USAID KickStart: Training Program for New Assistance Awards
Congratulations on receiving your USAID Assistance Award! This training program will walk you through the basics of partnering with USAID and will serve as a resource you can return at any time in during your implementation period. Let's get started!
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With the USAID's KickStart program, you can
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Develop valuable skills
Learn skills and become more familiar with USAID through our modules in project management, drafting a work plan, compliance, budget and finance, communications, and human resources.
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Learn at your own pace
With our asynchronous training modules, you can learn at your pace. Individual team members can also take the modules that are most relevant to them.
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Train your employees
Enhance your team's project management skills with our modules in communications, compliance, budget and finance, human resources, and professional development.
USAID KickStart's global reach
In the course, we will work together to define a roadmap to success, defining goals, navigating compliance, understanding budget and finance, and determining the best strategy for managing your award.
Our Course
Policy Pages
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Introduction to USAID and Assistance Awards Module Glossary
Acronyms
ADS: Automated Directives System
AO: Agreement Officer
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Representative
CDCS: Country Development Cooperation Strategy
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
FY: Financial Year or Fiscal Year
LWA: Leader with Associate Award
USG: United States Government
Definitions
Assistance Award: A formal agreement between USAID and a recipient organization to provide financial or technical assistance to achieve development objectives.
Audit: An independent examination of financial statements, records, or operations to assess compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards.
Capacity Building: Activities aimed at strengthening individuals’, organizations’, and institutions’ skills, knowledge, systems, and resources to effectively implement and sustain development programs.
Compliance: Adherence to USAID’s rules, regulations, and requirements, including those related to financial management, procurement, reporting, and program implementation.
Conflict of Interest: A situation in which a recipient’s personal, professional, or financial interests conflict with its responsibilities under a USAID award, potentially compromising the integrity or impartiality of decision-making processes.
Contract: A legally binding agreement between USAID and a recipient for procuring goods or services.
Cooperative Agreement: A type of Assistance Award similar to a Grant but with more involvement and collaboration between USAID and the recipient.
Cost-share: The portion of activity costs that the Award recipient contributes from its resources. USAID may require cost sharing as a condition of assistance and can include cash, in-kind contributions, or third-party contributions.
Federal: relating to the United States government
Fraud, Waste and Abuse: Any illegal, unethical, or improper use of USAID funds or resources, including fraudulent activities, mismanagement, theft, or diversion of funds intended for development purposes.
Grant: A type of financial Assistance Awarded by USAID to support a specific activity or program without the expectation of repayment.
MEL: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. The systematic process of tracking and assessing the progress and performance of a program, project, or activity against its objectives.
Recipient: An organization or entity that receives assistance from USAID under an award agreement.
Sub-award: An agreement between a recipient and a sub-recipient to carry out specific activities or tasks under a USAID-funded activity.
Sub-recipient: An organization that receives assistance indirectly through a recipient and is responsible for carrying out specific activities or tasks outlined in the award agreement.
Suspension and Debarment: Actions taken by USAID to temporarily or permanently exclude individuals or organizations from participating in USAID-funded activities due to violations of laws, regulations, or award terms.
Sustainability: The ability of development interventions to continue delivering benefits and achieving impact over the long term, beyond the duration of USAID assistance.
USAID: United States Agency for International Development is the primary agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
Audit: An independent examination of financial statements, records, or operations to assess compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and standards.
Capacity Building: Activities aimed at strengthening individuals’, organizations’, and institutions’ skills, knowledge, systems, and resources to effectively implement and sustain development programs.
Compliance: Adherence to USAID’s rules, regulations, and requirements, including those related to financial management, procurement, reporting, and program implementation.
Conflict of Interest: A situation in which a recipient’s personal, professional, or financial interests conflict with its responsibilities under a USAID award, potentially compromising the integrity or impartiality of decision-making processes.
Contract: A legally binding agreement between USAID and a recipient for procuring goods or services.
Cooperative Agreement: A type of Assistance Award similar to a Grant but with more involvement and collaboration between USAID and the recipient.
Cost-share: The portion of activity costs that the Award recipient contributes from its resources. USAID may require cost sharing as a condition of assistance and can include cash, in-kind contributions, or third-party contributions.
Federal: relating to the United States government
Fraud, Waste and Abuse: Any illegal, unethical, or improper use of USAID funds or resources, including fraudulent activities, mismanagement, theft, or diversion of funds intended for development purposes.
Grant: A type of financial Assistance Awarded by USAID to support a specific activity or program without the expectation of repayment.
MEL: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. The systematic process of tracking and assessing the progress and performance of a program, project, or activity against its objectives.
Recipient: An organization or entity that receives assistance from USAID under an award agreement.
Sub-award: An agreement between a recipient and a sub-recipient to carry out specific activities or tasks under a USAID-funded activity.
Sub-recipient: An organization that receives assistance indirectly through a recipient and is responsible for carrying out specific activities or tasks outlined in the award agreement.
Suspension and Debarment: Actions taken by USAID to temporarily or permanently exclude individuals or organizations from participating in USAID-funded activities due to violations of laws, regulations, or award terms.
Sustainability: The ability of development interventions to continue delivering benefits and achieving impact over the long term, beyond the duration of USAID assistance.
USAID: United States Agency for International Development is the primary agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
Project Management and Operations Module Glossary
Definitions
Asana: A software company whose flagship service is a web and mobile work management platform designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work.
File Naming Convention: A framework for naming your files in a way that describes what they contain and how they relate to other files.
Gantt Chart: A chart in which a series of horizontal lines shows the amount of work done in certain periods of time in relation to the amount planned for those periods.
Google Drive: A file storage and synchronization service developed by Google.
Jira: A software that supports agile project management.
Monday.com: A cloud-based platform that allows users to create their own applications and project management software.
