You never know where the next great idea will come from. That’s why USAID welcomes unsolicited contract proposals and assistance applications for consideration. We do review every submission, but can only approve only a small number, so please read this guidance carefully.

Introduction

Unsolicited proposals and applications provide a pathway for organizations to submit unique, innovative, or proprietary approaches for solutions to development and humanitarian challenges. USAID reviews unsolicited proposals and applications to determine whether funding submissions is in the best interest of the Agency and consistent with USAID’s development objectives.

Unsolicited proposals and applications can be received by USAID on a continuous basis for review; however, only in highly exceptional cases are these likely to be approved for funding. Generally, funding for USAID programs is concentrated and focused on clear objectives within program priorities and funding for unsolicited submissions is limited.

USAID encourages those considering submitting unsolicited proposals and applications to first review USAID competitive announcements published on SAM.gov and Grants.gov and review the Agency’s Business Forecast, Funding Feed, and Sub-Opportunities portal to learn more about different funding pathways. The Agency also provides its Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCSs) to help potential partners understand the high-level goals that each Mission will work to address during a strategy period.

How to Apply

USAID accepts unsolicited submissions on a rolling basis in the Unsolicited Submissions portal on WorkwithUSAID.gov. Before submitting information to USAID, we encourage you to review the step-by-step guide that is available here as well as our downloadable and fillable checklist of information needed for a submission. When you’re ready to submit an opportunity, log in to your account or sign up for the WorkwithUSAID.gov Partner Directory. Creating an account will allow for quicker processing. If you are already registered, please log in to your WorkwithUSAID.gov account. A list of frequently asked questions about Unsolicited Submissions is also available on WorkwithUSAID.gov.

At this time, USAID is only accepting submissions in English.