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Withdrawing applicationsApplicant withdraws Applicants may decide to withdraw their application at any time until it is considered by Committee.
Please note that - apart from in certain restricted circumstances discussed below - only an applicant may decide to withdraw an application: staff must always use a relevant reject reason if they wish to recommend rejecting an application. If, for instance, you cannot continue with the assessment process because you cannot contact the applicant, you should use the reject reason "applicant not contactable" and pass the file to your manager for upward review. See "Elusive applicants" for further details. Other withdrawalsWithdrawal reasons may also be used in two specific circumstances: 1. When an application has undergone parallel processing by another office. Staff with appropriate permissions may withdraw applications using the withdrawal reason "Withdrawn - parallel processed". 2. If an application already entered onto AMI is re-entered in error, staff with appropriate permissions may withdraw the second entry as "Withdrawn � duplicate entered in error". However, following the procedures listed in chapter 2 and recording the URN on the form should prevent this. If an applicant submits a duplicate of an existing application and does not wish to withdraw one, you should use the "duplicate application" reject reason to recommend rejecting the second and any subsequent applications made before a decision on the first application has been announced. You need only contact the applicant if you have any reasonable doubts about whether this is in fact for the same project or whether there is evidence that the applicant wishes to withdraw the earlier application (in which case we�d still need written confirmation). Elusive applicants Sometimes you may have problems contacting or arranging an interview with an applicant. You should record all attempts at contact you make on the "Communications" screen in AMI and include:
You might consider contacting the referee or senior contact named on the form to see if there is any reason for the applicant's unavailability. If you have made three attempts and had no satisfactory reply, you should write to the applicant and ask for them to get in touch within a week. If you receive no reply within the specified time, proceed as follows:
Re-application (Note: Further advice about dealing with re-applications (including examples) is available on the intranet.) Organisations may re-apply for funding for projects that have previously been supported by the Board. But when an organisation makes such an application, it is not always clear whether we would regard the new project as the same as the previous one. For this reason, the Board refers to all applications from previous or existing grant-holders as "re-applications" and requires staff to code them accordingly. There are two types of re-application, discussed below: 1. A different project. The aims of and the needs addressed by the project are different from those identified in past project/s. The project costs are discrete: they are completely separate from the previously funded project costs. The management and accountability arrangements will also be discrete. 2. Development of an existing project. The aims of and the need being addressed by the existing funded project and by the new application are the same. The beneficiaries, geographical area of benefit, methods of delivery may have developed and additional staff may be recruited but the basic resources main unchanged. Importantly, there must be some evidence that the organisation has learned from the work of the project up to the point of re-application and has responded to its new environment. Where the application is for the development of a previously funded project the Board should not expect to fund only the development aspect of the project, but be prepared to continue funding some or part of existing budget headings so as to ensure viability of the project.
As a general principle, re-applications should be assessed side by side with new applications. There are no separate or additional criteria for re-applications but you should ensure that you consider the grant history of former and current grant-holders as a key source of evidence when making judgements on each criterion. For further guidance on how to use this information in scoring the assessment criteria please refer to appendix 1 of this manual and to "Dealing with multiple applications" in this chapter. Please note that in general, re-applications for "different" projects can be made at any time, and that the procedures will be similar to those for multiple applications, although they are discussed here because they focus on organisations that have received grants as well as having made applications. Organisations making a "development" re-application may apply in the final twelve months of an existing grant from the Board. Please note that:
For all re-applications:
General principles
Previous or current grant holder applying for different projectFirst assessment Your assessment should determine which category of re-application the funding request falls into by considering whether:
Information to help make this judgement is available on the application form and in AMI, particularly via the link to the Enquiries system which will allow you to read the previous Project Summary. You may also need to consult with the member of staff managing the earlier grant for further information. If the application falls within the definition of a re-application you must code it using the re-application codes:
You should then consider how the organisation has complied with our grant management requirements, investigating four areas:
There are first assessment reject reasons available to you if you judge that the organisation has failed on any of these counts. See sections 3.5 and 3.7. Full assessment The information you gather from the grant file and the person managing the existing grant may only be used to influence the scoring of criteria relating to the management of the organisation and project. See "Dealing with multiple applications" in this chapter. Previous or current grant holder applying to develop a projectFirst assessment The procedure is the same as for a former or current grant-holder applying for a different project. In addition the assessing GO must check whether this application is within policy for re-applications of this category i.e. that the previous project being developed has either finished or has less than 1 year to run. The assessing GO must check whether:
If the answer is no to either, you should recommend rejection using the reason "Re-application - same project more than 12 months from end". Full assessment The procedure is the same as detailed for different projects, but we also want to ascertain what has been achieved during the previous funding. So information gathered from the member of staff managing the earlier grant and from the grant file may influence all full assessment criteria. Dealing with outstanding objections against the organisation
Telephoning applicantsAs a Grants Officer you will be talking to many grant applicants on the telephone. We would like you to use the opportunity of the telephone call to:
Reasons why it might go wrong Handling a telephone call is much harder than having a face to face meeting for all sorts of reasons. Some of the barriers to communication are listed below:
Making the call Why are you calling? You need to be able to start your call with the answer to this question. Think about what you want as an end result of the conversation, not just for you, but for the applicant as well. In all cases you should give the applicant an opportunity to get their papers/thoughts together. This may mean ringing the applicant in advance to arrange a time when it will be mutually convenient to spend time talking to them. Preparation Time and energy spent on preparation will save you time later.
