Event Support for 2027 Multilateral Action on Sensitive Technologies (MAST) Plenary

The Event Support for 2027 Multilateral Action on Sensitive Technologies (MAST) Plenary funding opportunity is offered by the U.S. Department of State through the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Office of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (ACN/NDF). The funding opportunity number is DFOP0018232 and the assistance listing number is 19.224. This opportunity is issued as a cooperative agreement under a discretionary funding category focused on science and technology and related research and development activities. ACN/NDF develops and executes projects that support United States government disarmament and proliferation threat reduction priorities. The office works to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, missiles, and destabilizing conventional weapons, while supporting multilateral and bilateral efforts to secure, remove, or destroy dangerous weapons systems and related technologies. The funding announcement specifically supports logistical and operational planning for the 2027 MAST Plenary event to be hosted at the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, D.C. The MAST initiative serves as a coordinating forum among key foreign partner countries that produce and supply sensitive technologies. The forum is intended to develop procedures, tools, and collaborative approaches that safeguard technologies that could contribute to weapons of mass destruction capabilities from diversion, misuse, or exploitation. The successful applicant will assist State Department offices with planning and executing multiple events associated with the 2027 MAST Plenary. Required responsibilities include event management, attendee coordination, speaker support, catering and vendor coordination, security coordination, transportation support if needed, event registration management, production oversight, and post-event reporting. The selected organization will also facilitate communication among stakeholders and assist with the preparation of presentations, invitations, and participant materials. The Department expects the award recipient to coordinate closely with designated State Department points of contact throughout the planning and implementation process. The funding opportunity anticipates a single award with an estimated total program funding amount of $175,000 and an award ceiling of $175,000. The maximum period of performance is ten months. Cost sharing or matching is not required for eligibility or competitiveness under this opportunity, although applicants may voluntarily contribute cost share if desired. Funding may not be used for alcoholic beverages, and several federal funding restrictions apply, including prohibitions related to support for mass migration caravans, funding transfers to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and use of prohibited foreign-manufactured unmanned aircraft systems. Applicants must also comply with federal anti-discrimination laws, trafficking in persons requirements, and federal assistance regulations contained in 2 CFR Parts 25, 170, 175, 182, 183, 200, and 600. The Department reserves the right to negotiate budgets and technical aspects of proposals and may make an award based on the initial application submission without discussions. Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, including organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code. Foreign nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, and public international organizations are not listed as eligible applicants under this announcement. Applicants must maintain an active SAM.gov registration and possess a Unique Entity Identifier. Organizations with exclusions in SAM.gov or outstanding federal debt are not eligible. One important operational consideration is that the successful applicant must be capable of obtaining State Department escort badges for at least ten staff members, which requires at minimum a Public Trust clearance under State Department policy. Proposals from organizations that already employ appropriately cleared staff may receive favorable consideration during the review process. Applications must be submitted electronically through MyGrants no later than 11:59 PM Eastern Time on July 1, 2026. Faxed, couriered, or emailed applications will not be accepted except for eligible U.S. federal government entities. The application package requires six major components: SF-424 and SF-424A forms, a project proposal narrative of no more than four pages, a detailed line-item budget, a budget narrative, resumes or position descriptions for key personnel, and a monitoring and evaluation section of no more than two pages excluding tracking templates. The project proposal narrative must include a proposal summary, organizational background, problem statement, program goals and objectives, activity descriptions, implementation methods, timeline, partner information if applicable, and sustainability planning. Budget narratives must explain the basis for all calculations and demonstrate compliance with federal cost principles and travel regulations. Monitoring and evaluation submissions must describe performance indicators, data collection approaches, monitoring methods, and outcome tracking plans aligned with Department of State guidance. Applications will first undergo a technical eligibility review to verify that applicants meet all submission and eligibility requirements. Eligible applications will then advance to a merit review panel composed of subject matter and regional experts. Evaluation criteria include the quality and responsiveness of proposed activities, organizational capability and experience, realism and allowability of the budget, and past performance on previous federal or non-federal awards. The Department may request clarifications or revisions during review but also reserves the right to issue an award without negotiations. The award recipient will be required to submit quarterly financial and narrative reports, upload reports into MyGrants, and provide a final financial and progress report within 120 days after the award period ends. Additional requirements include participation in a project implementation kickoff meeting within 30 days of award and submission of a detailed project work plan aligned with project management best practices. Questions regarding the funding opportunity may be directed to the ACN/NDF Grants Mailbox at acn-ndf-grants@state.gov.

Demonstrate strong event management capability for high-level international government meetings; provide realistic and well-justified budgeting; emphasize prior federal grant performance and logistics experience; highlight staff capable of meeting State Department escort clearance requirements; clearly align activities with MAST plenary operational objectives