Innovation in Education Contest

What is the Innovation in Education Contest?

Since 2012, Asha Stanford has held the ‘Innovation in Education’ Contest in order to:

Encourage innovative ideas towards education
Encourage NGOs to analyze various existing solutions to education problems
Encourage NGOs to quantify the success of their interventions
Apply methodologies and innovations developed here towards other projects suppored by Asha for Education
Analyze cost-effectiveness of the proposed solutions to determine broad-based applicability
Identify interventions that can be readily applied across geographies

We encourage you, and your non-profit, to submit your proposal towards the Innovation Contest. The deadline for submission of the web proposal is February 24, 2018. The submission form will be available here till the submission deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I submit the project proposal?
The proposal submission form is available here. The form will be available until February 24, 2018.

What kind of organizations can apply?
To apply, you need to be a registered non-profit organization in India. Please do NOT apply on behalf of other organizations. We encourage you to reach out to them and let them know of the opportunity.

What kind of projects can I submit?
Any project relating to education in India is welcome. However, we specially encourage projects that try innovative approaches towards tackling the problems.

Our organization already has a lot of projects funded by AfE. Do we get any special treatment?
The Innovation in Education contest is separate from any association you might have with Asha for Education. Organizations with AfE funded projects are NOT at any advantage.

Our organization has never been funded by any AfE chapter. Are we at a disadvantage?
See above.

What is the amount and duration of the grant?
The total amount of the grant be up to US $50,000 over 2 years. The exact amount of funding will be announced after initial review of the projects. Preference will be given to projects requesting a smaller budget.

What happens after I submit the application?
After an initial review and screening of submitted applications, we will contact you with a request for additional materials. If selected for that stage, we will send updated instructions around late-March, 2018.

What is the expected timeline of the grant?
We are working towards the following timelines for the grant –

Initial proposal submission – February 24, 2018
Selection of shortlisted projects – March 19, 2018
Detailed proposal submission – April 6, 2018
Final selection of projects – April 30, 2018
Finalization of project evaluation criterion and site visit – May 31, 2018
Project duration – June 1, 2018 onwards

What is the FCRA requirement?
For a charitable group in India to receive funds from an overseas source, the government of India requires that the charitable group has registration that complies with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Without FCRA approval, grantee organizations in India may not legally receive foreign contributions from any donor outside of India. For more details, see the MHA website at http://mha1.nic.in/pdfs/ForeigD-ForeigD-FCRA_FAQs.pdf

I have more questions. Who do I contact?
Please direct all questions to stanford.contest@ashanet.org.