Getting started The next step is to check that you are talking to the right person. You need to speak to the main contact named in QA1 on the application form.
Hints
As a Grants Officer you may be perceived to have power over the applicant. This is the applicants' opportunity to bring their case for funding alive. It is your job to open up that opportunity for them.
Ending the call
Finally, a couple of pointers to make your call more enjoyable for you and the applicant.
We have drafted two telephone scripts to give you some guidance on your contact with the applicant. There's one for the first time you speak to the applicant and one for the end of an assessment. You need to give the same information if you are making a visit. You don't need to repeat the scripts verbatim, but it is crucial that you give the applicant the details in italics. It is important that the applicant is clear about who you are and the limitations of your role. You are not a decision maker. Also by preparing them for the 'interview' about their application you will save time. They will be able to respond to your questions better. If the list of questions you have to ask them is very long you might prefer to give them general headings, or fax or post them if there's time. At the end of the 'interview' you need to remind them of your role. They also need to know what happens next. Draft script - First contactGrants Officer Hello, May I speak to ................., Director of the Tizzwizz project please? I'm a Grants Officer from the National Lottery Charities Board. Applicant Hello, I'm ................. GO My name is ................. and I'm calling about your application to the Charities Board. I'm one of their Grants Officers and I need to ask you some questions about your application so that I can write a report on it . The conversation could take 1/2-3/4 hour. Is it convenient for you to talk now or would you prefer to arrange another time for our conversation? Applicant I think I would prefer to arrange another time. GO When we talk, you will need to have your application in front of you. I've read it through, as well as the paperwork you sent in and I've made a list of questions I would like to ask you. Perhaps you would like to make a note so that you can think about them before we speak? Applicant I'll just get a pen ..... OK ........ etc. GO So when will it be convenient for us to talk? ........ etc. Just before I go , I think I should say that it is standard practice for the Charities Board to ask its officers to make contact and talk through the application. It doesn't mean that you are being singled out for special treatment or that you are more likely to receive a grant because of the phone call. My job is to prepare a report on your application for review and recommendation by the Charities Board committees. The decision about funding will be made by one of the country committees. We expect to make announcements about successful applicants in three to four months from now. I look forward to speaking to you again on ......... Goodbye Draft Script - End of assessmentGrants Officer Thank you for spending time taking me through your application and answering my questions. Would it help if I explained what happens next? Applicant Please... GO My job now is to write a report based on what you've told me. My report goes to the next grants committee. Only the grant committee has the power to make a decision on whether your application should be funded or not. You should expect to hear one way or the other by the end of August at the very latest. Your application is one of thousands of applications being assessed during this grant round. Assessment by a Grants Officer, like myself, is one of the very early stages that every application goes through. The fact that you have had an assessment is not an indication that the chances of your application being successful are greater than any other at this early stage. Perhaps it would help to put this into perspective by telling you that there was only enough money in the last round to fund 1 in every 5 applications which met the Board's criteria for funding. Many excellent projects had to be turned down simply because there wasn't enough money to go round. Thank you for taking time to answer my questions. Goodbye. Applications from branchesIt is important that we should judge applications about the status of branches consistently, accurately and fairly across the organisation. In order to facilitate this, information about organisations with branches is now available on AMI. Responsibility for managing this rests with branches co-ordinators in Corporate Policy and in each operating unit. You should refer to local guidance to find out who your local co-ordinator is. Remember that you should always follow the guidance on branches in the reference manual if you are uncertain of the organisation�s status. The remainder of this section deals primarily with applications from branches that are or appear to be dependent. Information on AMI The "Organisation details" screen in AMI includes an "Organisation parent" tab. This in turn includes a "Profile" field, as well as other fields for assigning a relationship between the parent and the applicant branch. The "Profile" field contains the following information, which is entered and reviewed by the branches co-ordinators:
If you need to consult the profile in the course of an application, you must check the review dates and contact the named branches co-ordinator if the date has passed or if the information does not appear to match what you�ve received. The co-ordinator will then take any necessary action and will tell you when you can continue your assessment. Branches co-ordinators A branches co-ordinator will be identified for each operating unit, but much of the work will be undertaken by the co-ordinator in Corporate Policy. If you need to contact the corporate branches co-ordinator, please ring 020 7747 5341 in the first instance. Local branches co-ordinators are responsible for parent organisations that operate solely within their geographical area. The corporate co-ordinator is responsible for organisations that operate across more than one country or English region. Obtaining up-to-date information If you are a branches co-ordinator, it is likely that you will first find out that information needs to be updated when someone assessing a new application brings the fact to your attention. This may also happen while you are awaiting up-to-date information from the parent organisation in order to respond to another enquiry. Either way, you must add the person enquiring to a list of those members of staff who should be told as soon as the update has been completed on the Profile field. Unless the member of staff assessing the new application tells you that no letter of endorsement has been enclosed with the application, you should then:
