The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Mission to Argentina is pleased to announce funding availability through the Mission’s Public Affairs Small Grants Program. This grants program supports projects proposed by Argentine individuals and/or educational and cultural non-profit institutions that fulfill U.S. Embassy goals and objectives: to strengthen the bilateral ties between the United States and Argentina, promote economic prosperity and security through academic and cultural initiatives seeking to increase understanding between U.S. and Argentine people and institutions.
Grants will be awarded in amounts between $10,000 and $100,000 U.S. dollars, disbursed in Argentine pesos at the official current exchange rate at the moment of the transfer to successful Argentine grantees. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate cost-sharing, public-private partnerships, cooperation among multiple partners, or innovative means to implement cost savings in their proposals.
PAS reserves the right to award less or more than the funds requested. In general, up to 20% of the award total is withheld as a final payment to ensure final reports completion. All successful applicants receive the terms and conditions of the award upon selection.
A review committee will evaluate each application submitted under this annual program statement. The evaluation criteria assess the quality and likelihood of a proposal’s success. The specific criteria are closely related and are considered as a whole in judging the overall quality of an application. Applications will be reviewed on the basis of their coherence, clarity, and attention to detail. Selection decisions are final and not subject to appeal.
The U.S. Embassy Buenos Aires Public Affairs Section will accept proposals and review them in one annual cycle. The closeout date for the cycle is:
Fiscal Year 2024: March 30, 2024 at 5:00pm (Buenos Aires Time)
Priority Funding Areas: The Grants Program seeks to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the United States and Argentina by awarding grants to Argentine non-profit organizations and individuals for projects that address the following priority areas:
Promote U.S. – Argentine Shared Values
- Projects that promote the teaching or learning of American English.
- Activities, workshops, and speaker programs that strengthen U.S.-Argentine ties and increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and Argentina.
- Projects that support educational exchange and partnership particularly those related to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) among Argentine youth.
Strengthen Prosperity
- Projects that foster entrepreneurship, innovation, U.S. business, and the protection of Intellectual Property Rights.
- Projects that encourage social development, help reduce inequality, especially among marginalized populations outside the City of Buenos Aires.
- Projects that foster environmental sustainability, sustainable economic models, and climate action.
Reinforce Democracy, Freedom, and Transparency
- Programs that promote good governance, and more transparent, independent, and democratic institutions in Argentina.
- Projects that support human rights, racial/ethnic and gender equality, women’s empowerment, and principles of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) as part of a strong civil society.
- Programs related to freedom of the press that improve the quality of investigative journalism and transparency, and that help counter disinformation.
Priority Audiences:
- Emerging voices, students, youth.
- Civil society leaders.
- Entrepreneurs.
- Established opinion leaders, including cultural and/or academic institution leadership.
- Residents of Argentine provinces outside of the City of Buenos Aires.
Activities not typically approved include, but are not limited to:
- Investments that primarily benefit only one or a few businesses or individuals,
- Scholarships for the study of English; conference attendance or study tours to the United States,
- Proposals that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship/support or electoral campaigns,
- Proposals with the main purpose of publication of books/pamphlets/websites/applications,
- Exclusively scientific research projects,
- Projects that require more than two years to implement,
- Purchase of equipment, vehicles, construction, or construction materials,
- Exchange programs with countries other than the U.S. and Argentina,
- Programs or exchanges focused on children under 13 years of age,
- Projects that support specific religious activities.
Grants cannot be used to fund religious activities, partisan political activities, fundraising campaigns; commercial projects or for-profit ventures, individual academic research projects, construction projects, or projects whose primary objective is an organization’s institutional development or an individual’s personal enrichment or career development.
NOTE: Once a project is approved, the administrative process to receive funds takes a minimum of two months. As such, proposals tied to a specific date or event should take this timeline into account.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants include Argentine not-for-profit organizations registered in Argentina, including non-governmental organizations, individuals, educational/cultural institutions, and governmental organizations.
Argentine applicants, NGOs, higher education institutions, or local provincial governments, must present a valid Inspección General de Justicia registration when submitting the application. Absence of this proof will disqualify your application.
For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply.
In those cases where a legal representative signs the agreement, s/he must be duly empowered to execute agreements on behalf of the organization.
Selection Process
Each application submitted under this announcement will be evaluated and rated on the basis of the following evaluation criteria: completeness, coherence, clarity, relevance to the priority themes listed above, the project’s link to the United States, and soundness of the project’s budget. The criteria are designed to assess the quality of the proposed project, and to determine the likelihood of its success.
Upon Selection of Your Proposal
If your project is selected, your organization will then need to register in SAM – System for Award Management. Applicants cannot receive grants until these steps are complete.
How to Apply
Please follow all instruction below carefully. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.
Please ensure that:
- The proposal clearly addresses the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity
- All documents are in English
- The budget is expressed in U.S. Dollars.
Proposals may be entered into this form (*) in English (note that only proposals in English will be accepted) and submitted via email to US-ArgentinaGrants@state.gov together with these mandatory application forms:
- SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – organizations) or SF-424-I (Application for Federal Assistance-individuals) at grants.gov.
- SF424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs – only for organizations) at grants.gov
You will then receive an email confirming that we have received your application. Proposals can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed with all the submissions received for that cycle (please see the list of cycles above). All applicants are generally contacted 4-6 weeks after the end of the cycle in which they submitted their proposal with information on whether or not it was selected. Due to the high volume of applications received, the Embassy cannot provide the reasons for its decision in the event that the project is not approved.
Reporting Requirements:
Recipients of the Embassy’s cultural and educational grants are required to submit a Federal Financial Report (SF-425) and a Narrative Report (SF-PPR) within 90 calendar days of the end of the period of performance delineated in the award.
Some grants may also require quarterly reports. Grantees will be informed of their reporting responsibilities when the grant is awarded. Failure to comply with the reporting responsibilities may jeopardize eligibility for future awards or will result in suspension of any future payments under this award until this obligation has been met.
Thank you for your interest in the Embassy’s Public Affairs Small Grants Program.
Should you have any questions, please submit them to US-ArgentinaGrants@state.gov.
(*) Form will automatically download, not open on screen.