If BERI does not feel that a strong effort was made to complete the project, and the learnings from failure were not particularly valuable, BERI may require that the grant funding be returned.
Is there a way to provide regular (e.g. monthly) check-ins and assurances that sufficient effort/learning is being made? I suspect that a lot of the value of the program will come from increasing individuals’ financial security to such an extent that they feel able to take on valuable projects, but a disproportionate amount of that value is lost if individuals think there’s a non-negligible chance that in, say, 6 or 12 months they’ll have to return the funding.
Thanks for the question! A few thoughts in response:
First, we think the likelihood that we have to ask a grantee to return their funding is quite low. BERI will aim to choose candidates with integrity who will make a good faith attempt at completing their proposed project. We expect several of the projects we fund will fail, and that’s OK—we suspect the learnings from these failures will still be sufficiently valuable to justify the expense to BERI.
Second, we’d be happy to make arrangements with any grantees who were particularly nervous about this aspect of our program. Monthly or quarterly check-ins could be one such arrangement; clear, upfront agreements about what would count as “a strong effort” to complete a project could be another. We’re open to other proposals from grantees too.
So awesome to see something in this space!
However,
Is there a way to provide regular (e.g. monthly) check-ins and assurances that sufficient effort/learning is being made? I suspect that a lot of the value of the program will come from increasing individuals’ financial security to such an extent that they feel able to take on valuable projects, but a disproportionate amount of that value is lost if individuals think there’s a non-negligible chance that in, say, 6 or 12 months they’ll have to return the funding.
Thanks for the question! A few thoughts in response:
First, we think the likelihood that we have to ask a grantee to return their funding is quite low. BERI will aim to choose candidates with integrity who will make a good faith attempt at completing their proposed project. We expect several of the projects we fund will fail, and that’s OK—we suspect the learnings from these failures will still be sufficiently valuable to justify the expense to BERI.
Second, we’d be happy to make arrangements with any grantees who were particularly nervous about this aspect of our program. Monthly or quarterly check-ins could be one such arrangement; clear, upfront agreements about what would count as “a strong effort” to complete a project could be another. We’re open to other proposals from grantees too.