Project Management: The application of processes, methods, skills, knowledge, and experience to achieve specific project objectives within a specified timeframe.
Shared Drive: Special folders in Google Drive that you can use to store, search, and access files with a team.
Annual Work Plan Module Glossary
Acronyms
AO: Agreement Officer, the USAID official with the authority to enter into, administer, terminate, and/or close out Assistance Agreements and make determinations and findings on behalf of USAID.
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Representative (under a contract, this position is referred to as the Contracting Officer’s Representative), the USAID official responsible for monitoring a grantee’s progress toward achieving the agreement’s purpose and for serving as technical liaison between the grantee and the AO. The AO will name and delegate authority for specific responsibilities to the AOR.
APS: Annual Program Statement, a funding solicitation that allows the USG to make multiple awards over a period of time.
Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA): A framework USAID uses to improve the effectiveness of development. CLA is based on the idea that strategic collaboration, continuous learning, and adaptive management are all linked together. CLA can help you address challenges by:
M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation, the process of collecting and analyzing data and information for the purpose of identifying and measuring an activity’s impact, which is more commonly called Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL).
NGO: Non-Governmental Organization
RFA: Request for Applications, a mechanism for Grants or Cooperative Agreements, which means that USAID anticipates funding activities with limited oversight. RFAs are the most common means of soliciting applications from NGOs.
SOW: Scope (or Statement) of Work, also called Terms of Reference (TOR).
USAID: United States Agency for International Development, an independent U.S. Government agency that supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives.
USG: United States Government.
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Representative (under a contract, this position is referred to as the Contracting Officer’s Representative), the USAID official responsible for monitoring a grantee’s progress toward achieving the agreement’s purpose and for serving as technical liaison between the grantee and the AO. The AO will name and delegate authority for specific responsibilities to the AOR.
APS: Annual Program Statement, a funding solicitation that allows the USG to make multiple awards over a period of time.
Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA): A framework USAID uses to improve the effectiveness of development. CLA is based on the idea that strategic collaboration, continuous learning, and adaptive management are all linked together. CLA can help you address challenges by:
- Collaborating: Working with the right partners at the right time to promote long-term synergy
- Learning: Looking to the past, present, and future to produce lasting results; asking the right questions and finding answers that are relevant to decision making
- Adapting: Using the information we gather to make better decisions and make adjustments as necessary
- Enabling conditions: Working to create an organizational environment that supports collaborating, learning, and adapting efforts
M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation, the process of collecting and analyzing data and information for the purpose of identifying and measuring an activity’s impact, which is more commonly called Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL).
NGO: Non-Governmental Organization
RFA: Request for Applications, a mechanism for Grants or Cooperative Agreements, which means that USAID anticipates funding activities with limited oversight. RFAs are the most common means of soliciting applications from NGOs.
SOW: Scope (or Statement) of Work, also called Terms of Reference (TOR).
USAID: United States Agency for International Development, an independent U.S. Government agency that supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives.
USG: United States Government.
Definitions
Allowable Cost: An incurred cost determined to be an acceptable charge.
Assistance: USG/USAID funding to an individual or an organization to achieve a public purpose. See also Acquisition.
Capacity Building: Strengthening the ability of an organization to manage itself and achieve its mission effectively.
Close-Out: The final phase of an activity in which activities are finalized and administrative tasks completed.
Cooperative Agreement: One of two methods the USG uses to provide assistance. The USG uses this method when it wishes to retain substantial involvement in an activity.
Direct Costs: Goods and services specifically purchased for the exclusive benefit of one activity that are charged to that activity.
Disallowed Cost: An incurred cost questioned by the audit organization that USAID has agreed is not chargeable to the U.S. Government.
Fiscal Year: Sometimes called a financial year or budget year, a period used for calculating annual (“yearly”) financial statements in businesses and other organizations. It may or may not correspond to the calendar year, which is January 1 through December 31. The USG fiscal year covers a 12-month period that begins October 1 and ends the following September 30.
Foreign Tax Report: The report that all USG recipients must fill out annually to report the Value-Added Tax (VAT) that was paid to the host government. The reports are used to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance is not being taxed.
Grants: A method the USG uses to provide assistance. Under Grants, the USG retains less control over the activity, compared to Cooperative Agreements.
Indicator: A specific data point an organization tracks to monitor program progress. See also Target.
Key Personnel: Refers to activity positions and to the individuals who fill the particular slots. Typically, positions identified in a Cooperative Agreement as Key Personnel are those leadership slots considered essential to the successful implementation of the overall activity.
Management: The day-to-day operation of the organization.
Mission: The USAID representative body in a country receiving USAID assistance.
Pre-Award Survey: A review of an organization’s financial system to determine whether the system meets USAID’s minimum requirements before funding is awarded.
Prior Approval: Written authorization from the USAID Agreement Officer prior to a procurement or other action.
Source: Where one procures an item or a service, regardless of its origin (where it was originally grown or manufactured). This is generally the physical location of the vendor.
Strategic Planning: An organization’s process of determining its direction or strategy and making decisions related to pursuing it. According to an adaptation from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation, “Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it’s going to get there and how it will know if it got there or not.”
Subaward: Funding issued to an organization through an intermediary that manages the funds for the original funder
Subawardee, Subrecipient (or “Sub”): An organization receiving financial assistance to carry out an activity or program through a primary recipient
Substantial Involvement: The right that the USG retains to provide input into an assistance project funded through a Cooperative Agreement. This right usually includes the ability to approve Work Plan, budgets, Key Personnel, monitoring and evaluation plans, and subrecipients. The Cooperative Agreement specifies the areas of substantial involvement.
Target: An estimated number of beneficiaries an activity expects to reach for a particular indicator within a defined period.
Terms of Reference: Provisions that describe the purpose and structure of a project, usually created during the early stages of project management. See also Scope of Work.
