If your organisation is able to provide to AFAO regular written reports in English, has regular and reliable access to email, phone and fax, has access to a computer and adequate skills in reporting (including financial reporting in Microsoft Excel, can provide two written references from previous donors, and is able to open a bank account in the name of the organisation, exclusively for AFAO project funds, then you either work for the UN or you are an extremely lucky NGO worker in Burma / Myanmar.

NGOs can apply for a grant. The website has the details and they have also been copied below

[him] moderator

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http://www.afao.org.au/view_articles.asp?pxa=ve&pxs=102&id=298

The AFAO International Grant Scheme
The aim of AFAO’s international grant scheme is to strengthen the capacity of community-based and non-government organisations in Asia and the Pacific to respond to the HIV and AIDS epidemic by ensuring the full participation of communities and populations most affected by HIV and AIDS.
The objectives of the grant scheme are:
• To enable the participation, visibility and central role of people living with HIVand AIDS in all responses to the epidemic
• To enable the participation of most affected communities in all responses to the HIV and AIDS epidemic, and
• To improve the capacity of community-based and non-government organisations to respond to the epidemic across the local, national and regional levels.
 
What will AFAO fund?
AFAO’s international priority work areas
In this the seventh round of the international grant scheme, AFAO is calling for applications from community-based (CBO) and non-government organisations (NGO) from specific countries within the Asian and Pacific regions.
The scheme will provide for financial and/or technical support to CBOs and NGOs to implement HIV related projects in AFAO international program priority work areas.
AFAO will support projects from peer-based PWHA, MSM (men who have sex with men), drug user, youth and women's organisations. As an essential selection criterion, applicants must demonstrate how people living with HIV, MSM, young people, women or drug users will fully participate in the development, implementation, management and evaluation of projects.
To be eligible for funding, projects must fall within one or more of AFAO's international program priority work areas. These are:
• HIV related policy development (e.g. internal organisational policy, GIPA [greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS] principles, harm reduction, stigma & discrimination)
• Advocacy (e.g. influencing and contributing to national/regional/local policy or programs, developing effective partnerships between and within the community and government sectors)
• Organisational strategic planning (for small size grants up to AUD $5,000 only)
• Organisational capacity development and institutional strengthening(which contributes to, and supports, your organisation’s mission and programmatic goals)
• Legal and regulatory responses to HIV/AIDS
 
AFAO does not provide funding for:
• Scholarships or conference attendance
• Evangelical activities
• HIV prevention and education social marketing campaigns (e.g. safe sex messages, condom promotion and distribution, behaviour education campaigns, mass media campaigns)
• Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) or other counselling services
• Treatment and care and support services (e.g. respite or day care facilities)
• Study tours
• Individual staff professional development training or courses
• Infrastructure and/or capital equipment costs
• Scientific research
• Vaccine or microbicide development
• The purchase and distribution of antiretroviral treatments or other medicines
 
AFAO does not accept applications from:
• Individuals
• International NGOs
• Government departments or agencies
• Research institutions
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Who can apply for funding?
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for funding, organisations must meet all of the following criteria:
• Be a local community-based or non-government organisation
• Include participation by people living with HIV, MSM, drug users, women or young people in the organisation’s project design and implementation
• CBOs or NGOs must be based in one of the following countries:
Burma
Cambodia
China

Timor Leste
Indonesia
Laos

Malaysia
Papua New Guinea
Philippines

Solomon Islands
Taiwan
Thailand

Vanuatu
Vietnam

 
• Be able to provide to AFAO regular written reports in English
• Have regular and reliable access to email, phone and fax
• Have access to a computer and adequate skills in reporting (including financial reporting in Microsoft Excel)
• Provide two written references from previous donors. If your organisation has not previously received financial donor support, AFAO will accept two references from organisations or government agencies that you have collaborated with, or are a member of (from your own country). References must comment on your organisation’s history of HIV work, financial management of funds, and project reporting to donors. Reference letters must be on the official letterhead of the organisation of the individual writing the letter, and must include a signature and job title of the individual.
• Be able to open a bank account in the name of the organisation, exclusively for AFAO project funds.
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How much money can you apply for?
CBOs and NGOs can apply for funding up to the value of AUD $5,000 (Australian dollars) or a larger grant between the value of AUD $5,000 - $50,000.
Please note, AFAO accepts project proposals in your local currency only. As a guide, to ensure that your grant amount is within the AFAO grant scheme allocation, please use the online currency converter available at www.xe.com/ucc/, to convert local currency to Australian dollars.
Organisations can submit one grant application per funding round only. Please note, the application criteria and documents are the same for all grant amounts.
1. Applying for a grant up to the value of AUD $5,000
• Grants up to $5,000 are designed to assist organisations to implement discrete projects over a short period of time
• Typically AFAO funds small projects implemented over a period from two to six months only
• AFAO canot fund multi-year projects
 
2. Applying for a grant between the value of AUD $5,000 and $50,000
• Typically AFAO can only fund projects and activities implemented over a period of no longer than twelve months
• AFAO cannot fund multi-year projects
• An AFAO staff member will typically make an in-country site visit with an organisation before a final funding decision can be made.
• Grants for greater than AUD $50,000 will not be considered
 
