Skip to Main Content
Home

Acquiring a Fast-track Associates Award

Action Prior to VEGA’s Distribution of Requests to Members

VEGA emails members SOW
Members email questions back to VEGA

  1. USAID Mission/Bureau Program Development Requests are first approved by the USAID CTO for the Leader Agreement and then forwarded to VEGA by the Contracts Officer for the particular Mission interested in entering into an Associate Agreement with VEGA.
  2. VEGA will review request to confirm it does not mention any VEGA members’ specific services and then circulate the SOW via email to all the member organizations, so that they are informed of this business opportunity at the same time.
  3. Members have 24 hours to review the SOW and email back any questions or clarifications they feel are necessary to prepare the best program design for USAID.
  4. VEGA communicates with Mission to receive clarification on any outstanding matters.

Day 1

VEGA Requests for Services sent to all Members.

  1. VEGA receives and acknowledges receipt of the Request for Program Description (RPD) from USAID.
  2. VEGA staff circulates the RPD to all member organizations and to the Independent Evaluators who will constitute the proposal reviewing and scoring panel.

    3. Day 2

    Members Self Nominate

    1. Organizations submit to the Executive Director any questions or clarifications that they deem necessary in order to prepare a response to the RPD.

    Day 3

    1. The VEGA staff reviews all submitted questions, adding other clarifications deemed necessary, then submits to USAID, as needed. (A delayed response from the Mission might subsequently postpone the deliverable date for the VEGA submission, but member organizations should proceed with the expectation that the original submission date will hold. As soon as a reply is heard from the Mission, this information will be forwarded to all members.)

    Day 6

    Member Organizations submit proposals to VEGA

    1. Members submit claims to VEGA, as appropriate, claims for Outreach Bonus Points, according to guidance provided.
    2. Interested organizations submit proposal (maximum 9 pages, min 11pt font, standard 1”margin) in the following format (a maximum of two documents will be accepted from each organization, on in Word or equivalent and one in spreadsheet format-preferably Excel)
      • Organization’s approach, concept (max 6 pages)-(may include timeline as an appendix)
      • Staff and Volunteers (max 3 pages)-(must include full CVs of key personnel as an appendix)
      • Budget – summary, detailed and full budget narrative.
    3. VEGA collects and reviews proposals to ensure that they contain all required sections and do not exceed 9 pages.
    4. The Executive Director sends the proposals to the Independent Evaluators Council (IEC) members that constitute the review panel.

    Day 8

    1. IEC members have November 27 to read, comment on, and score proposals according the weights detailed in the proposal scorecard.

    Day 9

    Winners Notified

    1. The Executive Director notifies the Prime Organizations and the IEC of the results of the selection process.
      • Should there be less than or equal to a 2-point spread between the highest-scoring proposal and the next highest-scoring proposal(s), the IEC reserves the right to request follow-up or clarifying input from the organizations involved, and to use the additional information as the basis for its final selection. Following this, the Executive Director will notify all submitting organizations of the outcome.
    2. The Executive Director notifies all member organizations of the IEC decision for the Prime and Associate implementers for the program.
      • Any VEGA member may appeal the IEC scoring of the proposals. The appeal must be submitted in writing within one business day to merit consideration by the Board of Directors. Should the Executive Director find the organization’s arguments to be valid, the Board of Directors will be called upon to vote within one business day to either uphold the IEC decision or to request the IEC to reconsider its decision.

    Day 10

    VEGA submits proposal to Mission

    1. Once the IEC has selected the winning proposal, the Executive Director will convey VEGA’s Program Description to USAID.
    2. The Executive Director serves as the official negotiator for VEGA, but he will consult as needed with the Prime Implementer on matters affecting the award. If the Mission requests that VEGA travel to the Mission to negotiate final details, and if VEGA agrees to do so, the Prime Implementer should be included in the VEGA negotiating team.