Deadline: 19-Jul-20
The Media for All project (Support for Greater Media Independence in the Western Balkans) is inviting local and regional media to apply for a grant.
This regional project is being implemented in the Western Balkans by a consortium led by the British Council in partnership with Balkan Research Network (BIRN) Thomson Foundation, INTRAC (International NGO “Training and Research Center”), and is funded by the UK government through the British Embassy in Serbia.
The Project’s overall vision is to enable a positive shift in citizens’ engagement with independent media in the Western Balkans. The main beneficiaries of this media independence Project are media outlets and those working within the media sphere.
Outcomes
The following are the outcomes that the project aims at achieving through this grant scheme:
- Project supported media outlets are more financially resilient:
- Project supported media outlets are generating revenue from new business streams
- Project supported media outlets have improved organisational practices, including ethical business practice and gender equality in the workplace.
The project publishes two separate calls for applications for grants for:
- Business Improvement
- Call for business improvement grants aims to support local and regional independent media in Serbia to move closer to financial sustainability by improving business and organizational capacity. In order to apply for a business improvement grant, interested media must submit their business idea and indicative budget. Successful applicants will receive two months of technical assistance to develop a business idea into a business plan and budget. Upon successful completion of the technical assistance phase, the selected applicants will be awarded a grant to implement the business plan.
- Active reporting to citizens
- Call for grants for active citizen reporting aims to support local and regional independent media in Serbia to be more audience-oriented by strengthening the relationship between citizens and the media, using the software application ‘Active Citizen Reporting’. Grant beneficiaries will receive this application to enable their audience to suggest topics, submit testimonies, documents and evidence, with the aim of involving citizens in the production of content even before its publication. Grant beneficiaries will receive training in using the application, as well as editorial support and mentoring during the project implementation.
Funding Information
Any grant requested under this call for applications must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- Minimum grant amount: 10,000 GBP
- Maximum grant amount: 25,000 GBP
Duration
- The planned duration of the project may not exceed 12 (twelve) months.
- Overall expected project timeline is 14 months (2 months of technical assistance plus maximum length of the project of 12 months).
- All activities must finish no later than 31 December 2021.
Location
The activities should be implemented in Serbia.
Eligibility Criteria
The applicant must fulfill the following criteria in order to be eligible for funding under this Project:
- Applicant must be registered as a media outlet in Serbian Business Registers Agency (SBRA).
- Legal entity owning this media outlet must be registered in Serbia before 1 January 2018. (N.B. Some media outlets are self-contained/business entities themselves, while others belong to a legal entity.).
- Financial statements for 2018 calendar year, or 2019, if applicable;
- Certificate from relevant tax authority that the legal entity has paid all due taxes in accordance with the local legislation.
- Other important requirements:
- Partnership with another media outlet / organisation for the grant application purpose is not allowed as the grant scheme is focused on building individual capacity of selected media outlets.
- Your organization may submit only one application under this grant scheme
For more information, visit https://www.britishcouncil.rs/programmes/education/media/call-bd-and-ecr-grants