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The application process: what you must include in your application
AFAO accepts emailed applications only. Reference letters may be faxed if they cannot be scanned to email.
Applications will not be considered if any of the relevant information has not been submitted. Applications will only be accepted in the format provided below.
All organisations must submit the following documentation with their application regardless of the grant amount.
You will need to submit all of the following documents:
• Checklist of relevant documents for grant application (Microsoft Word)
• Project proposal (Microsoft Word)
• Project budg

et in local currency (Microsoft Excel workbook)
sheet 1 budget proposal (compulsory)
sheet 2 financial narrative (compulsory)
sheet 3 individual staff work plans (only complete if staff salariesare requested in the budget proposal)
• Activity schedule (Microsoft Excel workbook)
• Appraisal questionnaire (Microsoft Word)
Plus
• Provide two written references from previous donors. If your organisation has not previously received financial donor support, AFAO will accept two references from organisations or government agencies that you have collaborated with, or are a member of (from your own country). References must comment on your organisation’s history of HIV and AIDS work, financial management of funds, and project reporting to donors. Reference letters must be on the official letterhead of the organisation of the individual writing the letter, and must include a signature and job title of the individual.
• Quotes for any budget items greater than AUD $1,000 (see project budget form for further information)
 
When is the deadline for applications?
The deadline for applications is: Monday 19th November 2007.
Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.
 
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When can you expect to hear from AFAO regarding your organisation’s application?
AFAO will usually contact organisations within 6 weeks of the grant scheme closing date. Emails will only be sent out to organisations that submit a grant application by the deadline of Monday 19th November. Organisations will receive an email advising that their application has been short-listed, or that their application has not been successful.
Short-listed applications will then be reviewed and assessed based on the grant funding criteria, as well as the total amount of funding available for the current funding round. Short listing will take up to an additional 6 weeks.
As with previous funding rounds that AFAO runs, AFAO typically has more short-listed applications than it has funding to support.
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When can successful organisations expect projects to commence?
Please submit your organisation’s grant application with the following dates in mind:
Your project proposals should reflect a start date anytime from February 25th 2008.
Please ensure that your organisation’s grant application, which includes a Project proposal, Project budget in local currency and Activity schedule all reflect the above mentioned project commencement date.
 
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Factors AFAO will consider when selecting projects for funding
In addition to your organisation’s application, AFAO will consider the following factors when making a decision about grant funding:
• The role and visibility of people living with HIV, MSM, drug users, women, young people or other most affected groups in the project design and implementation
• The size of the HIV epidemic in the geographical region that your organisation operates
• The impact of the HIV epidemic on the local community, and most affected populations
• Your organisation’s history of implementing HIV projects
• Your organisation’s history of working with your target population
• The core work of your organisation
• Other funding support that your organisation is receiving
• Whether the project design is aligned with the objectives of AFAO’s grant scheme
• Whether your organisation is from the designated country list for this funding round
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Where to send your application and further information
Grant applications should be emailed to the:
International Programs Officer
 dtraynor@afao.org.au
 
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that grant proposals are emailed to AFAO by the grant scheme deadline. If your organisation’s application includes documents which cannot be emailed, please ensure that they are faxed to the International Programs Officer at AFAO by the deadline. All faxes should be marked to the attention of the International Programs Officer. Late applications will not be considered.
Fax number: +61 2 9557 9867
For further information or inquiries about AFAO’s grant scheme or the relevant application documents, please email the AFAO International Programs Officer well before the grant deadline at dtraynor@afao.org.au
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All the forms that you need to complete
You will need to submit all of the following documents:
• Checklist of relevant documents for grant application (Microsoft Word)
• Project proposal (Microsoft Word)
• Project budget in local currency (Microsoft Excel workbook)
sheet 1 budget proposal (compulsory)
sheet 2 financial narrative (compulsory)
sheet 3 individual staff work plans (only complete if staff salaries are requested in the budget proposal)
• Activity schedule (Microsoft Excel workbook)
• Appraisal questionnaire (Microsoft Word)
 
Plus
• Provide two written references from previous donors. If your organisation has not previously received financial donor support, AFAO will accept two references from organisations or government agencies that you have collaborated with, or are a member of (from your own country). References must comment on your organisation’s history of HIV/AIDS work, financial management of funds, and project reporting to donors. Reference letters must be on the official letterhead of the organisation of the individual writing the letter, and must include a signature and job title of the individual.
• Quotes for any budget items greater than AUD $1,000 (see project budget form for further information)
 
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Common reasons that applications to the previous funding round were not successful
• The relevant forms were not completed, or not fully completed.
• The project design did not meet the AFAO priority work areas as outlined in the application information.
• Unreasonable or unexplained budget proposals.
• Budget line items were not broken down into smaller detailed costs.
• Reference letters were not written on letterhead with contact details of the referee.
• Quotes for budget items greater than AUD $1,000 were not completed.
• Applications were received after the deadline.
• No funding amount requested.
• Funds requested were greater than the maximum grant amount of AUD $50,000.
 
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Tips to help in preparing your application
• Ensure that the project design meets the priority work areas identified by AFAO.
• Complete all forms.
• Meet the application deadline. Late applications will not be accepted.
• State the funding amount requested, ensuring it is within the maximum grant amount available, and that it is in local currency.
• Ensure both referee’s letters are on organisational letterhead with contact details to ensure verification of referees by AFAO.
• The two referees must be from different organisations.
• Budgets should be realistic, justified and reflect value for money.
• A financial narrative should be attached to the budget to explain budget costs.
• Provide as much detail as possible for budget expense items. For example do not submit a budget proposal for ‘resource production $5,500’. Instead break down the $5,500 into smaller costs to show how the budget will be spent.
• Submit three quotes when required. If the quote is not provided in English, please provide a written explanation attached to the quote.
• Provide as much detail as possible when describing project activities and in completing the organisational questionnaire. The more information provided, the more information AFAO has when rev

iewing your organisation’s application.
• Forms should be completed and returned via email. Reference letters will be accepted via fax if they cannot be scanned onto the computer. AFAO does not accept posted applications.
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