2015 GUIDELINES
The Faster Forward Fund is pleased to announce its first round of grants for universities, nonprofits, other organizations, individuals and groups working to move the field of evaluation forward into the new millennium.
Please read the complete 2015 background and funding request announcement Overview of 3F for more details and see our list of FAQ’s. Note: in general, supported proposals will produce new understanding or evaluative information about evaluation, in a form suitable for immediate publication, typically in a paper, chapter, or a set of these. Work that has been previously published, online or in hard copy, will not be eligible. Also ineligible is any evaluation of the usual applied kind that currently occurs in the score of fields where thousands of professional evaluators already work, not even if it uses some novel methodology; the research must be on that novel methodology, not just embodying it.)
New Proposals
The 2015 requirements are:
- Describe what you or your group/organization wants to do, when, where and how. Include the methods to be used, materials required, and a timeline.
- Describe indicators to be used to assess progress and conclusion of the project (to be used in the payment schedule);
- Provide an argument, and perhaps evidence (e.g., a needs assessment), that this effort is consistent with the aims of 3F, including social payoff.
- Give your estimate (and evidence) of its feasibility and importance, including qualifications of the personnel involved*, with some emphasis on expected tangible results that will be widely available;
- Submit a detailed budget and, if appropriate, evidence for its accuracy and cost-effectiveness, (e.g., don’t include travel when video can do the job).
Please keep all this down to a maximum of two or three thousand words (e.g., condense your cv), to reduce the investment of time by you and us.
* While we strongly recommend using colleagues for extra input and critique of your proposal, they should not be identified as co-authors for that kind of input, and a principal investigator (or at most 2) must be identified to take responsibility for the project and its funds.
Proposals are due midnight, Pacific Standard Time, September 15, 2015.
Decision time will depend on the number of entries, but we expect to make award announcements within 4-6 weeks (by November 1) or earlier.
Applications for a few thousand dollars are more likely to be supported than those requesting or requiring tens of thousands (partly because there can be more of them); and requiring hundreds of thousands puts a proposal beyond the current 3F range.
Payment to successful applicants is best done via a legally qualified philanthropy, e.g., your university or non profit organization (email FasterForwardFund@gmail to discuss possible exemptions; overseas applicants may require additional documentation).
3F will normally expect to pay no more that 10% overhead. Grants will be released in three installments: a small sum for start-up costs, a mid-project payment for demonstrated results at that point, and a final payment for demonstrated further and final results.
Reporting 3F results openly, which we think is important, means that a summary of results and support will be posted on the web and perhaps elsewhere.
Feedback Evaluators should practice what they preach, and for good reasons, so we welcome suggestions for improving this proposal or its presuppositions. Send them to our email at FasterForwardFund@gmail.com, subject: “Suggestions”.
Submissions: Please send all information requested above to us by email to fasterforwardfund@gmail.com with “FFF -2015 Grant Application” in the subject line.
Applications must be received electronically by midnight PST on September 15, 2015. If you do not receive an email confirmation, please resend.
We look forward to receiving your proposal!
The Faster Forward Fund Advisory Committee