FAQs

What is a Staying Alive Award?

A Staying Alive Awards comes with a financial grant, Staying Alive materials (including MTV Staying Alive programming and teaching kits), a small fund to buy technical media equipment, a local mentor, a personal grant manager as well as training and development.

What kind of organizations can apply to the Staying Alive Foundation (SAF)?

The SAF supports youth-led organisations (lead by young people between the ages of 15 and 27) that work in the field of HIV prevention. If you apply as an individual, you should have the support of an associate organisation as we will not deposit funds into an individualís account. If you apply as an organisation, the project that you seek to get funds for should be managed by a young person who is not older than 27 years old and the organisation has to be youth-led in general.

We seek to support organisations that are start-ups and do not have much support, financial or otherwise. We are much more likely to fund an organisation that has little or no existing funding to date, rather than those who already have several funders on board.

How does the application process work?

As of 2010, the application process works in 2 stages. The first stage is a short online form that you should fill in and send back to the Staying Alive Foundation. We will aim to get back to you within a week of receiving the form to let you know whether you have been accepted to the second stage which involves filling in a longer form with more details about your organisation and the project that you are asking funding for

Which geographical area does the SAF support projects in?

We support and encourage projects from anywhere in the world.

How much should we apply for?

It varies from project to project. The maximum you can apply for is a grant of US$12,000.

How many applications can we make?

You can make as many applications as you want. However, you can only make one application per funding round. The Staying Alive Foundation receives many more applications than it can fund and has strict criteria for selection.

What is the timeline of the Award?

Awards are given out on December 1st 2010 for projects that start in January 2011.

Do you provide Awards for more than one year?

Our awards are given out on a one-year basis, but we encourage our Grantees to reapply before the end of their original grant. If you are interested in reapplying for a grant, please talk directly with your Grant Manager, who will be able to guide you.  Please note that while we do encourage reapplication, it is not guaranteed that the Foundation will renew every grant.

How many Awards do you give out each year?

In 2010 we will give out between 35 and 40 awards every round. This current round is the second round.

We need to buy equipment to carry out our project. What is your policy on this?

We can support the purchase of equipment if it is an essential part of the project that you propose. However, please ensure that the capital costs make up a relatively small portion of your budget.

Can we include overhead costs in our budget?

You can include justifiable overhead costs in your overall budget; however, we will not always consider projects where the overhead costs are more then 25% of the total budget.

Can we submit a proposal that does not follow the format of the application form?

No. The application process and forms have been designed to generate information that is required by the Staying Alive Foundation.

What is the application deadline?

The deadline for the online application form is August 23rd 2010. If you are invited to the second round of the application stage, we will inform you of a further deadline.

How will I know that my application has been received?

We will inform all applicants upon receipt of your proposal by sending you an e-mail that will include a unique reference number. Please note that this can sometimes take several days due to the amount of applications that we receive.

When will I know whether my proposal has been successful?

All applicants will be informed by November 31st and we will announce the winners on December 1st 2010. If your application is successful, we will send you a Letter of Agreement (LOA) that you will have to fill in and sign, agreeing to the Foundationís terms and conditions.

When will we receive the funding?

Your grant will be paid into your account in two instalments. The first instalment (50% of the overall annual grant) will be made as soon as we receive your signed Letter of Agreement. The second instalment is paid six months after the first, and only released upon receipt of a satisfactory mid-term report.

What are the monitoring and evaluation requirements for organisations that receive a grant?

You will be required to submit two reports per year, one after six months and one at the end of the project.
Your SAF Grant Manager will be able to discuss the requirements with you in detail, once you have been approved for a grant.

How often does SAF put out request for proposals? How can I hear about them in advance?

We put out request for proposals 2 times every year. The first one is in February for Awards given out in June and the second one in July for Awards given out on 1st December. You can hear about these in advance if you send us an e-mail:
foundation@staying-alive.org with as subject header: sign up for SAF mailing list.

How do I communicate with SAF once I have received my Award?

Once you receive an award, you SAF will assign you a personal Grant Manager. This person will be your point of communication at the Foundation. She or he will be in contact with you very regularly by phone and e-mail to give you advice and answer any of your questions. In addition, you are expected to give regular updates of your activities to your Grant Manager.

How and why is MTV involved in the Staying Alive Foundation?

In 1998, MTV launched the Staying Alive campaign, which is today the world's largest, youth focused, HIV & AIDS prevention mass media campaign. Following the success of the campaign, the Staying Alive Foundation was launched in 2004 by MTV as a public charity to support young people engaged in grassroots HIV and AIDS prevention projects to take forward and expand the work of the Staying Alive campaign. Even though SAF is an independent charity, MTV hosts and supports SAF in a variety of ways. The SAF board includes several MTV employees, including the chair of the board.

If you still have any questions or doubts, please do not hesitate to e-mail us at foundation@staying-alive.org and we will try to reply to you as soon as possible.