USAID's top grant implementers for 2014

Amid budget pressures in Washington, the value of U.S. Agency for International Development contracts and grants combined has plummeted 8 percent over the past five years — from $14.6 billion in fiscal year 2010 to $13.5 billion in fiscal 2014. Strikingly, however, USAID grant spending has actually risen over that period, albeit not nearly enough to make up for the steep drop in contract spending. In fiscal 2014, USAID awarded $9.7 billion in grants, a 7 percent jump from fiscal 2010. USAID grant spending has routinely outpaced its contract spending since fiscal 2007, and that was decidedly more the case in fiscal 2014. That year, USAID awarded more than $2.50 in grant spending for every dollar in contract spending. USAID’s push to meet its 30 percent local spending target this year seems to be a major driver of the agency’s increasing use of grants, which are seen as generally more manageable for local nongovernmental organizations. USAID officials emphasize, however, that its missions around the world retain the flexibility to determine whether a contract or a grant is the most appropriate mechanism for an award. “[Local] partnerships should be the result of strategic planning, project design, identification of a development objective and a determination of which modality among several — contracts and grants to U.S. or international organizations included — are the best fit for the project design and to achieve the development objective,” outgoing USAID administrator Rajiv Shah said in an April 2013 statement. In fiscal 2014, USAID awarded 17 percent of its grant spending to groups based outside the United States, up from 14 percent in fiscal 2012. By comparison, firms based outside the United States claimed only 6 percent of USAID contract spending in fiscal 2014. Below, Devex ranks the top 20 USAID grant implementers, based on obligation data from USASpending.gov, for fiscal 2014. For the purposes of this ranking, we have deliberately excluded multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the World Food Program; the two would be the largest USAID grantees if included. Each of the top 20 USAID grant implementers are based in the United States. Although there are more non-U.S. groups on the list of grant awardees, they tended to win smaller grant amounts. In case you missed it, we also ranked USAID’s top contractors earlier this month. 1. FHI 360 Founded: 1971 Headquarters: Durham, North Carolina, United States CEO: Patrick Fine Obligated USAID grant funding: $343.2 million Drawing on a wide range of expertise in human development, FHI 360 provides behavior change communication, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, research, social marketing and other services in more than 70 countries. In May 2014, Patrick Fine succeeded longtime CEO Albert Siemens at the helm of FHI 360, which was known as Family Health International or FHI until its 2011 acquisition of AED. 2. Jhpiego Founded: 1973 Headquarters: Baltimore, Maryland, United States President and CEO: Leslie Mancuso Obligated USAID grant funding: $201.5 million Currently active in at least 40 countries, Jhpiego’s more than 1,600 employees work in areas including maternal, newborn and child health; family planning and reproductive health; HIV and AIDS prevention and care; infection prevention and control; malaria prevention and treatment; urban health and communities; and education and training. Jhpiego’s parent organization, Johns Hopkins University, is ranked ninth on this list. 3. Management Sciences for Health Founded: 1971 Headquarters: Medford, Massachusetts, United States President and CEO: Jonathan Quick Obligated USAID grant funding: $199.6 million Operating out of offices in 32 countries, Management Sciences for Health specializes in the areas of health leadership, health systems management, health service delivery, human resources and medicines. In addition to its four practice areas of advocacy, capacity-building, evidence and innovation, MSH also works on special initiatives in gender and universal health coverage. 4. Catholic Relief Services Founded: 1943 Headquarters: Baltimore, Maryland, United States President and CEO: Carolyn Woo Obligated USAID grant funding: $173.4 million The official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community, Catholic Relief Services focuses its work on six areas: emergencies, hunger, education, health, peace-building and U.S. advocacy. Staffed by approximately 5,000 employees worldwide, CRS is currently active in 93 countries. 5. Mercy Corps Founded: 1979 Headquarters: Portland, Oregon, United States CEO: Neal Keny-Guyer Obligated USAID grant funding: $134.5 million Currently working in more than 40 countries, Mercy Corps’ 4,000-strong global team has a wide range of expertise, including in agriculture and food, conflict management, disaster preparedness, economic opportunity, education, emergency response, environment, health, water, and women and gender. 6. Save the Children USA Founded: 1932 Headquarters: Fairfield, Connecticut, United States President and CEO: Carolyn Miles Obligated USAID grant funding: $115.5 million One of 30 member organizations of Save the Children International, Save the Children USA has eight program areas: U.S. programs, education, emergency response, health and nutrition, HIV and AIDS, hunger and livelihoods, U.S. disaster response, and child protection. Save the Children International’s programming reaches 120 countries worldwide. 7. Abt Associates Founded: 1965 Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States President and CEO: Kathleen Flanagan Obligated USAID grant funding: $102.9 million With a presence in nearly 40 countries and more than 2,700 employees, Abt Associates works in practice areas, including in education, environment and climate change, food security and agriculture, and international health. In 2013, Abt Associates acquired Brisbane-based global health and social sector consulting firm JTA International, now called Abt JTA. Abt Associates is the only organization to be among the 10 top USAID grantees and contractors in 2014. 8. University Research Co. Founded: 1965 Headquarters: Bethesda, Maryland, United States President: Barbara Turner Obligated USAID grant funding: $101 million Staffed by more than 900 employees, University Research Co. provides technical assistance services across five areas in global health: maternal, newborn, and child health; infectious diseases; reproductive health and family planning; food and nutrition; and vulnerable children and families. Together with its nonprofit affiliate, the Center for Human Services, URC has a presence in 45 countries. 9. Johns Hopkins University Founded: 1876 Headquarters: Baltimore, Maryland, United States President: Ronald Daniels Obligated USAID grant funding: $99.3 million Johns Hopkins University, a leading U.S. private research university, receives virtually all its USAID grant funding to support U.S. global health programs worldwide, including the Uganda Stop Malaria Project and the Capacity and Communications Project In Tanzania. JHU affiliate Jhpiego is ranked second on this list. 10. JSI Research and Training Institute Founded: 1978 Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, United States President: Joel Lamstein Obligated USAID grant funding: $92.7 million The JSI Research and Training Institute is the nonprofit affiliate of John Snow Inc., a public health research and consulting firm that has more than a dozen areas of technical expertise in international health, including child and newborn health, health service delivery, HIV, infectious diseases, noncommunicable diseases, and nutrition. John Snow Inc. was ranked third among the top USAID contractors in 2014. 11. PSI Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $91 million 12. RTI International Headquarters: Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $89.1 million 13. ACDI/VOCA Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $84.8 million 14. Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening Obligated USAID grant funding: $83.5 million 15. Counterpart International Headquarters: Arlington, Virginia, United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $75.5 million 16. Global Communities Headquarters: Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $70.1 million 17. Pact Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $69.9 million 18. World Vision Headquarters: Federal Way, Washington, United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $69.6 million 19. International Rescue Committee Headquarters: New York, New York, United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $64.4 million 20. Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund Headquarters: New York, New York, United States Obligated USAID grant funding: $60 million Check out more practical business and development advice online, and subscribe to Money Matters to receive the latest contract award and shortlist announcements, and procurement and fundraising news.