Unallowable Costs: Costs that cannot be reimbursed either because of regulations or because they are not reasonable or appropriate.
Work Plan: A document that lays out a program’s planned activities, associated resources, and targets.
Assistance: USG/USAID funding to an individual or an organization to achieve a public purpose. See also Acquisition.
Capacity Building: Strengthening the ability of an organization to manage itself and achieve its mission effectively.
Close-Out: The final phase of an activity in which activities are finalized and administrative tasks completed.
Cooperative Agreement: One of two methods the USG uses to provide assistance. The USG uses this method when it wishes to retain substantial involvement in an activity.
Direct Costs: Goods and services specifically purchased for the exclusive benefit of one activity that are charged to that activity.
Disallowed Cost: An incurred cost questioned by the audit organization that USAID has agreed is not chargeable to the U.S. Government.
Fiscal Year: Sometimes called a financial year or budget year, a period used for calculating annual (“yearly”) financial statements in businesses and other organizations. It may or may not correspond to the calendar year, which is January 1 through December 31. The USG fiscal year covers a 12-month period that begins October 1 and ends the following September 30.
Foreign Tax Report: The report that all USG recipients must fill out annually to report the Value-Added Tax (VAT) that was paid to the host government. The reports are used to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance is not being taxed.
Grants: A method the USG uses to provide assistance. Under Grants, the USG retains less control over the activity, compared to Cooperative Agreements.
Indicator: A specific data point an organization tracks to monitor program progress. See also Target.
Key Personnel: Refers to activity positions and to the individuals who fill the particular slots. Typically, positions identified in a Cooperative Agreement as Key Personnel are those leadership slots considered essential to the successful implementation of the overall activity.
Management: The day-to-day operation of the organization.
Mission: The USAID representative body in a country receiving USAID assistance.
Pre-Award Survey: A review of an organization’s financial system to determine whether the system meets USAID’s minimum requirements before funding is awarded.
Prior Approval: Written authorization from the USAID Agreement Officer prior to a procurement or other action.
Source: Where one procures an item or a service, regardless of its origin (where it was originally grown or manufactured). This is generally the physical location of the vendor.
Strategic Planning: An organization’s process of determining its direction or strategy and making decisions related to pursuing it. According to an adaptation from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation, “Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it’s going to get there and how it will know if it got there or not.”
Subaward: Funding issued to an organization through an intermediary that manages the funds for the original funder
Subawardee, Subrecipient (or “Sub”): An organization receiving financial assistance to carry out an activity or program through a primary recipient
Substantial Involvement: The right that the USG retains to provide input into an assistance project funded through a Cooperative Agreement. This right usually includes the ability to approve Work Plan, budgets, Key Personnel, monitoring and evaluation plans, and subrecipients. The Cooperative Agreement specifies the areas of substantial involvement.
Target: An estimated number of beneficiaries an activity expects to reach for a particular indicator within a defined period.
Terms of Reference: Provisions that describe the purpose and structure of a project, usually created during the early stages of project management. See also Scope of Work.
Unallowable Costs: Costs that cannot be reimbursed either because of regulations or because they are not reasonable or appropriate.
Work Plan: A document that lays out a program’s planned activities, associated resources, and targets.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Module Glossary
Acronyms
Development Objective (DO): The most ambitious result that a USAID operating unit or Mission can affect and is willing to be held accountable for, along with USAID partners. Together, DOs advance USAID goals.
Intermediate Result (IR): Measurable lower-level changes that individually contribute to jointly achieve the DO, if the critical assumptions hold.
Intermediate Result (IR): Measurable lower-level changes that individually contribute to jointly achieve the DO, if the critical assumptions hold.
Definitions
Activity: An implementing mechanism that carries out an intervention or set of interventions to advance identified development results. Activities are the ones implemented by implementing partners.
Critical Assumptions: Those results and processes beyond the control or influence of USAID.
Development Hypothesis: Also known as Theory of Change, it identifies, through an “if …, then …” statement, the lower-level results that are needed to achieve a higher-level desired result, providing evidence supporting the hypothesized causal linkages.
Disaggregation: Data broken out by key categories of interest (such as demographic characteristics, sex, geography, etc.).
Goal: The highest level of impact to which USAID, the partner country, civil society, and other development partners contribute, within the CDCS timeframe. The USAID Mission contributes to the CDCS goal by achieving the Development Objectives (DOs).
Logic Model: A logic model is a graphic or visual depiction that summarizes key elements of a Theory of Change and it is often used as a facilitation tool during the design process. Logic Models provide a road map, showing the sequence of related events, connecting the need for a planned program with the program’s desired outcomes and results. Both Results Frameworks and LogFrames are types of Logic Models.
Logical Framework (LogFrame): A management tool used to improve the design and evaluation of interventions that is widely used by development agencies. It is a type of Logic Model that identifies strategic activity elements (inputs, outputs, outcomes, impact) and their causal relationships, indicators, and the assumptions or risks that may influence success and failure. See this logical framework template for reference.
Performance Indicators: These indicators measure expected outputs and outcomes of strategies, projects, or activities based on a Results Framework.
Performance Monitoring: The ongoing and routine collection of performance indicator data to reveal whether desired results are being achieved and whether CDCS, projects, and activities implementation are on track.
Project: A group of activities that are designed and managed in a coordinated way to advance results at a USAID Mission level. Through a project approach, USAID Missions can create synergies among complementary activities that generate higher-level results than can be achieved through the sum of their individual performances.
Results Framework: A diagram of the cause and effect logic for achieving a Development Objective over a defined time period. It is a management tool that presents the logic of an activity, project or program in a diagrammatic form. It links higher level objectives to its intermediate and lower level objectives. The diagram (and related description) may also indicate main activities, indicators, and core program evaluation term strategies used to achieve the objectives. The Results Framework is used by managers to ensure that its overall program is logically sound and considers all the inputs, activities, and processes needed to achieve the higher-level results. This is a type of Logic Model.
