Call for Medium Projects in Croatia

Deadline: 30-Nov-21

The Active Citizens Fund (ACF) has launched a call for proposal for Medium Projects to support projects lasting from twelve (12) to fifteen (15) months whose implementation will contribute to the achievement of long-term positive social changes in one of the five priority programme areas of the ACF Programme.

All proposed projects within the ACF Programme must clearly contribute to the overall objective Civil society and active citizenship strengthened and vulnerable groups empowered and its the corresponding indicator “Number of people engaged in civil society activities”.

This Call will support projects lasting from twelve (12) to fifteen (15) months whose implementation will contribute to the achievement of long-term positive social changes in one of the five priority programme areas of the ACF Programme.

Specific Areas and Concerns

• 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

• Available indicative budget: 2.625.000,00€ divided in two LOTs:
  • LOT 1: 660.000 €
  • LOT 2: 1.965.000 €
• Project duration: 12-15 months
• Project maximum funding rate:100 % of eligible expenditure.

What the Programme will Address?

• address funding gaps and provide targeted financing to CSOs performing a watchdog role, CSOs engaged in human rights protection, environmental protection and social inclusion of vulnerable groups including Roma and CSOs working in under-served geographic areas and with under-served target groups;
• improve the financial sustainability and autonomy of CSOs, especially those working in the fields of democracy and human rights by improving their ability to fundraise and diversify income sources;
• build resilience of human rights defenders and CSOs committed to the empowerment and the social inclusion of ethnic and sexual minorities;
• foster a culture of collaboration and solidarity among CSOs in managing common resources and in addressing common problems through broader and effective cross-thematic and crosssectoral collaboration, a common human rights approach to social development and closer relations with socially responsible business community, non-profit and independent media;
• encourage development of innovative capacity building methods to improve transparent and accountable management/governance procedures as well as skills in monitoring and evaluation, fundraising and evidence-based advocacy;
• support community outreach and innovative methods for civic engagement, including new approaches to empower vulnerable groups;
• encourage youth inclusion across all priorities by encouraging CSOs to engage youth workers and volunteers in their activities and to target their projects to young people where such actions have the most impact and
• foster results and impact-oriented bilateral activities through partnerships on thematic areas of particular interest for bilateral cooperation between Croatian CSOs and CSOs from donor countries.

Groups

The Call is divided into two groups:

• Group 1 is designated for:
  • CSOs whose average total annual turnover in the period between year 2018 to 2020 was equal to or less than Kn 376,650.00;
  • organizations whose activities are entirely or mostly focused on a specific geographical area (one or more connected local self-government units within one or more neighbouring regional self-government units);
  • for projects implemented in one local community (the project is implemented by one applicant or in partnership) or for projects implemented in several local communities (the project is implemented in partnership);
  • for projects involving activities with a strong potential for their re-implementation, upgrading, dissemination and transfer to other local communities.
• Group 2 is designated for:
  • CSOSs whose average total annual turnover in the period from years 2018 to 2020 was equal to or more than Kn 376,650.01;
  • organizations whose activities go beyond a specific, narrow geographical area;
  • for projects that include upgrading existing and / or developing new activities, approaches and methodologies based on the needs and problems of the target group / local community;
  • for projects that must include activities for dissemination and transfer of project results to other local communities in different geographical areas and / or to other target groups before the end of the project implementation.

Expected Outcomes

Proposed projects within this Call must contribute to achieving at least one of the expected outcomes of the ACF Programme:

• 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

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible lead applicants are civil society organisations (CSOs) established and registered 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 all of 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 purpose 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 membersonly;
  • Are voluntary in nature, formed voluntarily by groups or individuals and usually involving an element of voluntary participation in theorganization;
  • 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 awhole;
  • 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 Non-profit Organizations (RNO) with Croatian Ministry of Finance;

Criteria

• Each individual applicant can submit only one project proposal in this call as a lead applicant.
• Lead applicant can be a partner in another application.
• Each organization can participate in no more than two project proposals in a partner role.
• At least 50% of the total available funds under this Call will be allocated to organizations registered and working in underserved geographic areas and/or organizations working with vulnerable groups, including Roma.

For more information, visit https://acfcroatia.hr/en/call-for-medium-projects/