Eurasia FLEX Alumni Global Youth Service Day Matching Grants Program

2012 Global Youth Service Day

FLEX Alumni Matching Grants Initiative

Annually American Councils for International Education holds the Global Youth Service Day FLEX Alumni Matching Grants Initiative, which is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State.

Groups of alumni of the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine, are invited to apply for matching funds in the amount of up to $500 to implement local community service projects as part of the Global Youth Service Day initiative, April 20-22, 2012. Alumni teams should cooperate to submit proposals.  While it is possible that more than one proposal will be funded from one of the American Councils’ administrative regions (hubs), awards will be made to encourage geographic diversity. By offering a matching grant, ECA will leverage additional funds for GYSD.  In order to receive this grant, alumni must conduct local fundraising efforts to secure contributions from other donors.  Those funds must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual international event that

(1) mobilizes youth and adults to identify and address the needs of their communities through service;

(2) recruits the next generation of volunteers;

(3) educates the public about the role of young people as community leaders by highlighting the contributions they make to their communities year-round.

To learn more about Global Youth Service Day, go to http://www.gysd.org.

Alumni are again encouraged to conduct GYSD activities. This global action is an excellent opportunity to promote the FLEX alumni program locally and to cooperate with other groups and individuals who want to improve their communities.  Not all people participating in the group must be FLEX alumni, but a project administrator who is a FLEX alumnus/a must be designated as the recipient and project leader. For more details, contact Brooke at the FLEX Eurasia Alumni Office at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

GYSD Timeline:

Applications Available – January 1, 2012

Applications Due – February 28, 2012

Notification – March 15, 2012

Funds Transferred – Early April  2012

Reports Submitted May 31, 2012.

Please note that these grants are not intended to fund purchases of computer equipment, Internet access, any salaries, and political activities working for or against any specific candidates.

In order to participate in this program, alumni must

(1) be successful participants of the FLEX program;

(2) be in compliance with the two-year home residency requirement following the program;

(3) update their information in the alumni database, which may be done at any American Councils office or electronically;

(4) currently reside in one of the countries in which the FLEX program is administered. Alumni working as employees of American Councils or U.S. the government are not eligible to be project leaders.

Financial Terms of the Grants: Grant funds will be transferred to the grantee’s USD account. In some countries funds may be disbursed through local American Councils offices. (Please note that fund disbursal can not be made through American Councils offices in Russia, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan).

Recipient Responsibilities: Grant recipients must submit final finance (including receipts for expenses) and activity reports to American Councils. All final reports must be submitted no later than May 31, 2012. Any materials published through projects funded by the GYSD Matching Grants Initiative must be included in the final report and should carry an acknowledgment as follows:

Support for this project was provided in part by the FLEX Global Youth Service Day Grants Initiative, which is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State (ECA) and administered by the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. The opinions expressed herein are the author’s own and do not necessarily express the views of either ECA or the American Councils for International Education.

Failure to follow these regulations may result in a request to the grantee to return grant funds or disqualification from receiving U.S. Government-sponsored grants in the future.

In order to demonstrate that alumni have secured cost sharing from other organizations, alumni must submit letters of support, which specify what kind of support is being offered and the monetary value of that support.  Please send an English language translation of the letter along with the faxed or scanned copy of the letter. Only those projects, which have secured outside funding, will be considered for matching grants. Applicants should not submit letters of support for their own projects.  Applicants may use the budget table provided in the application or attach a budget on a separate page, as long as it provides the same information.  Categories and items are provided for convenience. Applicants may disregard categories or items that do not apply to their proposed activity.  Applicants may also add items as necessary. The FLEX GYSD Grants Initiative will not cover any salaries. Alumni and partners are expected to volunteer their time as cost sharing.

Apply online at ais.americancouncils.org or contact your GYSD Assistant at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details about the GYSD matching grants program.

* It's possible to apply for FLEX alumni grants program AND GYSD grants simultaneously!