colorado volunteer, Asha India volunteer, Asha-wide volunteer, or a representative of any other NGO also involved in the funding.
• The project steward must coordinate with the project coordinator, chapter coordinator and the treasurer to send the funds to the field and get a receipt for the funds.
• Update all documentation and the projects pages on the website.
• Inform the Asha main representatives about the new project.
• Arrange for the annual/half yearly site visit
• Monitor the project and receive progress reports. Update the reports on our website.
• 3 months prior to the end of the first funding cycle, we must make a decision whether to continue funding and the time period for the renewed funding
• Keep the project coordinator in the loop at all times

Project Selection Guidelines

VISION and GOAL:

Asha Colorado’s goal is to choose projects with a primary focus on education. We will give preference to projects providing basic education for children supplemented by vocational training.

CRITERIA:

1. Asha Colorado will partner only with non-sectarian groups having no religious and political affiliations that do not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, religion or sex.
2. Asha Colorado requires projects to have FCRA clearance, without this we cannot send funds to the projects (we can work with projects to guide them on how to obtain FCRA)
3. The project proposal must describe the project in detail, its objectives, plan of action, number of children covered, number of people involved in the implementation of project, an itemized budget and any other relevant information. The following documents must be as comprehensive as possible: Project documents
   • Asha Colorado expects copies of following documents along with the project proposal :
     
     • FCRA papers
     • F3 filing (FCRA) for last year (if available)
     • Balance sheet (or Audit report) of last year
     • NGO filing papers
4. Our partner groups should use the funds disbursed for the activities that we have sanctioned the funds for, and will be accountable for the appropriate use of funds.
5. The project steward must contact the chapter treasurer and find out how much money we have. We should be able to support the project for at least one year before we make a decision. Decide whether Asha Colorado can fund the entire project or only part of the project based on availability of funds. Asha Colorado will not disburse funds that it does not already have. If only part of the project can be funded, the project steward must check if any other Asha chapters may be interested. Decide the period for which funding will be provided. Can this be an Asha Star Project? If yes, find individual sponsors.
6. The project proposal must contain a monitoring mechanism that can be qualitative and/or quantitative. 
7. Organizers must agree to submit half-yearly or annual reviews to Asha Colorado, with systematic reports on usage of funds and be agreeable to occasional short visits by Asha members or liaisons.

PREFERENCES:

• Community involvement/participation is a positive aspect.
• The project must improve the general welfare of the community (for e.g. Medical issues, health and hygiene camps, routine check ups, drinking water purification, educating parents of children etc. to name a few) thus emphasizing education related aspects.
• We will support few projects as opposed to pooling all our resources into one project.
• If we get a proposal for a project for less than a year, the group should be able to sustain the project beyond a year. The project should espouse a long-term commitment to their programs.
• Projects can promote literacy in the form of formal education complemented by vocational training that will help beneficiaries to be self-sustained.
• Low infrastructure costs are preferred. But if infrastructure needs to be established in order for the project to become functional (e.g. school building), then it will be considered based on the amount of funds currently available.
• Projects will be assessed for high cost effectiveness (low $/child/year). We need to be very careful here that we are comparing apples with apples.
• Projects that benefit children in rural areas where help is not easily accessible will get preference over projects that are well established in urban areas where other means of funding/help may be more accessible.

PROJECTS TEAM INTERNAL GUIDELINES:

• We will not support any NGO that is working against the state government
• Asha-CO will not commit to any funds it already does not have. At the same time, efforts will be made to ensure reasonably quick disbursal of funds collected.
• We should not function as a pure funding agency. We should be partners with the organization requesting help, and work with them to direct the course of the project in some way

Project Proposal Process

There are two ways of receiving project proposal, the first way is through the Asha wide projects egroup. The second way is through friends. For the first way, the following are the guidelines for the Projects Review team.

I) Project egroups- (contact in Asha wide is Bhaskar Raman (Berkeley))

1. Any or all members of project review team need to be part of the asha_projects@yahoogroups.com. This is an egroup where project proposals are put forth by volunteers in India and other Asha volunteers.
2. The team needs to review projects put up here from time to time and decide which ones to follow up.
3. Once the team decides to follow up a project, project coordinator will have to inform Asha main about its intention to follow up the project. Note: following up a project doesn’t mean we are funding it. We are responsible for the initial communication with the organization. Later on if we decide not to fund it we can put the project back for other chapters to review, and inform Asha main. Any member of Asha project review team can take up the responsibility of following up the project initially.

II) Through friends

Any member or non-member of Asha may bring a project to the consideration of Asha-CO. The process to be followed while proposing a project is:

1. Contact any Asha Member or email ashacolorado_projects@yahoogroups.com.
2. An application must be submitted to Asha-CO along with a proposal with detailed information about the Organization managing the project, the project itself, funding details, details on how to contact someone associated with the project and who can act as a contact person, and project Schedule.
3. Please refer to the project selection guidelines to understand the kind of projects funded by Asha-CO. More information about the projects already funded by Asha-CO is available on our website.

Project Timelines

Project Documentation

• New Project Proposal Document for review by Asha-CO. (Opens in new window)
  

• FCRA papers
• F3 filing (FCRA) for last year (if available)
• Balance sheet (or Audit report) of last year
• NGO filing papers