If it appears likely that the branch will be dependent but the applicant has not enclosed a completed letter of endorsement, you should ask the person undertaking the assessment to obtain all relevant information in one letter and to forward the parent�s constitution and accounts to you when they arrive. More details about this appear in the following section. Obtaining the letter of endorsement If you are assessing an application from a branch, the information on AMI and in the application and constitution is likely to give you a good general indication of whether we will accept applications from them. If the applicant has not enclosed a letter of endorsement and the information on AMI is up to date (and advises you that you�ll need a letter of endorsement), you should send a standard letter asking for this. The text of this letter may be found at: S:\Policy\Branches\Main\Endorsement request You should allow the applicant one calendar month to return a duly completed and signed letter of endorsement and treat the application as incomplete until you have received it. If they fail to reply in that time, you should recommend rejecting the application as incomplete, but using the reject reason "Outside funding policy: dependent branch, no letter of endorsement". If the review of the parent/branch information is overdue, you should speak to the relevant branches co-ordinator. If they have not yet requested more recent annual accounts and/or governing documents, they will ask you to request these from the applicant at the same time as the letter of endorsement. The text of this letter may be found at: S:\Policy\Branches\Main\Update request Because of the range of documentation required, applicants will have six weeks to return the required documentation. If they fail to do so within that time, you should first check that they have not written direct to the relevant branches co-ordinator. If they haven�t, you should recommend rejecting the application as "Outside funding policy: dependent branch, insufficient parent information". Dealing with multiple applicationsLast updated 10 December 1999 On some occasions you and other staff may receive several applications from the same applicant at the same time or within a few months of one another. There are several important points that you should always remember:
The guidance note deals with procedures for dealing with the last of those points. Ensuring good practice All applications must be assessed equally and objectively on their merits. This means that when faced with the same facts, different members of staff should come to compatible conclusions about them. It doesn�t mean that scores and recommendations have to be identical, but simply that they should not be contradictory. For instance, all offices should come to the same decision about the eligibility of an applicant organisation (as long as the constitution has not changed). But recommendations may differ between offices on the basis of such matters as local need, local contacts and knowledge, and differing local and country priorities. The procedures outlined below should help to promote consistency without imposing conformity. Another important aspect of assessment is the avoidance of double funding. This is often a risk, but more acutely so if we are dealing with several applications from the same organisation at once: it would be quite easy, for instance, to pay for the same budget item (such as accommodation or equipment shared by several projects) several times over. Identifying multiple applications A multiple application happens when more than one application is received from the same organisation. Single applications may also come from organisations which already have a grant. We have different procedures for dealing with these two eventualities. An application counts as a multiple application if:
Multiple applications can come to light in several ways, but generally through information on the application form, through AMI alerts for simultaneous applications and for applications from current grant-holders, and through investigation of the Enquiries database. The first two of these will help to identify multiple applications during check-in and first assessment. If you are undertaking either of these stages and identify a potential multiple application, you should immediately inform the relevant multiple applications co-ordinator, who will take responsibility for most of the investigation. Multiple applications co-ordinators and responsible directors To facilitate the fair and objective assessment of multiple applications, there is a nominated multiple applications co-ordinator in each office (including England headquarters) and another in corporate headquarters. During the assessment process, they will: � help spot multiple applications;
Local co-ordinators deal with multiple applications to that office, the England-wide co-ordinator deals with multiple applications to more than one England region, and the corporate co-ordinator deals with multiple applications to more than one country. The co-ordinators� role during the assessment process is outlined in "Co-ordinating the assessment of multiple applications" below. Co-ordinators will also collate information about multiple grants. This role is described in the grant management manual. Each co-ordinator reports to a manager who is responsible for ensuring that officers abide by:
Co-ordinators in the England regions report to their regional manager, while others report to their country director. The corporate co-ordinator reports to the Director of UK and Corporate Planning. The England-wide co-ordinator is Beverly King. The corporate co-ordinator is Kevin Ashby. Assessing multiple applications If you are checking in or assessing new applications, you should follow these steps: 1. Report any potential multiple applications during check-in and/or first assessment and report them to the relevant multiple applications co-ordinator as soon as you spot them. You should immediately forward a copy of the application form, accounts and any business plans to the co-ordinator, along with a note of the expected date on which the application will go to committee. Please note that you must pass all of this information to the co-ordinator before completing first assessment. 2. If at any point the co-ordinator contacts you and your manager because different staff have made incompatible judgements about the applicant organisation, you must co-operate with them and with other staff to ensure that concerns are resolved. 3. Check the date of adoption of the constitution and the period of the organisation�s accounts. If the dates of these documents in the application you are dealing with match those of the most recent assessment of the organisation, ask the co-ordinator to forward you the first assessment report relating to that application: You should copy the scores and commentary on these first assessment checks only:
If you notice any obvious discrepancies between what the other report(s) say and the evidence in front of you in the application, you must make your own judgement and bring the matter to the co-ordinator�s attention. If the dates of the constitution and accounts do not match those in the most recent assessment, or are not available, forward the constitution to the relevant multiple applications co-ordinator. They will review the documents and inform you about eligibility, dependence, funding policy, free reserves and solvency. 4. When you complete first assessment (and peer and upward review where necessary), forward your assessment report to the multiple applications co-ordinator. Remember to include the full text of any reasons for recommending rejection. 5. The multiple applications co-ordinator will undertake assessment of criteria 1, 2, 8 and the first, third and fourth checks in criterion 10. They will then forward scores and assessment summaries for criteria 1, 2, 8 and 10 to you. These should be cut and pasted into your assessment of the application. The co-ordinator will also forward a summary of their assessment of the organisation�s capacity to manage the whole set of applications. This must form an integral part of the assessment summary and be included, if necessary as an insert, in the bumper pack that goes to committee. 6. The multiple applications co-ordinator will also write the organisation summary and forward it to you with the details mentioned above. You should cut and paste it into the organisation profile field in AMI. 7. In the meantime, you should assess the ability of the organisation to deliver a good project locally on merit. You will thus assess criteria 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and the other parts of criterion 10 and reflect any specific concerns relating to the organisation�s ability to deliver the project locally in the scores you give these criteria. 8. Always inform the relevant co-ordinator of the outcome of applications. Any reject letters must be forwarded to the co-ordinator to ensure that they are compatible with other reject (and/or offer) letters that the organisation will receive. Co-ordinating the assessment of multiple applications If you are a multiple applications co-ordinator, the following steps should guide your role during the assessment process. 1. Keep in regular contact with other multiple applications co-ordinators and brief them about the organisations you currently have multiple applications from. 2. Once multiple applications have been identified, request any compliance reports if the applicant is a current grant holder, and any assessment reports about successful applications from the organisation in the last 12 months and unsuccessful applications in the last 6 months. Ensure that all these reports are sent to all staff concerned. 3. When you receive a first assessment report, check the dates of the constitution and annual accounts and compare the assessment with any other assessments made about them. Check the compatibility of all judgements about:
4. If judgements are not compatible, refer questions to Corporate Policy (using the appropriate enquiries form). Then contact all staff concerned � including the relevant country directors � to inform them of the problem and the action being taken. You should then inform all of these people of the reply that you receive from Corporate Policy. If you receive a different constitution and/or set of accounts from those previously assessed, carry out the same first assessment checks as those mentioned above. You should record the new dates of adoption of the constitution and accounts in the organisation details screen on AMI (record the date of the constitution in the organisation profile) and inform staff conducting first assessments of the organisation of your decision. 5. When you receive the application form(s) and budgets for full assessment, investigate whether there is any overlap between the current application(s) and previous successful applications. You must check that there are no elements in the current application that are already being funded by the NLCB (or anyone else). If you do find anything, tell the staff assessing the current application(s) so that they can recommend any consequent grant variations. 6. Once you have received copies of all the application forms, accounts and any business plans, you should begin assessment of the organisation and its capacity to manage all the proposed projects together. (Remember that for criterion 2 you should consider the scale and complexity of the work represented by all the projects. The guidance in the assessment criterion itself and in the criteria worksheets for criteria 1 and 2 will help you.) On the basis of this assessment you must provide scores and assessment summaries for criteria 1, 2 8 and the first, second and fourth checks in criterion 10. You must also write a summary of all the criteria you have assessed, including an explicit statement about how many of the proposed projects you think the applicant can manage. You should then forward all your assessments to all staff and managers involved in the set of multiple applications. 