Sub-Intermediate Results (Sub-IR): Changes that contribute to the IR if the critical assumptions hold.
Theory of Change: A Theory of Change is a description of the logical causal relationships between multiple levels of conditions or interim results needed to achieve a long-term objective. It may be visualized as a roadmap of change and outlines pathways or steps to get from an initial set of conditions to a desired end result. A Theory of Change is analogous to a USAID development hypothesis or an activity hypothesis
Critical Assumptions: Those results and processes beyond the control or influence of USAID.
Development Hypothesis: Also known as Theory of Change, it identifies, through an “if …, then …” statement, the lower-level results that are needed to achieve a higher-level desired result, providing evidence supporting the hypothesized causal linkages.
Disaggregation: Data broken out by key categories of interest (such as demographic characteristics, sex, geography, etc.).
Goal: The highest level of impact to which USAID, the partner country, civil society, and other development partners contribute, within the CDCS timeframe. The USAID Mission contributes to the CDCS goal by achieving the Development Objectives (DOs).
Logic Model: A logic model is a graphic or visual depiction that summarizes key elements of a Theory of Change and it is often used as a facilitation tool during the design process. Logic Models provide a road map, showing the sequence of related events, connecting the need for a planned program with the program’s desired outcomes and results. Both Results Frameworks and LogFrames are types of Logic Models.
Logical Framework (LogFrame): A management tool used to improve the design and evaluation of interventions that is widely used by development agencies. It is a type of Logic Model that identifies strategic activity elements (inputs, outputs, outcomes, impact) and their causal relationships, indicators, and the assumptions or risks that may influence success and failure. See this logical framework template for reference.
Performance Indicators: These indicators measure expected outputs and outcomes of strategies, projects, or activities based on a Results Framework.
Performance Monitoring: The ongoing and routine collection of performance indicator data to reveal whether desired results are being achieved and whether CDCS, projects, and activities implementation are on track.
Project: A group of activities that are designed and managed in a coordinated way to advance results at a USAID Mission level. Through a project approach, USAID Missions can create synergies among complementary activities that generate higher-level results than can be achieved through the sum of their individual performances.
Results Framework: A diagram of the cause and effect logic for achieving a Development Objective over a defined time period. It is a management tool that presents the logic of an activity, project or program in a diagrammatic form. It links higher level objectives to its intermediate and lower level objectives. The diagram (and related description) may also indicate main activities, indicators, and core program evaluation term strategies used to achieve the objectives. The Results Framework is used by managers to ensure that its overall program is logically sound and considers all the inputs, activities, and processes needed to achieve the higher-level results. This is a type of Logic Model.
Sub-Intermediate Results (Sub-IR): Changes that contribute to the IR if the critical assumptions hold.
Theory of Change: A Theory of Change is a description of the logical causal relationships between multiple levels of conditions or interim results needed to achieve a long-term objective. It may be visualized as a roadmap of change and outlines pathways or steps to get from an initial set of conditions to a desired end result. A Theory of Change is analogous to a USAID development hypothesis or an activity hypothesis
Routine Reporting Requirements Module Glossary
Definitions
Acronym: An abbreviation of the name of an activity, program, organization, tool or institution that is made by assembling the first letter of each principal word in the name; USAID is an acronym for United States Agency for International Development.
Annexes: Information that is added to your report to provide a deeper understanding of an issue.
Fiscal year: A fiscal year is a 12-month period that a government, an organization, a nonprofit or a business uses to track its annual finances. A fiscal year does not have to start on January 1. The fiscal year for the U.S. Government begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
Annexes: Information that is added to your report to provide a deeper understanding of an issue.
Fiscal year: A fiscal year is a 12-month period that a government, an organization, a nonprofit or a business uses to track its annual finances. A fiscal year does not have to start on January 1. The fiscal year for the U.S. Government begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
Compliance Module Glossary
Acronyms
ADS: Automated Directives System
AO: Agreement Officer
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Representative
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
COI: Conflict of Interest
DSSR: Department of State Standardized Regulations
GSA: General Services Administration
AO: Agreement Officer
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Representative
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
COI: Conflict of Interest
DSSR: Department of State Standardized Regulations
GSA: General Services Administration
Budget and Finance Module Glossary
Acronyms
AO: Agreement Officer, the USAID official with the authority to enter, administer, terminate, and/or close out assistance agreements and make determinations and findings on behalf of USAID.
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative (formerly referred to as the Cognizant Technical Officer. Under a contract, this position is referred to as the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative), the USAID official responsible for monitoring a Grantee’s progress toward achieving the agreement’s purpose and for serving as technical liaison between the Grantee and the Agreement Officer (AO). The AO will name and delegate authority for specific responsibilities to the AOTR named in a Cooperative Agreement.
APS: Annual Program Statement, a funding solicitation that allows the USG to make multiple awards over a period of time.
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations, the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the USG.
Federal Financial Report (FFR): Also known as SF-425, a new USG financial reporting form that replaces, and consolidates into a single form, the two most common USG financial reports—the Financial Status Report and the Federal Cash Transaction Report.
Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP): A standard framework of guidelines for accounting and financial reporting. It includes the standards, conventions, and rules accountants follow in recording and summarizing transactions and in preparing financial statements. Many countries use the International Financial Reporting Standards.
M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation, the process of collecting and analyzing data and information for the purpose of identifying and measuring a activity’s impact.
M&IE: Meals and Incidental Expenses, costs incurred during travel, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, gratuities and tips for services, laundry, toiletries, etc.
