Community support

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Last modified: 12 June 2024

What is the TDWG Community Support Fund?

TDWG Interest (IG) and Task (TG) Groups undertake the core business of our organization: developing and maintaining standards and guidelines that facilitate the integration of biodiversity information. TDWG is committed to supporting its Interest and Task Groups by contributing to the costs of conducting working meetings. Support is provided through a fund dedicated to this purpose, the TDWG Community Support Fund (CSF). The size of the Fund is adjusted yearly by decision of the TDWG Executive Committee.

What does the TDWG CSF cover?

  1. Travel and subsistence support for participation in IG/TG working meetings.
  2. Costs directly related to the organization of IG/TG working meetings, including venue hire.
  3. Costs related to the dissemination of the workshop/meeting results and engagement of stakeholders.

Who can apply?

TDWG IG/TG conveners may apply for funds to (co-)organize IG/TG working meetings.

Please be aware that proposals from Groups that have a current annual report will be given preference. A guide to reporting and a template for IG/TG annual reports (as GoogleDoc or in Markdown). See Responsibilities of conveners for a more comprehensive enumeration of responsibilities.

Call frequency

Provided that sufficient resources are available, a call for applications will be announced once every calendar year.

Evaluation criteria

  1. Previous activity of the Group, proven through annual reports submitted to the TDWG Executive Committee or other public reports and products (not applicable to new Groups*)
  2. Overall impact, timeliness and cost efficiency
  3. Inclusiveness of the participation model (e.g., percentage of new members participating and geographic coverage)
  4. Expected progress on development of new or revision of current TDWG standards
  5. Availability of matching funds from other sources (as percentage of total costs)

* New Groups are those established (first charter approved) within the the last year (i.e., less than 365 days before the application deadline).

Additional information and restrictions

The maximum amount of funds awarded per proposal is USD $5,000.

Following successful completion of TDWG CSF-supported working meetings, the Convener must report to the TDWG Executive Committee key outputs and action items. Reports must be submitted within 30 days after the event date.

Review and notification

Applications received by the deadline will be reviewed by TDWG Executive Committee and evaluated against the criteria above. Following the completion of the review, applicants will be notified of their scores and the Committee’s decision. Successful proposals will be communicated to the TDWG membership and posted on the TDWG website.

Application form

Application forms will be available online at URLs provided in the announcement of each call.

Funding mechanism

Proposals must include an estimated budget. Following an award, the budget will be finalized by agreement with the TDWG Treasurer. Generally, funds will be disbursed to participants as reimbursement of expenses incurred. Receipts and/or reimbursement forms must be submitted to the TDWG Treasurer within 30 days of the event. By prior arrangement, vendors may submit invoices directly to the Treasurer.