7. You should also complete the organisation profile and forward it to all staff involved. Remember to include the date of adoption of the constitution in the organisation profile and the date of the accounts examined. 8. If you decide that the organisation cannot manage all the proposed projects, you must also inform the country director to whom you report. They will be responsible for advising the offices concerned and reviewing with them the likelihood of too many grants being made to the applicant. 9. After decision, you must review any reject letters and ensure that the reject reasons are compatible with one another and with any offers being made. Co-ordinating decision-making and feedback letters 10. When multiple applications are due for decision in the same committee cycle, the co-ordinator will occasionally inform the members of staff undertaking the assessment that they do not believe the applicant can manage all the proposed projects. When this occurs, the country directors and regional managers involved must co-operate to keep the situation under review. They should review the scores of relevant applications in their portfolios and liaise with one another to determine if projects in excess of capacity are in fact likely to be funded. If so, they must co-operate to resolve the situation on a case-by-case basis. (The general principle will be that projects regarded as important to a particular regional or country strategy will have priority over those which are not important within regional/country strategies.) 11. In all cases, you must also ensure that decision-making committees see the co-ordinator�s summary of the organisation�s capacity for all the projects they are applying for, as well as that of the particular project. 12. In all cases, once decisions have been taken, you must inform the relevant multiple applications co-ordinator, and forward drafts of any reject letters to them for review. Transferring applications between programmesOn some occasions it may be clear that an application would score better if it had been made under another programme. You will not normally be able to determine this until you are reaching the end of first assessment. If this appears to be the case, you may consider transferring it to that programme, but only if both programmes use exactly the same application form. This would mean, for instance, that you could transfer an application between Community involvement and Poverty and disadvantage, but not from either of them to Health and social research, which is assessed under different rules. If you are sure that such a transfer would enable the application to score more highly under more appropriate programme criteria, consult your manager first to explain the situation. On some occasions, however, your manager might suggest such a transfer if you have recommended rejecting the application because it does not fit with programme priorities. If either of these situations applies, you should ring the applicant explaining the situation and ask them to complete and submit a new answer to question C4. Make sure that you record the call on the cover sheet. But in line with standard assessment procedures, you must not tell the applicant what to write, simply that their application would be likely to score better under the other programme. Similarly, you must not advise them about their choice of any sub-criteria. Remember that this is the applicant�s decision, and that if they decline to submit a new answer, you must assess the application against the original programme criterion. If they agree to your suggestion, you should send them:
Your covering letter must remind the applicant about why you are asking them to do this. Please also remind the applicant that the signatories to the original application will need to sign and date the new answer. You should allow a maximum of 10 working days for them to submit their new reply, unless the applicant has difficulty obtaining the relevant signatures and informs you about this. If they do not reply in that time, you should carry on your assessment under the original programme. Once you receive the completed and signed answer, the following procedure will allow you to transfer the application before you complete first assessment: 1. Go into "Application summary" in AMI and click on "Application administration". Choose "Transfer application". 2. Choose your own office and then the relevant new programme. Make sure that the programme uses exactly the same application form. 3. Enter transfer notes that explain the situation. You will then get a confirmation message and a transfer letter will be produced. Send the original to the applicant and put another into the file. 4. This letter will include a new URN. The two-letter prefix will change to the correct one for the new programme, while the numbers should remain unchanged. You must now enter the new URN onto all documents as outlined in section 2.3. Please note that the change will be automatically recorded by AMI for audit reasons. 5. In AMI, however, the assessment will be suspended. Its status will revert to "Awaiting first assessment", and you should repeat that stage to ensure that the new information that you have obtained does not change any other judgements. You must also note the following:
Please note that on rare occasions you may have to transfer applications during full assessment. If you do, please note that you should follow the same broad procedures and that you must not contravene any of the rules outlined above. You may also have to re-interview the applicant in the light of the new information provided. Refer to local guidance for further information about how this is managed in your office. Contents - Introduction - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - Application Forms: 1 - 2 |