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding, a document that may be used as a confirmation of agreed-upon terms when an oral agreement has not been captured in a formal contract. It may also set forth the basic principles and guidelines under which parties will work together to accomplish their goals. This should not be used if a transfer of funds is involved.
NICRA: Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, a rate negotiated individually between an organization and USAID to cover indirect cost.
SOW: Scope (or Statement) of Work, also called Terms of Reference (TOR).
RFA: Request for Applications, a mechanism for Grants or Cooperative Agreements, which means that USAID anticipates funding activities with limited oversight. RFAs are the most common means of soliciting applications from NGOs.
RFP: Request for Proposals, a mechanism for contracts. Contracts may be Awarded to any type of organization, though they are used frequently for for-profits.
TA: Technical Assistance.
USAID: United States Agency for International Development, an independent USG agency that supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives.
USG: United States Government.
VAT: Value-Added Tax, levied on the purchase of goods and services, similar to U.S. sales tax.
AOR: Agreement Officer’s Technical Representative (formerly referred to as the Cognizant Technical Officer. Under a contract, this position is referred to as the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative), the USAID official responsible for monitoring a Grantee’s progress toward achieving the agreement’s purpose and for serving as technical liaison between the Grantee and the Agreement Officer (AO). The AO will name and delegate authority for specific responsibilities to the AOTR named in a Cooperative Agreement.
APS: Annual Program Statement, a funding solicitation that allows the USG to make multiple awards over a period of time.
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations, the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the USG.
Federal Financial Report (FFR): Also known as SF-425, a new USG financial reporting form that replaces, and consolidates into a single form, the two most common USG financial reports—the Financial Status Report and the Federal Cash Transaction Report.
Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP): A standard framework of guidelines for accounting and financial reporting. It includes the standards, conventions, and rules accountants follow in recording and summarizing transactions and in preparing financial statements. Many countries use the International Financial Reporting Standards.
M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation, the process of collecting and analyzing data and information for the purpose of identifying and measuring a activity’s impact.
M&IE: Meals and Incidental Expenses, costs incurred during travel, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, gratuities and tips for services, laundry, toiletries, etc.
MOU: Memorandum of Understanding, a document that may be used as a confirmation of agreed-upon terms when an oral agreement has not been captured in a formal contract. It may also set forth the basic principles and guidelines under which parties will work together to accomplish their goals. This should not be used if a transfer of funds is involved.
NGO: Non-Governmental Organization.
NICRA: Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement, a rate negotiated individually between an organization and USAID to cover indirect cost.
SOW: Scope (or Statement) of Work, also called Terms of Reference (TOR).
RFA: Request for Applications, a mechanism for Grants or Cooperative Agreements, which means that USAID anticipates funding activities with limited oversight. RFAs are the most common means of soliciting applications from NGOs.
RFP: Request for Proposals, a mechanism for contracts. Contracts may be Awarded to any type of organization, though they are used frequently for for-profits.
TA: Technical Assistance.
USAID: United States Agency for International Development, an independent USG agency that supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives.
USG: United States Government.
VAT: Value-Added Tax, levied on the purchase of goods and services, similar to U.S. sales tax.
Definitions
Accrual Accounting System: An accounting method that records financial events based on when they occur rather than when money changes hand. See also Cash-Basis Accounting System.
Allocable Cost: A cost that specifically and exclusively supports or advances an Award.
Allowable Cost: A cost that can be paid by your Award and is not subject to restrictions or limitations.
Assistance: USG funding to an individual or an organization to achieve a public purpose. See also Acquisition.
Audit: An independent review and examination of system records and activities.
Award Amount (or Award): The total amount that is anticipated to be spent over the life of the activity. See also Total Estimated Cost.
Baseline (or Baseline Assessment): A snapshot of the community or targeted beneficiary group prior to the start of a activity
Burn Rate: The rate at which an organization spends its Award funds on a periodic basis, typically monthly. See also Pipeline.
Cash-Basis Accounting System: A method of bookkeeping that records financial events based on cash flow and cash position. Income is recorded when cash is received, and expense is recognized when cash is paid out. In cash-basis accounting, revenues and expenses are also called cash receipts and cash payments. Cash-basis accounting does not recognize promises to pay or expectations to receive money or services in the future, such as payables, receivables, or pre-paid or accrued expenses. This system is simpler for individuals and organizations that do not have significant numbers of these transactions, or when the time lag between initiation of the transaction and the cash flow is very short. See also Accrual Accounting System
Close Out: The final phase of a USAID activity in which activities are finalized and administrative tasks completed.
Cooperative Agreement: One of two methods the USG uses to provide assistance. The USG uses this method when it wishes to retain substantial involvement in an activity. See also Grants.
Cost Objective: The cost limit of an activity within budget limits. An activity cannot exceed the cost objective that has been set for it.
Direct Costs: Goods and services specifically purchased for the exclusive benefit of one activity that are charged to that activity.
Disallowed Cost: An incurred cost questioned by the audit organization that USAID has agreed is not chargeable to the U.S. Government.
Federal: Pertaining to the U.S. Government (USG)
Fiscal Year: Sometimes called a financial year or budget year, a period used for calculating annual (“yearly”) in businesses and other organizations. It may or may not correspond to the calendar year, which is January 1 through December 31. The USG fiscal year covers a 12-month period that begins October 1 and ends the following September 30.
Fly America Act: A regulation that applies to all USG-funded travel and requires the use of U.S. flag air carriers, with a few exceptions.
Foreign Tax Report: The report that all USG recipients must fill out annually to report the Value-Added Tax (VAT) that was paid to the host government. The reports are used to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance is not being taxed.
Fringe Benefits: Extra benefits supplementing an employee's money wage or salary, for example a company car, private healthcare, etc.
Geographic Code: The code that USAID assigns to Grantees to designate the specific countries from which they are authorized to purchase goods and services.
