Questions

Can the grant be used to fund the publication of an edited volume (including, e.g., a writing workshop, writers fees, editing, design and publication)?

Hi! Thank you for your interest. This would be an outlier for what we usually fund, but in general: yes.

Hello! My legal team is asking to review the grant agreement terms to ensure we can meet requirements. Is there an external document that formalizes the terms, at this point in process (application stage)? Is all the information contained in the RFP? Thanks!

Hi! There is no such external document, all relevant details/eligibility are provided in the RFP (tldr: we can provide grant or gift contracts, all payments are tied to milestones, for overhead rules please refer to the other threads here, we only ask for a budget range at this stage, final budget is negotiated after review) We had contract templates that I could have shared, but since we currently are in the process of changing fiscal host, we can't provide them at this stage.
In case of successful selection, we will provide all projects on the shortlist with further details. Thank you for inquiring!

Are travel costs for presenting research results in international organizations (in which we participate as observers) included in the fundable activities?

Hi!

Yes, those can be part of the budget ( we don't ask for a detailed budget, but an overview of all activities and then see if the requested budget fits the scope of the proposed project.)

I wanted to request information around restrictions (if any) on the number of submissions that can be made by a single organisation. Another research team at our organisation is also keen on sending in a submission. Please let us know if it would be possible for two teams to send in submissions from a single organisation.

Hi! There are no restrictions regarding the number of submissions by one entity/institution. Due to our focus on a balanced portfolio it hasn't occurred so far that we haven been funding two or more projects by one institution in one year -but we'd like to see all ideas. I hope this is helpful!

When should I expect the funds closing is 1 June?

As stated in the RFP document: Projects can start earliest end of August/September, but ideally in October, when the cohort kickoff is taking place. The grant contract will be drafted in August (TBC), if a proposal is selected, further provisions regarding deliverables and payment schedules are made then.

Will I be funded $1m or it will shared among many. What is the cretirea

Hi! The highest grants distributed to individual projects will be 100.000 $ (incl. overhead cost). The criteria are: proposal related to the scope of the fund (addressing critical ODI or the communities providing those), based in scientific methods and equipped with clear milestones and objectives (that are in line with the Funds mission), approach and financing volume adapted to the projects scope, relevant previous experiences in the field.
All proposals will be evaluated and shortlisted by an independent expert review board.
More info available in our RFP document: https://infrastructureinsights.fund/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/DIIF-RfP4.pdf

Where can I find the direct link to the application form?

This is the direct link, you click the "respond" button: https://fordfoundation.forms.fm/2024-digital-infrastructure-insights-fund-rfp/forms/9861/responses/new

Does Ford Foundation or this call have an indirect cost policy, or should institutions use their federally negotiated rates? If there is a restricted rate, can you also note the base (TC, TDC, MTDC)?

Hi! Since the DIIF is a pooled fund supplied by multiple Funders (we only use Fords Screendoor-platform for the application process), and operated by a fiscal host (currently OCF) none of the Funders respective guidelines apply here.
We don't request a detailed budget for application, but since the grants are 100k max. so rather small, and need to *contain in this sum* the overhead cost (no add ons), we recommend not more than 10% included overhead cost (which would be the overhead policy of our fiscal host that also applies to us).
We cater to an array of recipients, individuals, firms etc., many of them not affiliated with an Institution, that's why we have some flexibility factored in to the grant model (as some universities mandate a hefty overhead if its a grant).
We can structure the support as a gift, if needed, which is usually "taxed" with 13% overhead costs - if this is beneficial to the applicants and their organisation model.
Ideally, the majority of the fund goes towards the researchers: For instance, we won't allow 100 k grants for 6 months (if it's not a multi-researcher project) or if almost half of the budget goes towards overhead costs. I hope this is helpful information! As an addition: we handle disbursement and back office of the fund ourselves, institutions and/or researcher invoice the fiscal host, so there should be no additional workload for host institutions involved.