Active Citizens Fund announces Call for Proposals for Large Projects in Croatia

Deadline: 11 May 2020

Active Citizens Fund has announced a Call for Proposals for Large Projects.

This Call for proposals has been designed to provide financial and capacity building support for Croatian CSOs active in one (or more) of the Programme Priority Areas:

Democracy, active citizenship, good governance and transparency,
Human rights and equal treatment through combating any discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity,
Social justice and inclusion of vulnerable groups,
Gender equality and gender-based violence,
Environment and climate change.

Outcomes

Whose social impact and own organizational development supported by the Call will contribute to at least one of the Programme Outcomes:

Strengthened civil society watchdog/advocacy role;
Increased support for human rights, rule of law and good governance;
Strengthened democratic culture and civic awareness and engagement;

The support provided by the Call is aimed at building organizational and programmatic capacities of Croatian CSOs that share a common value base to address a social problem in a systematic and strategic manner, through the funding of a project that is relevant to the Programme’s Priority Areas and which is designed and managed in a way that is geared towards social impact. Hence, the Call is targeting civil society organizations with sufficiently effective management and governing processes capable of developing complex, multi-year project interventions, targeting the same social problem or needs of a particular target group in a comprehensive manner, with focus on social impact. Social impact project design takes into account the complexity of factors influencing the solution to any social problem and outcome of any civic action.

The call addresses the following country-specific concerns through different measures:

Strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the civil society sector;
Improve outreach to under-served geographic areas and target groups;
Empowerment and inclusion of vulnerable groups, including Roma;
Promote initiatives strengthening inter-cultural dialogue with special emphasis on national minorities,
Promote initiatives aimed at intergenerational cooperation

Funding Information

Requested contribution of ACF funding: between 90.000 and 150.000 EUR:
Available indicative budget for AHA projects: 3,15M €
Project duration: 24-36 months

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants are civil society organisations (CSOs) established in Republic of Croatia if they meet following definition:

“A non-profit voluntary organization established as a legal entity, having a non-commercial purpose, independent of local, regional and central government, public entities, political parties and commercial organizations. Religious institutions and political parties are not considered NGOs”.
More specifically, eligible candidates must meet the following general conditions:
- Are non-profit organizations that have not been created nor operate to generate personal profit. Although they may have paid staff and may engage in revenue generating activities, they do not distribute profits to their members nor to their board. Where revenue-generating activities are undertaken, these should not represent the purppose of the NGO but should be solely a means to support its mission and values;
- Have members who do not have any direct commercial interest in the outcome of the work of the organizations or of its commercial activities and should not pursue the commercial or professional interests of their members. This requirement therefore excludes trade and professional associations, where the aims and purposes of the association are to further the specific interests of its members only;
- Are voluntary in nature, formed voluntarily by groups or individuals and usually involving an element of voluntary participation in the organization;
- Act in the public arena and for the public good on concerns and issues related to the well-being of people, groups or society as a whole;
- Have some degree of formal or institutional existence, unlike informal or ad hoc groups, involving formal statutes or other governing document(s) defining their mission, objectives and scope;
- Have transparent structures and an elected chair / board, and are accountable to their members and donors;
- Are independent of local, regional and national government and other public authorities;
- Are independent of political parties and commercial organizations,
- Conducts transparent financial operations validated through Register of Nonprofit Organizations (RNO) with Croatian Ministry of Finance.