Grants: A method the USG uses to provide assistance. Under Grants, the USG retains less control over the program, compared to Cooperative Agreements.
HR Policies: A set of rules, values, or guiding principles that define how an organization addresses human resources-related matters. Human resources policies should reflect sound practice, be written down, be communicated across the organization, and be reviewed and modified periodically to reflect changing circumstances.
Human Resources: Refers to how employees are managed by organizations, or to the personnel department charged with that role.
Impact: The identifiable, measurable results of activity interventions.
Incidental Expenses: Expenses incurred during travel, such as gratuities and tips for services, laundry, toiletries, etc. Indicator: A specific data point an organization tracks to monitor program progress. See also Target.
Indirect Costs: Costs that are required to carry out an activity but are not attributable to that specific activity, such as electricity or administrative support staff. See also NICRA.
Key Personnel: Refers to staff positions and to the individuals who fill the particular slots. Typically, positions identified in a Cooperative Agreement as Key Personnel are those leadership slots considered essential to the successful implementation of the overall activity.
Management: The day-to-day operation of the organization. See also Governance.
Mandatory Standard Provisions: The set of rules and regulations that must be followed by recipients of USAID funds.
Mission: The USAID representative body in a country receiving USAID assistance.
Modification: Changes requested over the life of an Award, such as additional obligations, program alterations, and changes in Key Personnel, which require approval.
No-Cost Extension (also called a Non-Funded Extension): When the recipient requests and is given additional time beyond the Award end date to use unspent funds from the original Award to complete activities.
Obligated Amount or Obligation: The amount USAID has committed to the program. There is no guarantee that USAID will reimburse the recipient for any spending above the obligated amount. See also Award Amount.
Pipeline: The amount of funds obligated but not yet spent, which is calculated by adding all funds spent to date and subtracting that amount from the total obligation to date. See also Burn Rate.
Pre-Award Survey: A review of an organization’s financial system to determine whether the system meets USAID’s minimum requirements before funding is Awarded.
Prime Recipient: The recipient of USG funding that directly receives the funds and is ultimately responsible for accurate completion of each reporting cycle and program targets.
Prior Approval: Written authorization from the USAID Agreement Officer prior to a procurement or other action.
Procurement: Acquiring goods and services in a fair, transparent way in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
Prohibited Items: Goods or services that cannot be purchased with USG funds under any circumstances. See also Restricted Items.
Prohibited Source: Any person seeking official action by the USG employee’s agency, or who does business or seeks to do business with the employee’s agency.
Reasonable Cost: A cost that is generally recognized as ordinary and necessary and that a prudent person would incur in the conduct of normal business.
Recipient: An organization receiving direct financial assistance (a Grant or Cooperative Agreement) to carry out an activity or program. See also Subrecipient.
Restricted Items (or Restricted Commodities): Goods or services that may not be purchased without specific written permission in advance. See also Prohibited Items.
SF-270: Standard Form-270, Request for Advance, used to request funds for a Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
SF-424: Standard Form-424, Assurance of Compliance, used by organizations to assure USAID that they will comply with the necessary regulations and requirements and are able to complete their programs successfully.
SF-425: Standard Form-425, Federal Financial Report, used to prepare financial reports for a Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
SF-1034: Standard Form-1034, Public Voucher for Purchases and Services Other Than Personal, used to request funds and liquidate advances for a Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
SF-1408: Standard Form-1408, Pre-Award Survey of Prospective Contractor Accounting System, used to assess the adequacy of an organization’s accounting system.
SF-1420: Standard Form-1420, Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet, used during the hiring process to gather relevant information, including salary history.
Significant Rebudgeting: Moving funds between budget categories above a certain threshold set by USAID.
Strategic Planning: An organization’s process of determining its direction or strategy and making decisions related to pursuing it. According to an adaptation from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation, “Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it’s going to get there and how it will know if it got there or not.”
Subaward: Funding issued to an organization through an intermediary that manages the funds for the original funder.
Subrecipient (or Subawardee): An organization receiving financial assistance to carry out an activity or program through a primary recipient (or other subrecipient). See also Recipient.
Substantial Involvement: The right that the USG retains to provide input into an assistance award funded through a Cooperative Agreement. This right usually includes the ability to approve work.
Target: An estimated number of beneficiaries a program expects to reach for a particular indicator within a defined period.
Terms of Reference: Provisions that describe the purpose and structure of a project, usually created during the early stages of project management. See also Scope of Work.
Total Estimated Cost: The total projected cost of a project included in an organization’s Cooperative Agreement.
Unallowable Costs: Costs that cannot be reimbursed either because of regulations or because they are not reasonable or appropriate.
Waiver: The written permission required to eliminate the requirements of a specific policy. Authorized individuals, such as Agreement Officers, may grant waivers to meet specific activity needs.
Workplan: A document that lays out a program’s planned activities, associated resources, and targets.
Allocable Cost: A cost that specifically and exclusively supports or advances an Award.
Allowable Cost: A cost that can be paid by your Award and is not subject to restrictions or limitations.
Assistance: USG funding to an individual or an organization to achieve a public purpose. See also Acquisition.
Audit: An independent review and examination of system records and activities.
Award Amount (or Award): The total amount that is anticipated to be spent over the life of the activity. See also Total Estimated Cost.
Baseline (or Baseline Assessment): A snapshot of the community or targeted beneficiary group prior to the start of a activity
Burn Rate: The rate at which an organization spends its Award funds on a periodic basis, typically monthly. See also Pipeline.
Cash-Basis Accounting System: A method of bookkeeping that records financial events based on cash flow and cash position. Income is recorded when cash is received, and expense is recognized when cash is paid out. In cash-basis accounting, revenues and expenses are also called cash receipts and cash payments. Cash-basis accounting does not recognize promises to pay or expectations to receive money or services in the future, such as payables, receivables, or pre-paid or accrued expenses. This system is simpler for individuals and organizations that do not have significant numbers of these transactions, or when the time lag between initiation of the transaction and the cash flow is very short. See also Accrual Accounting System
Close Out: The final phase of a USAID activity in which activities are finalized and administrative tasks completed.
