May an applicant for a SMALL, MEDIUM or LARGE project apply for activities within the subject area C „Reinforcement of institutional capacities of NGOs and development of the NGO sector "?
The subject area C „ Reinforcement of institutional capacities of NGOs and development of the NGO sector " is foreseen solely for applicants for MICRO projects, since it doesn't include any substantial activities. According to the Guidelines for Applicants, applicants for SMALL, MEDIUM or LARGE projects are obliged to carry out substantial projects, i.e. projects within A "Respect for democratic rules" and/or B area "Increase of knowledge on civil society and democratic processes". However, if activities resulting from the project specificity, related to the selected substantive scope require investments in human resources or/and infrastructure, costs of such activities will be deemed eligible.  

Is it possible to apply to both Intermediaries within one round of the call for proposals, i.e. to the Fund for Non-Governmental Organisation and to ECORYS Polska?
YES, independently from the application submitted within the focus area „Democracy and civil society", where the Co-operation Fund Foundation acts as an Intermediary, an organisation may apply for financial assistance to the other Intermediary. However, beginning with 2nd round of the call for proposals a new rule has been introduced. Applicants that have received grants in previous rounds of the call for proposals within the NGOF (within 1st, 2nd or 3rd focus area) will have their final evaluation rating reduced by five points.

How many applications may be submitted by one Applicant within a given round of the call for proposals?
In a given round of the call for proposals an Applicant may submit only one application, i.e. one MICRO application or one SMALL application or one MEDIUM application or one LARGE application – depending on the types of projects, for which the call for proposals has been announced. The organisation may receive a MICRO grant only once during the NGOF implementation period in Poland.

Is it possible for an organisation to submit a new an application that hasn’t received financial assistance in the previous round of the call for proposals?
Yes, an application corrected according to the suggestions of external experts may be submitted a new in the next round of the call for proposals. 

Is it possible for an entity with legal personality to apply for financial assistance independently from its head office that also applies for financial assistance in the same round of the call for proposals?
Only an entity with legal personality may apply for financial assistance to the Fund for Non-Governmental Organisations. If a local branch of the organisation has a legal personality it may apply for a grant independently from its head office. 

Is it possible to apply for financial assistance for projects being currently implemented?
No, it is not possible to refund costs of projects, whose implementation has already begun.

Can a newly founded organisation apply for a MICRO grant if it hasn’t received its tax identification number (NIP) yet?
Lack of the tax identification number (NIP) shall not prevent an Applicant from applying for a MICRO grant. 

Can partners take part in many projects at the same time?
Beginning from the 2nd round of the call for proposals, an entity may act as a Partner in no more than 2 projects submitted by two different Applicants within the same call for proposals. The participation of the Partner in more than 2 projects within the same call for proposals shall result in the rejection of all applications, in which the Partner is listed, submitted to the Intermediary after the first two (i.e. delivered as the third, fourth one etc.).

Does the obligatory partnership in the case of LARGE projects mean that the Partner must originate from foreign countries?
The project Partner must be registered within one of the countries belonging to the EU or EEA/EFTA  (i.e. Island, Liechtenstein, Norway) as well as from Belarus (excluding governmental organisations), Ukraine and Russia. It means that the Partner may as well come from Poland, it doesn’t have to be a foreign Partner. 

May private companies take part in the project as a Partner?
Yes, project Partners may be companies but also any other e.g. non-governmental, local government or educational organisations etc. It may also be any informal group without legal personality.

Is it possible for organisations from Belarus or Ukraine to take part in the project as a Partner?
Yes, beginning from the 3rd call partners may be also registered in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. 

If within the project we plan to carry out renovation works of the premises, shall we attached to the application a document confirming our right to dispose of the premises? If yes, what kind of document?
It is not required to attach any document confirming the right to dispose of the premises at the stage of submitting the application. Such a confirmation, in form of e.g. a rental agreement, contract of lending for use or lease agreement will be necessary at the stage of the contracting.

When applying for a MICRO grant is it possible to plan only equipment investments?
No. A MICRO project shall include investments in human resources and/or substantive development of the organisation (compulsory element), as well as may include investments in e.g. equipment and infrastructure of the organisation (additional element).

