What is a fixed obligation grant?

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Fixed Obligation Grants, also known as FOG Grants, have the following specifications:

  • Maximum grant period: 360 days
  • Maximum grant amount: not to exceed the JD equivalent of US$200,000
  • Allowable purpose: beneficiary activities which are consistent with both beneficiary and Aqaba Community and Economic Development Program objectives.
  • Other specifications: a Fixed Obligation Grant schedule of disbursements must be associated with one or more very specific program benchmarks where there is a certainty about the cost of achieving the each benchmarks cost and where accomplishment each benchmarks by the Beneficiary is readily discernible in fact and in time. The schedule of disbursements reflects both the timing and the amount of beneficiary payments for the accomplishment of each benchmark, and it is therefore essential that the Grants Evaluation Committee be satisfied that there is sufficient cost history to negotiate the schedule of disbursements.
  • Allowable costs: subject to the generally unallowable costs specified in subsection J.2.. below, there is no requirement for monitoring of types on magnitudes of the costs of the actual costs of achieving the benchmarks.
  • Approval Required: approval by USAID Cognizant Technical Officer (CTO) which is dependent upon:
    • The ability to easily identify and quantify programmatic accomplishments or results in establishing grant benchmarks;
    • Limited risk that there will be changes to the program; and
    • Adequate cost (historical or unit pricing) available to determine and negotiate the schedule of disbursements.
  • Application type: full application as described in Annex A-2  Payment type: payment made to beneficiary after presentation of accomplishment of milestones.