Cooperative Agreement: One of two methods the USG uses to provide assistance. The USG uses this method when it wishes to retain substantial involvement in an activity. See also Grants.
Cost Objective: The cost limit of an activity within budget limits. An activity cannot exceed the cost objective that has been set for it.
Direct Costs: Goods and services specifically purchased for the exclusive benefit of one activity that are charged to that activity.
Disallowed Cost: An incurred cost questioned by the audit organization that USAID has agreed is not chargeable to the U.S. Government.
Federal: Pertaining to the U.S. Government (USG)
Fiscal Year: Sometimes called a financial year or budget year, a period used for calculating annual (“yearly”) in businesses and other organizations. It may or may not correspond to the calendar year, which is January 1 through December 31. The USG fiscal year covers a 12-month period that begins October 1 and ends the following September 30.
Fly America Act: A regulation that applies to all USG-funded travel and requires the use of U.S. flag air carriers, with a few exceptions.
Foreign Tax Report: The report that all USG recipients must fill out annually to report the Value-Added Tax (VAT) that was paid to the host government. The reports are used to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance is not being taxed.
Fringe Benefits: Extra benefits supplementing an employee's money wage or salary, for example a company car, private healthcare, etc.
Geographic Code: The code that USAID assigns to Grantees to designate the specific countries from which they are authorized to purchase goods and services.
Grants: A method the USG uses to provide assistance. Under Grants, the USG retains less control over the program, compared to Cooperative Agreements.
HR Policies: A set of rules, values, or guiding principles that define how an organization addresses human resources-related matters. Human resources policies should reflect sound practice, be written down, be communicated across the organization, and be reviewed and modified periodically to reflect changing circumstances.
Human Resources: Refers to how employees are managed by organizations, or to the personnel department charged with that role.
Impact: The identifiable, measurable results of activity interventions.
Incidental Expenses: Expenses incurred during travel, such as gratuities and tips for services, laundry, toiletries, etc. Indicator: A specific data point an organization tracks to monitor program progress. See also Target.
Indirect Costs: Costs that are required to carry out an activity but are not attributable to that specific activity, such as electricity or administrative support staff. See also NICRA.
Key Personnel: Refers to staff positions and to the individuals who fill the particular slots. Typically, positions identified in a Cooperative Agreement as Key Personnel are those leadership slots considered essential to the successful implementation of the overall activity.
Management: The day-to-day operation of the organization. See also Governance.
Mandatory Standard Provisions: The set of rules and regulations that must be followed by recipients of USAID funds.
Mission: The USAID representative body in a country receiving USAID assistance.
Modification: Changes requested over the life of an Award, such as additional obligations, program alterations, and changes in Key Personnel, which require approval.
No-Cost Extension (also called a Non-Funded Extension): When the recipient requests and is given additional time beyond the Award end date to use unspent funds from the original Award to complete activities.
Obligated Amount or Obligation: The amount USAID has committed to the program. There is no guarantee that USAID will reimburse the recipient for any spending above the obligated amount. See also Award Amount.
Pipeline: The amount of funds obligated but not yet spent, which is calculated by adding all funds spent to date and subtracting that amount from the total obligation to date. See also Burn Rate.
Pre-Award Survey: A review of an organization’s financial system to determine whether the system meets USAID’s minimum requirements before funding is Awarded.
Prime Recipient: The recipient of USG funding that directly receives the funds and is ultimately responsible for accurate completion of each reporting cycle and program targets.
Prior Approval: Written authorization from the USAID Agreement Officer prior to a procurement or other action.
Procurement: Acquiring goods and services in a fair, transparent way in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
Prohibited Items: Goods or services that cannot be purchased with USG funds under any circumstances. See also Restricted Items.
Prohibited Source: Any person seeking official action by the USG employee’s agency, or who does business or seeks to do business with the employee’s agency.
Reasonable Cost: A cost that is generally recognized as ordinary and necessary and that a prudent person would incur in the conduct of normal business.
Recipient: An organization receiving direct financial assistance (a Grant or Cooperative Agreement) to carry out an activity or program. See also Subrecipient.
Restricted Items (or Restricted Commodities): Goods or services that may not be purchased without specific written permission in advance. See also Prohibited Items.
SF-270: Standard Form-270, Request for Advance, used to request funds for a Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
SF-424: Standard Form-424, Assurance of Compliance, used by organizations to assure USAID that they will comply with the necessary regulations and requirements and are able to complete their programs successfully.
SF-425: Standard Form-425, Federal Financial Report, used to prepare financial reports for a Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
SF-1034: Standard Form-1034, Public Voucher for Purchases and Services Other Than Personal, used to request funds and liquidate advances for a Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
SF-1408: Standard Form-1408, Pre-Award Survey of Prospective Contractor Accounting System, used to assess the adequacy of an organization’s accounting system.
SF-1420: Standard Form-1420, Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet, used during the hiring process to gather relevant information, including salary history.
Significant Rebudgeting: Moving funds between budget categories above a certain threshold set by USAID.
Strategic Planning: An organization’s process of determining its direction or strategy and making decisions related to pursuing it. According to an adaptation from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation, “Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it’s going to get there and how it will know if it got there or not.”
Subaward: Funding issued to an organization through an intermediary that manages the funds for the original funder.
Subrecipient (or Subawardee): An organization receiving financial assistance to carry out an activity or program through a primary recipient (or other subrecipient). See also Recipient.
Substantial Involvement: The right that the USG retains to provide input into an assistance award funded through a Cooperative Agreement. This right usually includes the ability to approve work.
