: Evaluations of Public Affairs Foreign Assistance Programs in Georgia | DOS GEO 21 008 052821

Opportunity Information: Apply for DOS GEO 21 008 052821

The grant opportunity, titled "Evaluations of Public Affairs Foreign Assistance Programs in Georgia" (Funding Opportunity Number: DOS GEO 21 008 052821), comes from the U.S. Mission to Georgia and supports a set of independent, third-party evaluations of programs run by the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi. The central goal is to measure how much these Embassy-supported programs actually influence what participants think, know, and do, with a focus on changes in attitudes, awareness, and real-world actions that can be linked to program participation.

The Embassy is looking to evaluate three distinct initiatives. The first is a non-formal youth journalism program, aimed at developing practical journalism-related skills and likely strengthening participants' engagement with media, information, and civic topics. The second is a professional development program for mid-career professionals working in the national security sector, which suggests a focus on strengthening competencies, professional networks, and perspectives relevant to security institutions. The third is a media education program for university administrators, which is designed to influence how higher education leaders approach media literacy or media-related education within their institutions. Although the programs differ in audience and content, they share the same broad evaluation interest: whether participants gain and retain skills and knowledge, whether their attitudes shift in intended ways, and whether those changes translate into sustained behavior after the formal program ends.

The primary consumers of the evaluation findings are internal decision-makers: staff in the Embassy's Public Affairs Section and policy makers at the Embassy and within the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. The results are intended to be practical, not just descriptive. Specifically, the Embassy wants evidence on four main questions: how well current program designs deliver the intended outcomes (skills, attitudes, awareness); whether participants still retain those gains six months after completion (and twelve months after completion for the teacher training-related component referenced in the opportunity); whether alumni go on to use their new expertise outside the program itself by implementing follow-on activities; and, for the teacher training element, whether students taught by trained alumni show stronger classroom outcomes in the following academic year.

The work is structured as a collaborative evaluation process involving Embassy staff, the organizations that implement the programs, and the selected evaluation partner or partners. While coordination is shared, the evaluation partner is expected to carry the technical workload and leadership on the evaluation itself, including designing surveys, collecting data, performing analysis, and producing written reports. A key operational expectation is that the evaluator must be able to handle real-world constraints in Georgia, particularly geographic reach and language, which implies multi-region data collection and bilingual or multilingual instruments and fieldwork.

Methodologically, the opportunity anticipates data collection that includes both program participants and control groups, with surveys conducted at multiple points in time. The design described resembles a pre/post and follow-up approach: collecting baseline data before new cohorts begin activities (noted as occurring around October 1, 2021), collecting information again at the conclusion of program activities, and then measuring persistence of effects through a follow-up survey six months after the program ends (and a longer follow-up window for the teacher training-related outcomes). The full evaluation effort is expected to take about two years from start to finish, reflecting the need to track outcomes over time rather than only immediately after training or programming concludes. The exact schedule is meant to be finalized jointly by the Embassy, the implementer, and the evaluator.

In terms of award mechanics, this is a discretionary opportunity using a cooperative agreement, which typically means the funder expects a higher level of involvement and coordination than a standard grant. The CFDA (Assistance Listing) number is 19.900. The award ceiling is listed as $120,000. Eligible applicants include U.S. and Georgian non-profit, non-governmental organizations as well as accredited higher education institutions, reflecting an intent to attract organizations with research and evaluation capability, local access, and the ability to run rigorous survey-based studies. The original application closing date shown is July 1, 2021, and the opportunity was created on May 28, 2021.

• The U.S. Mission to Georgia in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled ": Evaluations of Public Affairs Foreign Assistance Programs in Georgia" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.900.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-05-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $120,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for DOS GEO 21 008 052821

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