New Training Modules Deliver the Tools to Work with USAID

USAID is committed to expanding its work with new partners—partners whose fresh ideas, perspectives, and expertise can unlock solutions to intractable development challenges. To help prospective partners understand how to work with USAID, the Agency has developed a wealth of tools, resources, and training. A recently completed series of 13 training modules—the “How to Work with USAID” training series at USAID.gov—aims to be an easy-to-digest resource for new partners. 

“Newer and smaller organizations have been searching, sometimes blindly, for information on funding and other resources,” said Donna Vincent Roa, USAID’s Partnership Incubator’s Project Director. “We want to make it easy to find the information that these and other organizations need.” 

The training module series is part of a larger effort centered around WorkwithUSAID.org, a free, USAID-funded resource hub that serves as a one-stop shop for partners to understand their organizational capacity, fill gaps in their knowledge, and connect with USAID and other counterparts. 

No matter where you are on your partnership journey, there are modules to help your organization learn and grow.

Learn the basics:

• Understanding USAID Awards, 
• Exploring USAID Funding Opportunities, and
• Effectively Responding to USAID Award Solicitations.

Get ready to apply for funding:

• Registering to Work with USAID, 
• Building Strong Sub-Partnerships, 
• Preparing Budgets for USAID Assistance Awards, 
• Preparing Budgets for USAID Acquisition Solicitations, and
• Preparing for the Non-U.S. Organization Pre-Award Survey.

After receiving an award:

• Preparing for Your USAID Post-Award Orientation Conference, 
• Branding and Marking, 
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, 
• Preparing Progress Reports, and 
• Financial Reporting.

Within the training modules, partners will find presentations, transcripts, quick reference guides, templates, and other resources curated by experts from USAID’s Partnerships Incubator. These straightforward guides answer the questions that USAID consistently heard from partners seeking to work with the Agency. 

“Anyone using our training series can quickly find and share the information they need to strengthen their knowledge base and positively influence their organization’s practices,” said Vincent Roa. 

Partners who have used previous Agency modules will find these new and updated resources much easier to access. “These refreshed training modules are taking a ‘you’ approach: Here’s what’s important for you to know,” said Vincent Roa. “It has gone from rules and regulations to focus on relationships and practical advice on how you can prepare yourself to be able to interact and speak confidently with USAID.”

Vincent Roa recommends that both prospective and experienced partners take the Pre-Engagement Assessment on WorkwithUSAID.org to privately assess their organizational health, including their programming, compliance, human resources, program management, and budget and finance systems. Once the assessment is completed, the subsequent guidance report will point partners to relevant training modules on the USAID.gov site to help fill any capacity gaps that may exist.

“These resources will be beneficial to a partner that is completely new, a partner that needs a refresh, and even an experienced partner that wants confirmation they are on the right track,” said Vincent Roa.