U.S. Embassy Philippines PAS Small Grants FY2020 | 20 PHL APS

Opportunity Information: Apply for 20 PHL APS

The U.S. Embassy Philippines Public Affairs Section (PAS), under the U.S. Department of State, offered the PAS Small Grants Program for Fiscal Year 2020 as a public diplomacy funding opportunity aimed at supporting projects that advance U.S. public diplomacy goals in the Philippines. The program was structured to accept proposals on a rolling basis throughout calendar year 2020, with applications reviewed on a quarterly schedule rather than all at once. In practical terms, this meant organizations and individuals could submit proposals during the year, and the embassy would periodically batch and evaluate submissions according to the quarterly review cycle.

This opportunity was listed as a discretionary grant program (Funding Opportunity Number: 20 PHL APS) and fell under CFDA 19.040, which generally covers public diplomacy programs. While the listing does not spell out specific thematic priorities in the excerpt provided, the naming and managing office make clear that funded activities were intended to contribute to public diplomacy outcomes, such as strengthening mutual understanding, supporting constructive engagement between U.S. and Philippine communities, and advancing embassy public affairs objectives through programs, outreach, and related initiatives. The award ceiling indicated in the opportunity information was $50,000, signaling that proposals were expected to be small to mid-sized projects rather than large multi-year initiatives.

Eligibility was broad but still limited to appropriate applicants. The opportunity explicitly noted that individuals and registered not-for-profit entities could apply, including think tanks and civil society or non-governmental organizations. In other words, it was designed to be accessible to a range of credible implementers who could deliver programming aligned with PAS goals, not just large institutions. The posting identifies the sponsoring agency as the U.S. Mission to the Philippines, emphasizing that this is an embassy-managed public diplomacy competition rather than a centralized Washington-based grant competition.

A key part of the announcement was procedural: applicants were directed to the "Related Documents" section for the full program announcement and the mandatory application forms. The embassy emphasized that the full announcement document (file named "20-PHL-APS") should be read first because it contains the complete rules, required content, and submission instructions. Beyond the narrative guidance in the full announcement, a complete application package required standard U.S. government assistance forms: SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance), SF-424A (Budget Information), and SF-424B (Assurances). The listing also referenced supplemental templates to help applicants provide a more complete and consistent submission, including a detailed budget worksheet that supplements SF-424A and a project narrative supplement tied to SF-424. Taken together, those documents indicate that applicants needed to submit both programmatic information (what they plan to do, why it matters, who will benefit, how success will be measured) and financial information (how funds will be spent, with sufficient detail to assess allowability and reasonableness).

The timeline information in the source data shows an original closing date of December 31, 2020, which functioned as the endpoint for accepting proposals under this FY2020 posting. The opportunity was created on January 9, 2020, reinforcing that it was intended to be open across the year with periodic review. Although the excerpt does not specify the anticipated number of awards (the field is left blank), the quarterly review setup suggests that multiple awards could be made over the course of the year depending on funding availability and the quality of submissions.

In summary, PAS Small Grants FY2020 was a U.S. Embassy Manila public diplomacy small grants competition, open through the end of 2020, with proposals reviewed quarterly and an upper funding limit of $50,000 per award. It targeted individuals and nonprofit organizations such as NGOs and think tanks, and it required applicants to follow the full announcement closely and submit the standard SF-424 series forms along with embassy-provided narrative and budget supplements to be considered complete.

• The U.S. Mission to the Philippines in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "U.S. Embassy Philippines PAS Small Grants FY2020" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-01-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-12-31. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 20 PHL APS

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: