SRF International Window for East Chad Call

The questions shared with the SRF: 

- Can you confirm that the budget must be provided in GBP as indicated in the operational manual (the example given in the shared template is in XAF)?

- Is there any flexibility in the use of the INFOEURO rate? 

The answers from the SRF: 

The faulty budget template led to some misunderstanding on the currency to be used for budgeting in the full proposal. The budgets have to be prepared using the GBP as it will be the contractualisation currency. Regarding the exchange rate, as per the Operations Manual, the exchange rate used has to be OANDA as no due diligence process has been conducted at this stage. An exception will only be discussed with the INGO selected after the due diligence is conducted, not before this stage. 

Please refer to the draft Operations Manual (in the documents above) for more information. 

With regard to requests relating to comments and programmatic proposals submitted by the SRF at the time of the announcement of the organisations selected to submit full proposals, the SRF would like to reiterate that the current process remains competitive. At the end of this process, project proposals will be evaluated impartially. The SRF cannot therefore provide any further information on individual proposals.

An error occurred on the annexes shared with the preselected organisations. All the templates for the compulsory annexes have been updated on the dedicated page on the website (above), as well as shared by e-mail with the preselected organisations. Please ignore the first list of documents shared and only refer to the documents available on this page.

The budget template has to be used by all the preselected organisations as they are all consortia. 

The question asked was:

Does the rule that the budget must not exceed 30% of the applicant organization's budget apply to national partners as well as international partners individually or is it only applicable for the whole project budget to the consortium lead?

SRF's answer:

While this question was clarified during the Q&A for the concept phase, the information is added here as well. The rule stating that the budget allocated by the SRF must not exceed 30% of the partner organisation's budget applies to all partners involved, including the national partners, in order to ensure efficient use of project resources. Thus, each partner's project budget must not exceed 30% of its own annual budget for 2024. The annual budget of INGOs is the budget of the mission in the country (and not that of the organisation as a whole).

Given that, during the analysis of the concept notes, it became apparent that some local partners were involved in several consortia in contradiction with the SRF rules, as an exception, adjustments may be made at the full proposal stage. However, as a reminder : 

• The SRF seeks to promote strategic partnerships between international and local actors, i.e. lasting collaborations that go beyond the project and are not merely ad hoc. This approach is essential for effective capacity building in the localisation dynamic. 
• It is crucial to strike a balance between the specific contribution of the additional/new partner and the project's value for money. The addition of a partner can enrich implementation, but it also leads to an increase in structural costs, which can affect overall financial efficiency. Consequently, this adjustment is only justified if the added value of the additional partner, and of all the members of the consortium, is clearly demonstrated. It is up to the partners to rigorously assess the benefits and constraints before making a decision.

Question asked: Can capacity-building activities be included in programme activities when they are directed towards local partners?

SRF response:

As a reminder, capacity building of the consortium members (internationals and nationals) is not one of SRF's intervention sectors. These are essential cross-cutting activities which must be detailed in the corresponding budget chapter (Capacity Building).

The operations manual defines capacity building as: ‘Training provided to front-line staff (e.g. social workers, psychosocial staff, nurses) or the hiring of consultants for organisational development can be considered to fall into this category. This may include renting premises and providing meals. Plans for technical and organisational capacity building should be aligned with the recommendations of the due diligence process. Investment in capacity building activities should not exceed 6% of the overall budget. The percentage of staff time directly involved in capacity building for consortia partners can be included in capacity building costs. Capacity building plans should clearly specify the level of involvement in relation to the planned capacity building activity. Investment in certain assets may also be considered if the need to strengthen partners' ability to run independent operations is sufficiently justified in the capacity building plan.’

The ‘capital expenditure’ budget category is for assets. As stated in the Operations Manual available above: ‘Equipment and supplies purchased in whole or in part with SRF funds are considered to be project assets if they have a useful life of more than one year and either (1) the purchase price or development cost of an individual item is more than £500 or local currency equivalent ; or (2) it is a group of lower value items that are mobile and considered attractive (e.g. mobile phones, cameras, laptops, tablets, satellite phones, vehicles, food, pharmaceuticals, etc.) whose combined purchase price or development cost is greater than £500 (or the local currency equivalent). Food and pharmaceutical products, which are generally considered consumer goods, should only be included in the list of assets if they are not distributed at the end of the project.’