Gold Star is managed by WCVA on behalf of the Wales MDGs Task Force and BUILD, and funded by the Welsh Assembly Government 'Wales for Africa' scheme.
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The Grants Panel Decision Making Process
The Gold Star Grants Panel
Applications during 2010-11 are considered by a standing grants panel involving:
- Trustee and Board Member of WCVA (Wales Council for Voluntary Action) for the International Sector, Stephen Thomas (Director of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs)
- Coordinator of the Wales Civil Society MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) Task Force, Peter Davies (Sustainable Development Commissioner for Wales)
- Oxfam Cymru Officer and ex-Zimbabwe and Somaliland Links Coordinator, Harris Nyatsanza.
They meet on pre-agreed dates for each grant round (click here for 2010-11 dates)
Scoring of Applications
To inform the grant's panels decisions, all applications received go through a thorough scoring process, which will:
- identify any applicants who are excluded or ineligible to apply under the rules of the Gold Star Scheme (see guidance on application pages), or have been 'blacklisted' by WCVA, WAG or the Charities Commission for legal or accounting failures.
- assess how closely the activities of each proposal fit the specific criteria of the Gold Star Scheme.
- Responses to each question on the application form are scored from 0-5 for how closely the answers given fulfil the Grant Scheme criteria and guidance, from 0 = no demonstration to 5 = excellent demonstration. A sample completed grant scoring form can be viewed here.
- Where grants rounds are heavily oversubscribed (many more applicants than available funding), to enable funds to reach as many groups as possible the score percentage may be applied to the total applied for - eg (from the example linked above) if the score is 36/40 on a £1500 application, the offer would be adjusted to £1350.
- If a project's planned costs are 'fixed' such that the whole project would be unable to proceed without the full amount applied for, it is likely to be recommended for rejection. If there are a number of components to the project proposal, and there is a need to make a reduced grant offer as above, the panel may either a) specify which activities they are offering to fund or b) leave it to the applicants discretion to prioritise funding.
The Grants Panel Meeting
- The grants panel are presented with a confidential document for each grant round summarising ALL applications, proposal summaries, question scorings and total scores, and any problem / eligibility issues. This is accompanied by an 'options summary' from which the grants panel will make their decisions on a) which applications to accept and reject (and for what reasons); b) what level of grant funding offer should be made to made to each project; c) any conditions which are to be made (see below).
Rejections
Will be informed in writing and / or by email within one week of the outcome, this communication will include the reasoning for the panel's rejection. Please note, rejected proposals will not be reconsidered by the panel under future funding rounds unless you are specifically invited to resubmit.
Unconditional Grant Offers
Will be informed in writing and / or by email within one week of the outcome. You will then receive a formal grant offer letter (with terms and conditions) which should be returned, signed, to WCVA in order for us to then release the grant to the bank account specified in your application.
Conditional Offers
Will be informed in writing and / or by email within one week of the outcome, with the specific terms and conditions which you must agree to meet in order to receive the funding from WCVA. If you cannot meet or do not agree to these, then the grant cannot be made and this is the end of the process. If you agree to the conditional offer, you will then receive a formal grant offer letter (with terms and conditions) which should be returned, signed, to WCVA in order for us to then release the grant to the bank account specified in your application.
Appeals and / or Complaints
Should be made in writing through Peter Davies, specifying exact reasons (against the terms of the grants scheme) why you would like the decision to be reconsidered by the grants panel. If your application was rejected due to poor quality / scoring, you may be offered the opportunity to redraft and resubmit your application to the next funding round. If your application was incorrectly perceived to be outwith the rules and guidelines of the grant scheme, you should provide evidence to support reconsideration. If your application remains outwith the bounds of the grant scheme, or is deemed to be fundamentally flawed, then the grants panel's decision (after reconsideration) is final.
