Dear Notice C Participants, 

The proposal co-creation phase is nearing its end. There has been an increase in commenting on the concept notes and proposals that are in development. It is intended that these comments and conversations with partners help shape ideas for the final proposal. The commenting functionality will be disabled on the Open Proposal Site on September 4, from here there will be two weeks left to finalize the proposals and budgets. If you are joining another consortium or wish to withdraw your concept note for a future Notice round, please contact the Digital Square team as soon as possible so we can update the status of your concept note on the Open Proposal site. If you postpone your concept note for a future proposal round we can save the content on the site so you will not have to repost it in the future.

Should you have questions on the next phase of proposal creation there will be a Q&A call for all participants on Tuesday, September 4 at 10:00 am EST. This is an open call to ask any burning questions that may help finalize proposals for submission. For those unable to join please note the results of the Q&A will be posted on Digital Square’s wiki.

Following this message, you will receive a calendar invite for the Q&A call.

Below are tips to ensure proposals meet all of the criteria upon submission and to help navigate the transition from concept note to full proposal.

• Organize the proposal with heading titles corresponding to the required sections (see the directions page for a list of all of the required sections for a full proposal).  Remember to keep the proposal to 15 pages or less plus attachments.

• When organizing the project description, workplan, and budget, consider organizing by workstreams, phases, or work packages. Indicate the activities and output by work package as well as the summary budget for each work package (in the budget narrative). This will help the Governing Board in their review, particularly if they are interested in partial investment in the proposal.

• Carefully consider the four areas of the prioritization framework. The Peer Review Committee and Governing Board use the prioritization framework as a guide for prioritizing proposals for investment. The four dimensions of the framework are Cost, Probability of Success, Impact, and Technology.

• Prepare your budgets with the indirect cost caps in mind - 15% for C0 and 7% for C1. These caps are representative of the most restricted funds in our donor pool, and may be adjusted to a higher rate upon award. NICRA or three years’ documentation of an audited rate are required to justify budgeted indirect costs, even if your organization’s standard rate exceeds the caps. You may also direct charge expenses typically included in your indirect rate.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Digital Square on Slack or via email with any further questions.

Cheers,

The Digital Square Team