General Information

The Commission is not willing to give direct grants for projects to be administered by governments, members of governments or their officers, nor does it usually make direct grants to individual schools, hospitals, communities or groups, including trustees or charities set up for such specific purposes. It will however, consider applications where they are submitted by an established aid agency, where JOAC has established connections through the agency's U.K headquarters or the U.K branch of an international agency.

JOAC has established working relationships with such agencies, which provide a comprehensive range of projects throughout the third world. In order to avoid increasing administration and thus making more effective use of public monies, the Commission will only consider further additional major aid agencies and those smaller agencies specialising in types of relief not covered by its existing network. The Commission will expect all future applications to reflect this specific area of expertise and will not allow the agency to seek funding for other types of projects in order to avoid duplication.

In selecting those applications which it agrees to fund and which satisfy the criteria, JOAC will particularly focus upon the predicted outcomes of the projects which must be clearly defined and measurable in the applications. Subsequent reporting back must compare the achieved outcomes with those originally envisaged. This already happens in most cases but greater emphasis will be given to this area than in the past.

JOAC also consideres the contribution and involvement of the recipient community and the subsequent sustainability of projects.

The Commission will also consider co-funding projects where the project will be co-funded by NGO’s (Non Government Agencies) or non-recipient government agencies such as DFID (U K Department For International Development) and OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). The application however must clearly identify that part of the project for which funding is requested with a view to ensuring that the funded part of the project has a specific identity capable of measurement and assessment and is sustainable in the long term. The payment of funding in such cases will be deferred until such time as the agency confirms that the other co-funding has been secured.

Projects submitted to the Commission should in general be capable of completion within 12 months from commencement. An agency can submit a maximum of two projects for the Commission to consider, each project should not exceed £100,000. The Commission will consider funding one year of a multi year project subject to that project meeting all of its other criteria and it having identifiable expenditure and outcomes which are clearly defined and costed for the period.

In order to maximise the sucess of the 3 year projects and to minimise risk to JOAC funding of these projects, 3 year projects will only be considered from agencies whose latest annual report and accounts show income from all sources od at least £5 million. This stipulation does not represent a material shift of Commission policy, as the vast majority of agencies already in receipt of 3 year funding would clear this hurdle. This requirement may be relaxed in exceptional circumstances, but in any event the assesment of the risk to JOAC will be of paramount concern.

The Commission has set the maximum grant for a single project to approximately £100,000 and three year projects in the region of £250,000, but there would be some flexibility in the amount spent each year of a three year project. JOAC will review these limits on an annual basis.

Giving a hand up and not a hand out is a vital ingredient for the Commission to achieve its purpose.

For further information please download our Explanatory Booklet below.