Steps for Business Forecast

Step 1: Agency Policies/Strategies -- USAID develops overarching 5-year Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). The CDCS is developed with substantial input from partner governments, industry, civil society, and development partners to understand challenges and resources available. These strategies highlight the Agency’s development objectives in each country.

Step 2: Program Design --  From Agency strategies, USAID designs programs to reach the goals and objectives outlined in the strategy. The program design includes market research on how to best implement our objectives and identifying whether or not an activity should come out as an acquisition (contract) or assistance (grant or cooperative agreement). Often during this phase a Request for Information (RFI) is made to help inform how the program could be implemented.

BUSINESS FORECAST -- During the program design phase, USAID pulls the Business Forecast. The Forecast is a snapshot of activities and programs that USAID is in the process of designing. Note that because these activities are in the design phase, information is subject to change

Step 3: Request for Proposals/Applications -- USAID posts opportunties on Fedbizops.gov (contracts) or Grants.gov (cooperatiave agreemetns and grants) for organizations to compete for funding. During this time, interested organizations submit proposals to USAID based on the criteria outlined in the Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Applications (RFA). 

Step 4: Evaluation of Proposals -- USAID reviews all of the proposals that were submitted. Evaluations are conducted based on the criteria outlined in the RFP or RFA. Most USAID proposals include the following evaluation criteria (Past Performance, Technical Approach, Personnel, Corporate Capability, and Management Plans).

Step 5: Award -- After reviewing all of the proposals, USAID selects an organization that is best able to meet the requirements outlined in the RFP or RFA.