We are currently preparing to launch a call for proposals for institutional grants. The call will be announced on 5 April, and will last until 31 May. Below you will find the most important criteria in the call which will help you prepare your organisation’s development strategy – the basic document to be assessed within the call.

What are institutional grants?

Institutional grants are funds that can be used to finance ongoing activities of the organisation (including those that support its capacity building). Activities must result from the submitted strategy / development plan of the organisation as well as monitoring and evaluation plan.

The scope of activities of the organisation should fall within at least one of the areas of support of the Active Citizens – Regional programme:

• Area 1 Human rights protection (including gender equality);
• Area 2: Promoting social diversity and preventing exclusion;
• Area 3 Building a democratic culture and civic engagement at the local level (including environmental issues);
• Area 4: Supporting the development of civic sector.
  
  

The institutional grants will be disbursable within 18 to 20 months. The grant expenditure eligibility period will be from September 1, 2022 to April 30, 2024. Grant amount: between EUR 85,000 and EUR 100,000. Assumed number of grants: 16.

What will be evaluated in the call?

Unlike in previous calls for proposals in the Active Citizens – Regional programme, in the call for proposals for institutional grants the capacity of the organisation to effectively use the funds will be mainly assessed.

We will evaluate:

• the relevance of the organisation’s activities and its role in the development of the civic sector in the region;
• the quality and application of the organisation’s multi-annual development plan/strategy in its current activities and strategic decisions;
• the organisational and financial capacity of the organisation to implement the activities that have been described;
• transparency of the organisation’s structure and the way of its functioning;
• experience in the implementation of grant funded projects;
• the system for monitoring and evaluating the organisation’s activities and their results as well as its application in decision-making regarding the management of the organisation.
  
  

What activities will be financed?

Within the call for proposals for institutional grants we will finance ongoing activities of the organisation that are in line with the enclosed development strategy and lead to the achievement of (one or more) results of the Active Citizens – Regional programme. They should therefore be the organisation’s own activities which:

• are part of its substantive plan, e.g. working with specific groups of beneficiaries, establishing and developing cooperation, including supporting the development of the civic sector, facilitating change processes in the local community,
• aim to strengthen the organisation internally by investing in the competencies of its team, building a good image or improving its infrastructure.
  
  

In the application form, the organisation will specify how the grant will contribute to the implementation of the organisation’s development plan/strategy as well as what the expected share of the grant will be in the total budget of the organisation in a given funding period.

How will the institutional grants be accounted for?

Institutional grants will be accounted for on the basis of reports and statements only. The organisations will be obliged to describe all its activities carried out in accordance with the procedures and applicable laws. Reporting on the achievement of results of the activities (as defined in the table of results being a part of the development plan/strategy presented by the organisation) will be crucial for the clearance of the institutional grant.

The grant is not subject to eligibility of expenditures and reporting rules which apply to thematic and intervention calls in the Active Citizens – Regional programme.

Who will be able to apply for the institutional grants?

Applicants may only be entities which meet the following criteria:

• are non-governmental organisations carrying out statutory activities included in at least one of the support areas of the Active Citizens – Regional programme (Human rights protection, including gender equality; Promoting social diversity and preventing exclusion; Building democratic culture and civic engagement at local level, including environmental issues, Supporting the development of civic sector);
• have a regional focus (at least at multi-county level);
• operate according to a presented development plan / strategy covering at least the next 3 years;
• have recorded an average annual income of minimum 500,000 PLN per year for the period of selected 3 years out of the last 5 from the moment of the call announcement;
• are registered with the National Court Register (KRS), entered into the register of ordinary associations or the register of Rural Housewives Circles maintained by the President of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR);
• are capable of presenting their financial statements prior to signing the grant
  agreement or, if they are not required to draft financial statements, a comprehensive
  summary of revenue and expenditure for the selected 3 years (out of the last 5);
• are independent of local, regional and central authorities, public entities,
  political parties and for-profit entities;
• do not seek to generate profit, and – if they pursue business activity – any profit made is allocated to the objects and aims listed in their memorandum of association;
• no application for declaring bankruptcy has been filed against the Applicant, the
  Applicant is not in liquidation or receivership, has not suspended activity and there
  are no similar proceedings pending against the Applicant;
• are not in arrears with public-law payments payable to the Tax Office (US) or
  Social Insurance Institution (ZUS);
• no governing body member has been convicted of an intentional crime prosecuted
  by public indictment or a tax offence;
• act in the public interest, respect human rights and are guided in their actions by democratic values, in particular by the universal values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and the protection of human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities;
• will not use the grant or their own contribution to carry out religious practices and worship (including preaching and spreading the faith), party activities or electoral campaigns, or to conduct commercial or paid activities.
  
  

Which organisations will be particularly invited to apply?

To apply for institutional grants, we will particularly invite organisations carrying out activities for other social organisations on a regional level (minimum several counties), including organisations supporting other organisations in a substantive and technical way (e.g. providing information, knowledge and opinions on social activity, building their capacity and capability to act, representing the environment of social organisations in watchdog or advocacy activities).

We will also invite sectoral or cross-sectoral organisations, associations of organisations (e.g. federations) – those which carry out activities aimed at supporting their member organisations and activities aimed at influencing regional public policies concerning the areas they deal with.

Institutional grants for national organisations

Organisations carrying out nationwide activities (including: activities in Warsaw) can compete in the ongoing call for institutional grants of the Active Citizens – National programme (more information about the call for proposals with the deadline on April 21, 2022 is available at: https://aktywniobywatele.org.pl/dla-wnioskodawcow/konkurs-na-dotacje-instytucjonalne/). Any organisation can apply in both institutional calls, but can only receive a grant in one of the calls for organisational grants either organised by the Active Citizens – National programme or the Active Citizens – Regional programme.