Les Subventions
aux AF

Alliance chapters must meet all five of these criteria in order to apply for a Federation grant:

1. The chapter must have 501(c)(3) status as authorized by the Internal Revenue Service.

2. The chapter must be a member in good standing of the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA, having paid dues for the current year and the previous year (i.e., two successive years, counting the current year). Waived dues do not count toward dues paid in full.

3. The chapter must have completed and submitted the most recent annual questionnaire issued by the Fondation des Alliances Françaises in Paris.

4. The chapter is up to date and in conformance with the required reporting from earlier grants that the chapter may have received.

5. Chapters may apply and win a grant for the same exact project for a maximum of two consecutive years. (After two years, applications for the same project are ineligible.)

The below three factors are favorably viewed when requesting a Federation Grant:

1. Expected positive impact on the Alliance chapter

2. Strength of the grant application

3. An in-kind or financial contribution to the project made by the chapter and/or sponsors

1. Application Form

Fill out the online application form using the link on the Grants page. The committee strongly recommends using the online form for submitting your grant application. It allows you to fill in all the required information and provides instructions to follow for submitting separate file attachments, such as financial statements and project budgets.

2. Help to Complete the Application Form

If you experience any problems with the form, contact the Federation office via email to federation@afusa.org. If it turns out that you cannot use the form, then you can create and send a PDF (covering the points in section IV below). Note that handwritten submissions are not accepted.

3. Language to use in the Application

Applications may be completed in either French or English.

4. Timing for submission

The deadline for all applications is March 1^st 11:59 pm (Pacific Time). Late applications are not accepted.

5. Amount to request

Federation member chapters may apply for the full or partial amount of a project. Applicants should use the range of individual grants awarded in recent grant cycles, which are noted above.

6. Projects to be part of the request

Project expense shall start after the date of announcement of the grant, except for any expenses occurred since January 1st for events in March (Francophonie) and April, which can be applied to the Grant you will be receiving on April 30th.

 Grant applications may not be submitted for completed projects. The projects must be planned for the future. Sample scenarios are listed at the end of this document.

7. Final Report

A full report on the project is due to the Grants Committee at federation@afusa.org by April 15th of the following year. The report should include accomplishments and an assessment of achieved goals and impact as the result of the grant, as well as related invoices for the purchase of equipment, online products, and all other related expenses. Prompt completion of the reporting is strongly encouraged.

 8. Use of Grant Funds

Grant funds must be used within one year of the award announcement date of April 15. If the project or purchase for which the grant was awarded cannot be fully executed due to unforeseen circumstances, the chapter must return the unused funds to the Federation. Grants cannot be rolled over for use in the next year or be reassigned to new projects.

Below are the questions that will be asked when you complete the online application form, found on the Grants page.

CHAPTER INFORMATION & CONTACTS

Name of Applicant Member Chapter
Address
Email address
Number of members
Year founded
Name and position of contact person
Email address
EIN #
Phone Number

ELIGIBILITY

You will be asked to confirm that your chapter is eligible, meeting all five criteria in Section I above.

 

PLEASE CONFIRM WHICH GRANT THIS APPLICATION IS FOR (Select just one):

Children’s Initiatives

Cultural Programs

Educational Initiatives

Infrastructure Initiatives

Morse Visibility

 

CURRENT SITUATION

Provide a brief description/overview of your chapter: membership, programs/activities, board involvement and key partnerships.

Provide a brief description of school operations and facilities, if applicable.

Submit your chapter’s most recent 12-month financial statement of activity (P&L report). For most AFs, where the fiscal year is the calendar year, this would be a P&L report from the previous 12-month period, i.e., January–December.

 

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT

Summarize your project in 500 words or less and include the following:

• Description of project
• Goals and strategies for implementation of the project
• Marketing plans, if applicable
• Measurable results

 

BUDGET

Provide an overview of the project budget including your grant request amount. Specific information should include:

• Financial and in-kind contributions from your AF towards the project costs
• Financial and in-kind contribution from other resources, if applicable (see point 10 in Section V)
• List/description of cost/expenses such as equipment, materials, or marketing (as applicable)

 

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

You will be asked to confirm two key figures:

1) The amount you are requesting from the Federation, and

2) The cost of the total project (See point #5 in section III.)

1. Review the description of the grants online as well as sections I-IV above. If anything is unclear, email federation@afusa.org with your questions. Follow the application instructions as explained in section III above and make sure to cover all points of section IV.

2. As you review the criteria for the individual grant descriptions online, note that each category may have exceptions for types of costs that are not covered, as well as details on what types of things can be included and covered in the grant. For example, teacher salaries and consumables like food and beverages are not eligible as budgeted items. If you decide to put those items in your project budget, make sure to point out that those expenses will be covered by other funding sources, and not by the Federation grant.

3. Your budget for the project and the narrative describing the project should be clear and concise. Putting realistic numbers (including vendor quotes or product references) behind a proposal is just as important as writing a compelling case for support.

4. Please spell out acronyms and abbreviations for clarity.

5. In the project description, be sure to explain why the project is needed, the positive impacts that can be anticipated, and if applicable, how you will measure the project’s success.

6. In your description, describe the human resources that will be involved in the project and its execution (board, volunteers, contractors, and/or staff). .Keep in mind that other AFs may look to your project for inspiration.

7. If your project can be shared with other AFs, that can strengthen your application.

8. There is considerable demand for grant funds. Not all grant applications will necessarily receive funding, and as pointed out on page 1, most will receive partial funding.

9. The Grants Committee looks favorably upon proposals in which chapters themselves contribute to the project budget or when chapters can confirm participation of other funding sources. For example, the proposal is for a $3K project where $1K is to be paid by the chapter, $1K is provided by the city, and $1K is requested for the Federation grant.

10. In general, grant applications can only be submitted for projects, or parts of projects, planned for beyond April of the grant year, for which no funds have been disbursed by the requesting AF chapter prior to the award announcement date of April 15. That said, with one exception (see Application Instructions/6): Expenses occurred since January 1st for events in March (Francophonie) and April, can be applied to the Grant you will be receiving on April 30th.  

Sample scenarios:
a. Your chapter is planning its annual Bastille Day event. If you incurred event-related expenses such as city permits or service-provider payments before the award announcement date of April 15, the grant application should not include such expenses in the project budget. Instead, the grant request should be targeted for Bastille Day project-related expenses that will be incurred after April 15.
b. You use TV5Monde as part of your chapter’s classes. You apply for an Educational Initiatives Grant to help finance your TV5Monde subscription. Your project should specify the costs of a subscription period after the award announcement date of April 15, so that the grant would be used for subscriptions costs incurred and paid after that date. 

12. The Federation cannot authorize any part of a grant request that the AF plans to use as a charitable donation to another organization. In other words, your grant request could not include “$500 in cash donation to the French program of the local public school” or “$250 to support the Haiti Relief Fund.” The Federation funds are used solely to directly impact the Alliance Française chapters’ development.  

1. Use of Grant Funds

Grant funds must be used within one year of the award announcement date of April 15. If the project or purchase for which the grant was awarded cannot be fully executed due to unforeseen circumstances, the chapter must return the unused funds to the Federation. Grants cannot be rolled over for use in the next year or be reassigned to new projects.

2. Final Report

A full report on the project is due to the Grants Committee at federation@afusa.org by April 15th of the following year. The report should include accomplishments and an assessment of achieved goals and impact as the result of the grant, as well as related invoices for the purchase of equipment, online products, and all other related expenses. Prompt completion of the reporting is strongly encouraged.

Document last updated July 3, 2024