Deadline: 2 December 2019

The Open Society Fund Prague and Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation on behalf of a consortium of the Active Citizens Fund  have announced the first open call for proposals on mid-sized grants in programme outcomes Increased citizen participation in civic activities, Strengthened civil society advocacy and watchdog role, Vulnerable groups empowered, Increased support for civic education and media literacy and Increased capacity and sustainability of the civil society sector and individual CSOs.

The Initial aim of the Active Citizens Fund is to strengthen civil society and active citizenship and to empower vulnerable groups and focus on financial support of citizens’ initiatives, boosting efficient collaboration, education and further development of capacities of the civic sector.

Programme Strategy

• To increase capacity and cooperation within the civil society sector;
• To increase the number of partnerships between the civil society sector and public/private sector entities and the ability of the civil society sector to approach inactive or marginalized groups;
• To strengthen civil society advocacy and watchdog role and to increase the participation of citizens in civic activities such as public policy-making and its enforcement;
• To address public in the underserved regions and outside of the civic society activism centers;
• To address the vulnerable groups and minorities including Roma to strengthen their rights with the aim to increase their ability to advocate for their rights and to take into account their specific needs;
• To increase youth participation in civic life.

Funding Information

• These mid-sized grants in amount sized upto € 8,000–85,000;
• The total available indicative budget for awarding grants for mid-sized projects under this call is € 4 657 000.

Focus Areas

• Active citizenship;
• Human rights;
• Social justice;
• Gender equality;
• Environment.

Expected Outcomes

• Increased citizen participation in civic activities;
• Strengthened civil society advocacy and watchdog role;
• Vulnerable groups empowered;
• Increased support for civic education and media literacy;
• Increased capacity and sustainability of civil society sector and individual civil society organisations.

Priorities

• Projects actively involving vulnerable groups:
  • Such as vulnerable families with children, the LGBTI community, single mothers and seniors at risk of poverty, victims of domestic or gender-based violence, homeless people, people with disabilities). Special attention will be given to the Roma minority (a group consistently facing discrimination in education, housing, the labour market,healthcare and other areas).
• Projects implemented by organizations registered in under-served regions:
  • These applicants will receive extra points and selection committee will have a chance to include these projects among those for grant support once the project is evaluated as beneficial for one of the under-served region.

Eligibility Criteria

• Religious institutions (except the charities), political parties, social partners or profit-distributing cooperatives (including trade- and professional associations, where the aims and purposes of the association is to further the specific interests of its members only) are not considered NGOs;
• Neither a sole proprietorship (in Czech “OSVČ”) nor a natural person is an eligible project applicant or partner;
• The focus of organisation shall match programme areas (Active citizenship, Human rights, Social justice, Gender equality, Environment);
• Registered legal entity in the Czech Republic defined by the Czech law as: civic association foundation and endowment fund  or organization department of church and religious society  on the condition, that the proposed and funded project activities do not promote a religious doctrine, mission or proselytism related to the beliefs of a particular faith, possibly interest association of legal persons if all members of the association are non-governmental non-profit organizations and individually fulfill the eligibility criteria;
• Registered legal entities at least two years prior the submission deadline of the application.

Selection Criteria

• Administrate and eligibility criteria review;
• Informing the applicant on the results and/or invite for corrections;
• Successful applications are randomly assigned to two impartial evaluators;
• Applications are evaluated in both points and words by external evaluators;
• According to evaluation averages the ranking for the selection committee is prepared;
• Applications with the min. of 60 points while meeting all thresholds are discussed by the committee;
• The selection committee prepares a list of projects to be supported, supported with conditions, put on the reserve list or rejected;
• The committee provides the executive board with justification supporting its decision;
• The executive board confirms decisions of the selection committees and also justifies any changes done by the board;
• The board of trustees receives the final ranking list of projects for grant support as well as rejected projects;
• The OSF Prague/ VDV board of trustees approves projects for grant support based on the executive board decision;
• Applicant is informed about the results and is provided with feedback on application.

How to Apply

Applications must be submited at the address given on the website.

Eligible Country: Czech Republic

For more information, please visit https://www.activecitizensfund.cz/en/we-want-to-apply/open-calls/#section1