Target: An estimated number of beneficiaries a program expects to reach for a particular indicator within a defined period.
Terms of Reference: Provisions that describe the purpose and structure of a project, usually created during the early stages of project management. See also Scope of Work.
Total Estimated Cost: The total projected cost of a project included in an organization’s Cooperative Agreement.
Unallowable Costs: Costs that cannot be reimbursed either because of regulations or because they are not reasonable or appropriate.
Waiver: The written permission required to eliminate the requirements of a specific policy. Authorized individuals, such as Agreement Officers, may grant waivers to meet specific activity needs.
Workplan: A document that lays out a program’s planned activities, associated resources, and targets.
Communications, Marking, and Branding Module Glossary
Definitions
Branding: How we verbally and visually communicate who we are, what we do, what we stand for, and what we strive to achieve.
Co-Branding and Co-Marking: A way of presenting both USAID and any partner. The USAID logo should be of equal size and prominence as the partner’s logo.
Logo: A logo is a graphic representation or symbol of an organization or business name that is designed for easy recognition.
Marking: The physical application of the USAID logo on USAID-funded programs and assets such as desks, vans, tents, or other goods acquired with USAID funds.
Pixel: In digital imaging, a pixel is the smallest element of an image. The greater the number of pixels, the greater the clarity and intensity of the image.
Success stories: Brief accounts of an achievement by an activity that resolved an issue facing local people. Success stories must always include a good photo that helps tell the story.
Co-Branding and Co-Marking: A way of presenting both USAID and any partner. The USAID logo should be of equal size and prominence as the partner’s logo.
Logo: A logo is a graphic representation or symbol of an organization or business name that is designed for easy recognition.
Marking: The physical application of the USAID logo on USAID-funded programs and assets such as desks, vans, tents, or other goods acquired with USAID funds.
Pixel: In digital imaging, a pixel is the smallest element of an image. The greater the number of pixels, the greater the clarity and intensity of the image.
Success stories: Brief accounts of an achievement by an activity that resolved an issue facing local people. Success stories must always include a good photo that helps tell the story.
Human Resources Module Glossary
Acronyms
AO: Agreement Officer. A person with the authority to (1) enter into, administer, terminate, and close out assistance agreements, and (2) make related determinations and findings on behalf of USAID.
AOR: Agreement Officer ’s Representative.
Human Resources (HR): The people who staff and operate an organization. The term is also used to describe the function within an organization responsible for implementing policies related to the management of employees. HR Policies—A set of rules or guiding principles that define how an organization addresses personnel-related matters. HR Procedures—Specific steps needed to implement an HR policy. HR Practices—How policies and procedures are actually designed and implemented. Employee Handbook—A written guide outlining an employer ’s policies, procedures, working conditions and behavior expectations governing employee conduct in the workplace. It may also contain information on the organization ’s history, its goals and its commitments to beneficiaries and the community. (Also called an Employee Manual, HR Handbook, HR Manual, or Personnel Policy Manual.)
AOR: Agreement Officer ’s Representative.
Human Resources (HR): The people who staff and operate an organization. The term is also used to describe the function within an organization responsible for implementing policies related to the management of employees. HR Policies—A set of rules or guiding principles that define how an organization addresses personnel-related matters. HR Procedures—Specific steps needed to implement an HR policy. HR Practices—How policies and procedures are actually designed and implemented. Employee Handbook—A written guide outlining an employer ’s policies, procedures, working conditions and behavior expectations governing employee conduct in the workplace. It may also contain information on the organization ’s history, its goals and its commitments to beneficiaries and the community. (Also called an Employee Manual, HR Handbook, HR Manual, or Personnel Policy Manual.)
Definitions
Allowable Costs: Allowable costs are those strictly for the achievement of the project and which are not subject to any restrictions of limitations in the Award.
Key Personnel: Individuals directly responsible for managing the agreement, or those personnel whose professional/ technical skills are certified by the AOR as being essential for successful implementation of the project.
Poaching: Hiring someone away from their current job—working for another project, a competitor, or host country government—to join your organization
Close-out Requirements Module Glossary
Definitions
Closeout: The process by which the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of the Federal award have been completed and takes actions as described in CFR § 200.344.
Financial obligations: When referencing a recipient's or subrecipient's use of funds under a Federal award, means orders placed for property and services, contracts and subawards made, and similar transactions that require payment.
Equipment: Tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. See also the definitions of capital assets, computing devices, general purpose equipment, information technology systems, special purpose equipment, and supplies in this section.
Period of performance: The total estimated time interval between the start of an initial Federal award and the planned end date, which may include one or more funded portions, or budget periods. Identification of the period of performance in the Federal award per CFR § 200.211(b)(5) does not commit the awarding agency to fund the award beyond the currently approved budget period.
Renewal award: An award made subsequent to an expiring Federal award for which the start date is contiguous with, or closely follows, the end of the expiring Federal award. A renewal award's start date will begin a distinct period of performance.
Financial obligations: When referencing a recipient's or subrecipient's use of funds under a Federal award, means orders placed for property and services, contracts and subawards made, and similar transactions that require payment.
Equipment: Tangible personal property (including information technology systems) having a useful life of more than one year and a per-unit acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the non-Federal entity for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. See also the definitions of capital assets, computing devices, general purpose equipment, information technology systems, special purpose equipment, and supplies in this section.
Period of performance: The total estimated time interval between the start of an initial Federal award and the planned end date, which may include one or more funded portions, or budget periods. Identification of the period of performance in the Federal award per CFR § 200.211(b)(5) does not commit the awarding agency to fund the award beyond the currently approved budget period.
Renewal award: An award made subsequent to an expiring Federal award for which the start date is contiguous with, or closely follows, the end of the expiring Federal award. A renewal award's start date will begin a distinct period of performance.