How to land a USAID contract: Advice from a former contracting officer

On Tuesday, Chuck Pope — a former contracting officer with a 20-year career at the U.S. Agency for International Development — was asked what’s needed to win a grant from USAID. His answer? Partner, partner, partner, Pope said — and compliance, compliance, compliance. “If you look at what the big players are doing, they’re all JVing up, joint venturing up,” said Pope, who retired from USAID in April 2022 and now runs his own consulting company, Pope International. “Everybody is teaming up, and everybody is acquiring somebody. There’s a reason why that is being done.” The need to partner is especially acute for smaller organizations, Pope said, including those who haven’t yet met with USAID at the mission level. By syncing up with those who already know the agency, organizations can expand their footprint while making their own case stronger. Teaming up could also help strengthen an application’s compliance — something that Pope stressed is critical to receiving a grant from USAID. “If you’re an [agreement or contracting officer] and you’ve got 20 applications, and five of them are compliant, are you going to spend any time trying to help them get compliant? No,” Pope told a virtual audience at Tuesday’s Devex Pro event. “If your application or proposal is not compliant, that’s grounds to not move forward [with your organization].” USAID only issues awards to what the agency calls “presently responsible” organizations, according to a set of guidelines published by the agency’s New Partnerships Initiative. That means organizations that have the internal controls to safely, responsibly manage U.S. funds, and those that can be trusted to follow the laws, regulations, and conditions of an award. That starts by following even the most basic of rules, Pope said: If a contracting officer receives a 30-page proposal when the limit was 25, that might result in the proposal being tossed out entirely. For years, USAID’s contracting officers have struggled under a stretched workforce, Pope said, a situation that’s left little time for correcting applicants’ errors. “Saying ‘I didn’t know’ does not absolve you of any issues,” Pope said. “You have to have a great compliance person.” Implications of the upcoming election on USAID With the U.S. election inching closer every day, Pope also answered questions on what the future holds for USAID. In November, Americans will head to the polls to elect the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, or the Republican candidate, Donald Trump — and regardless of who wins, there will be changes at USAID. “Foreign assistance is one of those things that, in an election year, is easy to beat up on. But once somebody gets into the White House, they figure out the powerful levers that foreign assistance does have.” --— Chuck Pope, former USAID contracting officer For one, Pope said he expects Samantha Power, the agency’s administrator, to step down once the new administration steps in. “Being a political appointee is a sprint. It can be hard on people's families, and it can be hard on people’s personal lives,” Pope said. “Be it Samantha Power or be it [former Administrator] Mark Green, the stamina needed to be an administrator for USAID takes a toll.” There also may be changes to the agency based on where the world goes next year, Pope explained. Most of the agency’s priorities are dictated by the U.S. Congress, Pope said, along with those of the president and his or her political appointees. “If I were to predict USAID’s upcoming priorities, and future priorities, they’re always going to have the backdrop of the great game that’s going on,” Pope explained. “What are the Chinese doing? What are the Russians doing? What are the North Koreans doing? What are the Iranians doing? How are we going to respond, and how are we going to respond with our allies using the soft power of USAID?” There also will be things that Pope said are unlikely to change after the election — the importance of localization, for one, and the role of the agency itself, for another. USAID’s efforts to fund and empower more local organizations have been maintained over both Republican and Democratic administrations, Pope said, pointing to Power’s 25% by 2025 localization target and Green’s Journey to Self-Reliance. As the agency continues to push toward localization, Pope warned that it will also need to continue battling against an ongoing challenge: the staffing shortage that’s plagued the agency for years. Though USAID is trying to fill those gaps, Pope doubted that the problem would be solved by the end of this year. That complicates localization, an approach that requires delivering many smaller awards to many smaller agencies. “I love [US]AID and I love all my old colleagues, but [US]AID does not have the capacity to build their own capacity — let alone [do] the hand holding necessary [to help] a local partner,” he said. Pope also said that despite fears that a Trump administration could lead to a disintegrating USAID, the agency wasn’t going anywhere. “Foreign assistance is one of those things that, in an election year, is easy to beat up on,” Pope said. “But once somebody gets into the White House, they figure out the powerful levers that foreign assistance does have.” “Most people agree it’s far cheaper to prevent failed states, and prevent these issues before they happen, rather than trying to fix them after and put boots on the ground,” he added.