Is there any predefined number of points qualifying for financial assistance?
The number of points qualifying for financial assistance will be decided by the specifically appointed Evaluation Committee that will choose projects considering their contents, budget, a number of submitted projects and the budget foreseen for a given round of the call for proposals. In the case of equal ratings assigned by the Evaluation Committee, the financial assistance will be first granted for the implementation of projects submitted by Applicants from regions of the lower social activity and for projects dealing with subjects especially vital from the perspective of NGOF’s goals. 

How many experts are foreseen to evaluate each project?
MICRO projects are evaluated by one expert, other types of projects by two experts, and in the case of divergent appraisals the project will be subject to the evaluation of the third expert.

When shall the call for proposals be decided?
The call for proposals shall be decided within 60 days from the deadline for the application submission. The list of accepted projects will be then published on the Internet on www.funduszngo.pl  within 2 working days. The Applicants will be informed in writing about the results of the call for proposals.  

How shall own contribution be documented?
According to the provisions of chapter 4.6 of the Guidelines for Applicants. 

If own contribution includes rented premises how shall it be calculated?
Own contribution in form of rented premises shall be calculated as financial contribution. Its amount is calculated in proportion to the amount of space used for the project on the basis of accounting documents (e.g. rental invoice, rental agreement).  

What does the formulation „in justified cases, the Intermediary may agree to the project implementation by the Beneficiary starting on the day of making the decision to provide financial assistance" mean?
If an applicant cannot wait with the implementation of the project until the date of signing  the agreement, as it may result in the distortion of the project schedule and resignation from the part of the project, an applicant may submit a request for an approval to start the project implementation on the day of making the decision to provide financial assistance by the Evaluation Committee. Such a request must be respectively justified (eligibility period starts in such a case on the day of making the decision to provide financial assistance).  

Does the confirmation from the bank on the amount of money kept required within the financial contribution have to be attached to the application or may it be submitted only while signing the contract?
The confirmation from the bank on the amount of money kept required within the financial contribution is necessary only in case of MEDIUM and LARGE projects. This document shall be attached to the application.  

In case of the absence of the person authorized to represent the organisation according to the National Court Register, is it possible for another person duly authorized in written to sign the application?
Yes, it is possible for another person to sign an application, if he/she has been duly authorized to represent an organisation by an authorized person. The document shall include a detailed scope of the authorization and personal data of the representative. A copy of this authorisation letter shall be attached to the application.

When do you plan to carry out the next round of the call for proposals?
Detailed information on the dates of the calls for proposals is published on our website and in all-Poland media. The 5th call deadline is on 29th of April 2009.

When do you plan to sign the agreements? From what point of time shall we plan activities within the project?
We assume that agreements will be signed within 2-3 months after the publication of results. The date of signing the agreement will depend also on the number of agreements to be signed and on the completeness of the documentation to be submitted by applicants.

Is the last payment to be paid from own means (before receiving the final payment)?
Yes. The final payment is a balancing payment and amounts up to 20% in the case of MICRO and SMALL projects and up to 10 % of the project value in the case of MEDIUM and LARGE projects.  

Under what conditions will it be possible to make amendments to the budget?
The transfer of funds between particular cost categories shall be allowed during the project implementation. An increase of the amount in a given category that exceeds the amount planned in the project's budget by more than 15% requires a written agreement of the Intermediary. It is not possible to exceed the limits defined for cost categories no. 3, 4 and 5. Other conditions in this respect will be defined in the grant agreement. 

Will rejected applications be considered in the next round of the call for proposals?
No, rejected applications will not be considered in the next round of the call for proposals.

If any member of the Management Board of our association has been convicted by a valid judgement, do we have a chance to receive financial assistance?
The Intermediary reserves the right not to sign a grant agreement if any member of the Management Board of the Applicant has been convicted by a valid judgement for the following crimes:
- crimes related to public contract awarding procedure;
- crimes against the rights of people in gainful employment;
- bribery;
- crimes against economic turnover or any other crime committed in order to achieve financial benefits;
- crimes against the Treasury;
- crimes of participation in an organized group;
- intending to commit a crime or a crime against the Treasury. 

In case of receiving the financial assistance an Applicant is obliged to submit a current (issued not earlier than 6 months before the submission date to the Intermediary) extract from the National Criminal Registry