1 GENERAL FUNDS DISBURSAL Proposal July 2008

22 Summary Intention is to help disburse $600,000 over a period of 3 year Proposal for ARC vote will consist of the following 3 options: 1.Divide the general funds sum equally among all eligible chapters that request portion of general funds in any given year (slide 4) 2.The general funds will be disbursed between two types of projects, those that are large- scale innovative & those at the chapters which qualify on account of experiencing a funding shortfall. (slide 6) 3.Hybrid of option 1 and 2 – set aside a portion of the money for Emergency relief, spend a portion on large-scale innovative and scalable projects and divide the remaining portion between all eligible chapters that request funds in any given year (slide 10) Note: All Asha chapters have been included in the purview of this. Therefore, India chapters and European chapters also are included for the purpose of funds disbursal. The rationale for this has been that general funds have accumulated due to the Asha brand as a whole, which consists of intangible contributions of all the chapters and volunteers - quantifying which would have been a rather difficult and futile exercise.

33 Assumptions The following assumptions apply to all 3 options Current general funds in the bank ~ 1 Million USD Amount the group is proposing to disburse = $600,000 Timeline for disbursal = 3 years We are only using $600,000 since we need to maintain a minimum sum for admin expenses such as credit card processing In all 3 options, 10% of $600,000 will be set aside for emergency relief funds = $60,000 General funds ($540,000) will be disbursed to chapters that make a request for general funds once every year in January (relevant to options 1 and 3). All active chapters are eligible for receiving general funds money – active is defined as follows: –Any chapter that submitted their financials in their respective country for that year. E.g., If your chapter submitted financials in April 2008, for the financial year 2007 then you will be eligible for receiving money from the general funds pool in January 2009 Matching funds for WAH 2008 will come from the general funds pool (not from the $600,000 but from the remaining amount)

44 Option One Divide the general funds equally amongst eligible (Ref. Slide 3) chapters requesting funds in any given year As per the assumptions, money being divided is $600,000 over the course of 3 years 10% will be set aside for Emergency relief What this means... –Emergency relief funds = $60,000 –Therefore, funds for distribution among chapters requesting money = $540,000

5 Option one contd.. clarifications The grant will not be automatically moved to a chapter’s account, but will be reserved on an explicit request from the chapter coordinators of the chapter before a specific cut-off date every year. It is assumed that chapters having a lot of fund reserves will choose not to dip into this pool by requesting the grant, since they don’t really have the need for it. In this case, the amount distributed to the other chapters would increase commensurately. If a chapter can’t use the funds within a year, the money lapses into the general pool, and used in the division next year.

6 6 Option Two The funds ($540,000, since $60,000 is set aside for emergency relief funds) will be disbursed between two different types of projects a) Support innovative, large, scalable projects (more detail in slide 7) b) Support chapters experiencing funding shortfall for currently funded projects (more detail in slide 8) The funds will be divided in a ratio of 60 : 40 (a:b)

7 7 Option Two contd..Criteria – theme ‘a’ Scalability (e.g., multiple villages in a district; or multiple districts in a state) Innovative / creative concept (an idea that is outside the realm of a typical project funded by Asha) –Example – Sikshana, Eureka (from AID) Sustainability (a reasonable plan with actions beginning 1 to 2 years before Asha stops funding that will sustain/fund the project after Asha funding ceases) Organization must have a good track record –Established relationship with Asha Must require a significant sum of money –> $25 K/year for 3-5 years

8 8 Option Two contd.. Criteria – theme ‘b’ Project should have been funded for at least 2 years There should be documentation of sufficient monitoring and at least one site visit per year Documentation to be made available on a quarterly basis on chapter projects website and to the general funds group The responsible chapter should raise at least 50% of the funding required (remaining 50% of the funds will come from general funds) The chapter can use this matching of general funds for a maximum of 2 years. They will have to find alternate funding mechanisms (i.e., contact other chapters etc) within two years. If alternate funding is not identified within the 2 year timeframe, the general funds group will re-evaluate the project for another 2 years of funding

9 9 Option Two contd.. Reserve funds Identify the minimum amount required in general funds to generate interest to cover admin expenses i.e., credit card processing Identify the complete needs of the proposed project and ‘reserve’ full funding amount from the general funds for that project. As an example, if the project requires $50K per year, for 5 years you would reserve $250K for that particular project Looking at the past 3 years, the average growth has been $200K/year. Once the general funds balance drops to the reserve amount, no new proposals will be considered until the balance increases again

