Asha Chicago

What is the Innovation in Education Contest?

Since 2012, Asha Stanford has the ‘Innovation in Education’ Contest in order to-

• Encourage innovative ideas towards education
• Encourage NGOs to analyze various existing solutions to education problems
• Encourage NGOs to quantify the success of their interventions
• Apply methodologies and innovations developed here towards other projects suppored by Asha for Education
• Analyze cost-effectiveness of the proposed solutions to determine broad-based applicability
• Identify interventions that can be readily applied across geographies

We encourage you, and your non-profit, to submit your proposal towards the Innovation Contest. The deadline for submission of the web proposal is December 31st, 2013. The submission form will be available here till the submission deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I submit the project proposal?
The proposal submission form is available on this page. The form will be available till December 31st, 2013.

What kind of organizations can apply?
To apply, you need to be a registered non-profit organization in India. Please do NOT apply on behalf of other organizations. We encourage you to reach out to them and let them know of the opportunity.

What kind of projects can I submit?
Any project relating to education in India is welcome. However, we specially encourage projects that try innovative approaches towards tackling the problems.

Our organization already has a lot of projects funded by AfE. Do we get any special treatment?
The Innovation in Education contest is separate from any association you might have with Asha for Education. Organizations with AfE funded projects are NOT at any advantage.

Our organization has never been funded by any AfE chapter. Are we at a disadvantage?
See above.

What is the amount and duration of the grant?
The total amount of the grant can vary from US $30,000 to US $50,000 over 2 years. The exact amount of funding will be announced after initial review of the projects.

What happens after I submit the application?
After an initial review and screening of submitted applications, we will contact you with a more detailed questionnaire about your proposed project. If selected for that stage, you will get instructions directly from us towards January 31st, 2014.

What is the expected timeline of the grant?
We are working towards the following timelines for the grant –

• Initial proposal submission – November 1st 2013 – December 31st, 2013
• Selection of shortlisted projects – January 1st 2014 – January 31st 2014
• Detailed proposal submission – February 1st 2014 – February 28th 2014
• Final selection of projects – March 1st 2014 – March 31st 2014
• Finalization of project evaluation criterion and site visit – April 1st 2014 – May 31st 2014
• Project duration – June 1st 2014 onwards

What is the FCRA requirement?
For a charitable group in India to receive funds from an overseas source, the government of India requires that the charitable group has registration that complies with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Without FCRA approval, grantee organizations in India may not legally receive foreign contributions from any donor outside of India. For more details, see the MHA website at http://www.mha.gov.in/fcra/intro/FAQs.pdf

I have more questions. Who do I contact?
Please direct all questions to stanford.contest@ashanet.org.