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Guidelines for ICFC project agents

Project Agreements
Payments
Flexibility in Work Plan
Progress and Final Reports
Project Budgets with multiple funders
Expense Reports
Email communications
Acknowledgment

Overview

ICFC partners with other NGOs and individuals in carrying out its international conservation work.

This relationship is not one of a donor or granting organization and recipient group. ICFC is involved in planning, managing and overseeing each project in proportion to our financial contribution to the project relative to that of other funders.

Project Agreements

Project agreements between ICFC and our "Agents" (local partners who carry out the work) include the following components:

1. Goal and objectives
2. Schedule of reporting (progress reports; final report)
3. Schedule of payments (to coincide with reporting schedule)
4. Background
5. Information on project staff
6. Work Plan, including time frame for various components
7. Budget

The schedule of reports and payments will generally be semi-annual or quarterly.

Payments

We will notify you when we are about to send a wire payment to you and afterward we will email to you documentation of the wire transfer for your files.

Unless otherwise specified, payment will arrive in your national currency.

Recipients in Brazil must be able to submit the necessary paperwork to your local bank branch within two days of our initiating a wire transfer of funds from Canada. We will therefore confer with you about the timing of wire transfers. Your bank should be aware that the funds will arrive in Brazilian real and should be left in that currency.

Flexibility in Work Plan

During the course of a project, priorities can shift or the situation can change in regard to carrying out planned activities. ICFC's policy is to remain flexible and adjust work plans as needed to best achieve the project goal. Such changes must be discussed between the agent and ICFC. Please inform ICFC promptly of any developments that make it necessary or desirable to significantly alter the work plan.

Please also advise ICFC of pending changes to personnel or budgeted expenses.

Progress and Final Reports

Progress reports are due by the date set out in the agency agreement, but they can be sent a week or two earlier, especially if prompt payment is desired on the scheduled cash transfer dates. They should be emailed to

Progress reports and final reports do not need to be long or take a lot of time to prepare. They should briefly outline:

• work completed
• work included in the workplan that was not completed and an explanation
• any unexpected complications, problems, or personnel changes that have a significant bearing on the project (unless already discussed)
• explanation for any large differences in expenses from original budget (unless already discussed)
• final reports should discuss the outcomes of the project: how the work completed has contributed to achieving project goals, along with any unexpected benefits or adverse outcomes.

Project budgets with multiple funders

When there are multiple funders, our policy is to specify on our website and in our publications the percentage of the total project support contributed by ICFC. Therefore, project budgets should be organized in columns for different funders so that we can see where our share is going in relation to the total project funding.

Expense reports

Key points:

• Expense information — how much was spent on what — should be emailed to Laurie at and copied to Tom at ).
• Please clearly indicate the time period covered at the top of all expense reports.
• Please give expenses for the period following your last expense report (rather than for the whole year, for example, when you submitted a report six months earlier).
• It is very helpful, but not required, if you use ICFC's expense categories (see below), plus any additional "other" categories that you like.

Also:

• Receipts should be available for us to view at our request.
• With the purchase of any equipment, vehicle, boat, building structure, etc. costing over US$500, please send a photographic image of the item with the expense report (or after purchase).

7051	Bank Fees
7071	Business Development, Hospitality (e.g. visiting officials & donors)
7081	Communications Equipment, Radios, GPS, etc.
7085	Utilities
7091	Consultants, Subcontractors
7101	Computer Expenses & Software
7111	Meetings & Related Materials
7115	Message promotion & Advertising
7121	Postage, Courier& Freight
7131	Staff Development & Training
7141	General Administration
7161	Insurance, Except Vehicle
7191	Legal/Accounting Expenses
7201	Maintenance/Field Station/Office
7211	Field Construction
7213	Special Village Projects/Enterprises
7221	General Field Supplies
7231	Surveillance and Boundary Enforcement Support
7241	Office Rent
7251	Office Supplies & Stationary
7261	Subscriptions/Licenses & Local Taxes
7271	Transportation & Air Taxi
7272	Field Lodging & Meals for Administrators
7273	Lodging & Meals
7281	Airfare to Field Projects
7283	Telephone & Internet
7289	Vehicle & Boat Fuel
7291	Vehicle Maintenance & Horses
7292	Field Vehicle for Administrators
7293	Boat Expenses
7295	Tools & Equipment
7297	Capital items, e.g. truck, boat, radios
7301	Salaries & Wages
7303	Employee Benefits

E-mail Communications

It is very helpful for email "Subject" headers to indicate clearly what the message is about. Examples: "comments on 2nd progress report"; "question on budget item".

Acknowledgment

ICFC and our Agent should each acknowledge the other in any publications or promotional materials concerning the project. This includes reports, magazine and newspaper articles, peer-reviewed journal publications, web pages, and press releases.