10 Option Three Hybrid Model –10% = Emergency relief –20% = Allocated to Option 2 –70% = Allocated to Option 1 What this means... –Emergency relief = $60,000 –Innovative, large scale projects = $120,000 or $40,000 per year (as per Option 2 details) –Divide the rest 420,000 between eligible (Ref. Slide 3) chapters that request funds in any given year (as per Option 1 details)

11 Minutes and Q&A from General Funds Group discussions Collated questions/answers from all earlier General Funds group discussions is available in one document to make the ARC discussions easier at your chapter. –This document is at: iscussions.pdf iscussions.pdf

12 Emergency relief All emergency relief projects will be reviewed with the same due diligence as any regular project. The general funds group will be responsible for administering the funds If a specific fund raising effort is being organized for that emergency (such as Tsunami Relief) then general funds will NOT be used for that emergency. If however no specific effort is being organized, then up to 100% of the funds required for that particular project can come from general funds In the event of an emergency, general funds can be used for truly emergency relief activities (medical supplies, food, clothing etc) only if we have an existing relationship with that NGO or if an Asha Fellow is working with that NGO The chapter proposing the project is expected to take responsibility for monitoring the project

13 Next steps Next StepTimeline Proposal made available for ARC voteJune 25, 2008 ARC vote deadlineAugust 27, 2008 Begin implementation of chosen optionSeptember, 2008

14 GENERAL FUNDS DISBURSAL Process Charts Revised June 2008

15 Process Design disbursal process Review general funds process proposal Send for ARC approval Accept proposals for general funds disbursal consideration Asha DC to design process proposal Send proposal to general funds focus group General funds focus group reviews / discusses proposal Asha DC to incorporate changes General funds group approves revised proposal Proposal to follow ARC process Collect feedback from chapters Incorporate changes Obtain ARC approval Begin accepting project proposals Implement approved process We are here now

16 Disbursal Process (option 1) [for 90%] 2. Review chapter if financials filed for year (X-1) 3. Does chapter qualify? 4b. End 1. Chapter requests for general funds in year X Asha-wide Treasury team Yes No 6. Disburse funds to all qualifying chapters in January (X+1) 4a. Collect all qualifying chapters by end of year X (say N chapters) 5. Divide $180K by N

17 Disbursal Process (option 2) [for 90%] 2. Review proposal against criteria 3. Does proposa l qualify? 4a. Document questions or concerns 5. Obtain answers from appropriate chapter 6. Does project still qualify? 7b. Group reviews revised proposal 8. Approve project 4b. End 1. Review project proposals for general funds consideration General Funds Focus Group Yes No Yes 7a. End 9. Disburse funds No

18 Disbursal Process (option 3) [for 90%] 70% will follow option 1 process 20% will follow option 2 process 10% emergency funds in all options will be disbursed following option2 process Disbursal Process (all options) [for 10%]

19 General Funds Focus Group Who are the members of this group? Asha wide treasurer Asha wide projects coordinator Minimum 5 other interested individuals from various chapters (interested individuals, please asha- Two individuals from the chapter proposing the project

20 Roles & Responsibilities What are the responsibilities of the group? Thorough review of project proposal for consideration Ensure it adheres to agreed upon criteria Approve / reject proposal Asha-wide treasurer takes the lead to disburse funds to project Ensure that the project once funded is monitored – responsibility taken by chapter proposing the project. Annual site visit reports and quarterly updates (e.g., phone updates) must be provided to asha wide projects group The general funds group will designate 1 or 2 members to work with the project steward(s) to monitor the project (funding + evaluation). The project steward from the chapter is still the primary contact with the general funds group members helping.

21 Timeline for Process Approval MarchAprilMayJuneJuly Review proposal Within GF group Approve Proposal ARC Vote Obtain feedback and approval Process approved!! To be updated based on option chosen

22 Next Steps ItemPerson ResponsibleDateStatus present general funds group to approve process Asha DC3/9/08Completed Schedule conference call for review of proposal Current general funds group – Manju Schedule call for wkend of 3/22/08 Completed Send revised proposal to general funds & coordination group Asha DC04/05/08Completed Receive and incorporate additional feedback from group Asha DCBy 04/28/08Completed proposal for ARC vote Current general funds group - Manju 05/14/08 To be updated based on option chosen

23 Next Steps ItemPerson ResponsibleDateStatus Send out reminder Current general funds group - Manju 06/14/08 Send out reminder Current general funds group - Manju 06/30/08 Focus group finalizes ARC decision and approve process General funds group07/18/08 Solicit proposals for general funds disbursal consideration General funds group07/20/08 To be updated based on option chosen