Open Call IFSA Development Fund

What is a Development Fund?

The development fund is a part of the IFSA budget that is used to support IFSA members to engage with IFSA Activities. The lack of financial resources is one of the major factors that limit the involvement in IFSA and its project, this is especially true for lower-income countries. IFSA wishes to support everyone in attending activities, hence the development fund was created.

The development fund supports both individual IFSA members in joining events and Local Committees in organizing activities. 

The development fund is an always running open call, with a deadline at the end of each month, after each batch of applications is evaluated and funded. In this way it is always possible to apply to the development fund.

Application

Applications to the IFSA Development Fund can be submitted by either individuals or Local Committees who are active IFSA members (ordinary or associate).

Individuals

Application procedure

To apply you need to fill out the following Google Form with: 

  • Reason of application
  • Involvement in IFSA
  • Category of the event/activity (online, in-person, hybrid, other…)
  • Background of the event/activity planned to be developed/attended
  • Contribution to the event/activity
  • Expected outputs for the event/activity (reports, communication materials, etc.)
  • The budget proposal for the event/activity using the template
  • (Optional) Letter of Support from University

Applicant Requirement

In order to apply you need to comply with the following requirements:

  • Be an active member IFSA member
  • The requested amount is at least 50€

Local Committees

Application procedure

To apply you need to fill out the following Google Form with: 

  • Category of the event/activity (online, in-person, hybrid, other…)
  • Background of the event/activity planned to be developed/attended
  • (Optional) Timeline of the event/activity using the template
  • Impact of the event/activity
  • Expected outputs of the event/activity
  • Number of LCs involved in the event/activity
  • The budget proposal for the event/activity using the template
  • (Optional) Letter of Support from University

Application deadline

The Development fund open call is always open with a deadline at the end of each month. At the end of the month, all applications received till 23:59 UTC+0 of the last day of the month will be evaluated. Applications received after that will be considered in the successive month.

Application Evaluation

The applications are evaluated using a standard set of criteria. For each criteria a score from 1 to 10 is given, where 10 is the maximum score. 

The evaluation period will take up to 2 weeks starting from the application deadline (end of the month).

IFSA Development Fund Committee

  • All applications are reviewed by the IFSA Development Fund Committee.
  • The committee includes at least 1 IFSA Board member and supporting jury members.
  • Each application is independently reviewed by at least 2 evaluators and up to 3. The score is given by each evaluator based on the listed evaluation criteria.
  • The score given by each evaluator for each criteria is averaged to obtain a final score for the criteria.

Evaluation criteria for the individuals:

  • Motivation
  • Income category
  • Background of the event/activity
  • Involvement in IFSA
  • Contribution to the event/activity
  • Budget overview
  • The conclusionsoutcome of the event/activity

Motivation

This assesses how motivated the applicant is in participating in the event. Aspects taken in consideration are the reasons to participate, relevance to personal career and developments.

Income Category

Funding priority will be given to the Local Committees or individual applicants from the listed low-income category countries.

Background of the event/activity

This considers a detailed description of the event, as well as its relevance to the objectives of IFSA.

Involvement in IFSA

This indicates the general involvement in IFSA of the applicant. Applicant actively involved in IFSA (eg. Official positions) will have a higher score.

Contribution to the event/activity

This considers how the applicant is going to be involved in the event and can contribute actively in the activity. For example, if the event is a conference and the applicant is presenting a poster, that is considered as active participation.

Budget overview

This assesses the overall quality and clarity of the budget proposal and the cost-effectiveness of the proposed expense.

The conclusionsoutcome of the event/activity

This considers any outcome, like social media posts, blog articles, videos, etc.,  that the applicant is planning to produce from the event or any other impact that the event is having. 

Evaluation criteria for the Local Committees:

  • Background of the event/activity
  • Income Category
  • Impact
  • Event organization
  • Budget overview
  • The outcome of the event/activity

Background of the event/activity

Income Category

Funding priority will be given to the Local Committees or individual applicants from the listed low-income category countries.

Impact

This considers the impact that the event/activity is going to have. For example a meeting between two different LCs 

Event organization

This assesses the quality of the event/activity organization.

Budget overview

This assesses the overall quality and clarity of the budget proposal and the cost-effectiveness of the proposed expense.

The outcome of the event/activity

This considers any outcome, like social media posts, blog articles, videos, etc.,  that the applicant is planning to produce from the event or any other impact that the event is having. 

Funds allocations

  • Applications are considered for funding only if the overall score is above 6.
  • The available funds for the month will be divided according to the application score and the amount requested.
  • Additional criteria used in the fund applications are:
    • Income level of applicant’s country
    • Regional diversity among successful applications
  • The board takes the final decision on funding allocations.
  • Very good application can access the additional 
  • Any fund not allocated will be added to the successive month balance.

Procedure successful application

Agreement

The successful application will sign an agreement with IFSA that summarizes the event/activity, the budget, any eventual outcome and the amount of the IFSA support. The template for the agreement is available at Template agreement Development Fund.

Funds transfer

IFSA can transfer funds only as reimbursements, so only after the expense has been paid by the applicant. After the completion of the activity the applicant should fill the reimbursement form template (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13vgBn8bzKc85n7ibLgRGxIMalYHTkUgkUFjWB87KCvM/copy ) and send it as a pdf to treasurer@ifsa.net attaching all the invoices to support the expenses.

Development Fund balance

Income

The development fund income is from 3 sources:

  • Funds left from previous development fund budget
  • General IFSA budget, as decided in the annual budget at the General Assembly
  • Donations from “IFSA Auctions” at IFSA events

The donations from the auctions will be allocated for the same IFSA year of their collection.

Funds division

The yearly budget of the development fund is divided in two categories:

  • 75% of the funds are the divided into equal monthly budgets 
  • 25% of the funds are allocated in a yearly budget to fund very good applications.

Feedback

The development fund has been just revived after a long pause due to the COVID pandemic and its functioning renewed. However, this means that the current procedure is not battle tested, so your feedback and comments are extremely important to improve the application procedure. If there is anything in the open call text which you find unclear or have any suggestion on how to improve the development fund please email us at development.fund@ifsa.net.