[17.05.2007 r.]

The Procedures Handbook in point 2.6 mentions that the ongoing or completed projects cannot be granted. What is meant by this? Can an organisation which supports the disabled receive a grant from the NGO Fund to develop activities concerning care and integration of the disabled?

The entry concerning ongoing or completed projects not being able to receive a grant concerns these projects, which are being financed from other sources and are currently being completed. It applies to expenses already made. By that, they cannot be a subject of an NGO Fund’s grant. This entry, however, does not restrict the possibility to apply for a grant to finance activities which will be undertaken in the future even if such activities have been undertaken earlier. Therefore it is possible to plan and acquire a grant for a project concerning a continuation of activities, e.g. integration of the disabled.

Does the maximum value of the grant of 250 thousand euro concerns one project or all the projects submitted by a given organisation (in all three lots)?

The grant limit of 250 thousand euros concerns one project. When submitting two applications in one call for proposals, the Applicants can apply for 250 thousand euros in each of them.

Does Lot II have a division of projects into small, medium and big?

There is no division of projects according to the size of a grant in Lots II and III

Does the rule of proportional own contribution apply in each reporting period according to the rule of 2% of financial contribution + 8% of material contribution?

The rule of proportionality in each reporting period concerns the ratio of own contribution against the grant amount (10% to 90%). The ration of the financial contribution against the material one (2% to 8%) has to be settled at the end of the project along with the final project settlement.

In case of a project including costs of renovation or modernisation of a space which can be lawfully administrated by the partner, not the Applicant, will that be an eligible cost?

Such cost will not be eligible because the right to administrate the building renovated within the means of the NGO Fund has to be owned by the Applicant. We plan a project based on giving a non-returnable aid to people who plan to start a business.

Will the means destined to start a business be an eligible cost within the Non-Governmental Organisations Fund?

Such cost will not be eligible in the NGO Fund because it does not finance projects based on giving financial aid to the projects’ end-recipients.

Can a political party be a partner in the NGO Fund?

No, political parties as well as organisations established by them or supporting their programme activities cannot be partners in a project submitted to the Non-Governmental Organisations Fund.

Is it necessary to include a feasibility study which describes the project better?

Enclosing a feasibility study is not required.

What are the terms of calls for applications for the Lot II of the NGO Fund’s?

Acording to an entry in the Procedures Handbook for Lots II and III of the NGO Fund, the call for applications for the Lot II will take place on 24th July 2007 – 28th September 2007.

Can a school foundation / chamber of commerce associating enterprises / Voluntary Fire Brigades apply for a grant within the Environmental Protection and sustainable development Lot?

According to an entry in the Procedures Handbook for Lots II and III of the NGO Fund, organisations which would like to apply should fulfil the following criteria:

• should have a legal personality,
  
• should be registered at least 12 months before applying,
  
• should be registered on the territory of the Republic of Poland,
  
• should act on a non-profit or non for profit basis i.e. not to gain any profit or assign all profit for statutory aims.
  

Grant applications for projects within the NGO Fund can be submitted especially by:

• foundations and associations,
  
• organisations established by churches and/or associations of religion,
  
• Other non-governmental organisations which have a separate legal status and act for the public benefit,
  
• Social partners. One should use the above definition while deciding whether your organisation fits the Applicant’s criteria.
  

It depends on Your founding documents, therefore basing on information sent by you one cannot explicitly state whether the Organisation can apply for a grant within the means of the NGO Fund. If an Organisation fulfils all the criteria, it can apply for a grant without any problems.

Can project management exceed 10% of the grant?

There has been no limit set for costs connected with project management. One should remember that all costs have to be rationally calculated, directly connected with the project in completion and necessary for its preparation or completion.

Will the project be assessed only by Polish institutions or by the Brussels Office as well?

The projects will be assessed by the Operators of particular Lots. Final decisions on assigning a grant will be made by Evaluation Committees. Each Evaluation Committee will include at least four experts who have knowledge in the NGO Fund’s focus points and of at least one expert from the non-governmental sector. Additionally the Evaluation Committee will include observers from the National Focal Point, Financial Mechanisms Office and the second NGO Fund Operator. A detailed description of application assessment procedures has been presented in the NGO Fund Procedures Handbook.

From what date start of the projects’ completion can be planned?

According to the NGO Fund’s Procedures Handbook, only the costs made after the decision of assigning a grant to the Applicant (before signing a contract for a grant) are eligible. Contracts for grants will be signed in 3 months after the end of the call for applications.

Can an institution submit an application while not having a KRS (NJR) but only a founding decree?

According to the Procedures Handbook for Lots II and III, organisations which would like to apply should fulfil the following criteria:

• should have a legal personality,
  
• should be registered at least 12 months before applying,
  
• should be registered on the territory of the Republic of Poland,
  
• should act on a non-profit or non for profit basis i.e. not to gain any profit or assign all profit for statutory aims.
  

Grant applications for NGO Fund projects can be submitted especially by:

• foundations and associations,
  
• organisations established by churches and/or associations of religion,
• other non-governmental organisations which have a separate legal status and act for the public benefit,
  
• social partners.
  

One should use the above definition while deciding whether your organisation fits the Applicant’s criteria. It depends on Your founding documents, therefore basing on information sent by you one cannot explicitly state whether the Organisation can apply for a grant within the means of the NGO Fund.If an Organisation fulfils the above mentioned premises it can apply for a grant without any problems, KRS (NJR) registration is not a required criterion to be fulfilled.

Does an Applicant who would like to partially renovate a building has to be its owner or can it be a building taken on a lease (lend or perpetual usufruct) by an organisation from a local government unit?

It is a condition of eligibility of costs connected with renovation or adaptation of facilities to have a deed of ownership or any other document certifying the right to manage the facility (lease or lend contract, etc.). The handbook states that contracts will be signed in three months after the end of the call for applications.

What should be ment by that? If we submit the application in two weeks after the call has been opened do we have a chance to start the project in three months?

Contracts will be signed in three months from the day of the end of the call for applications and by that the last day the applications are being submitted. In case of the Lot II the time to submit applications expires pm 28th September 2007.

I would like to know if a private company can be a partner in Lot II and does it mean parnters only from the European Economic Area? Are there any procedures of establishing a partnership specific for these funds?

In order to become a partner, an organisation gas to fulfil the following conditions:

• it has to be a non-governmental organisation or other institution (for example local authorities, public institutions or private companies)
  
• it has to com from one of the following countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Latvia, Malta, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Hungary, United Kingdom, Italy,
  
• it has to have a justified participation in the project in the context of project aims and partner involvement,
  
• Participation of the partner in the project has to be non-profit – project partner cannot raise profit from participation in the project The NGO Fund does not have any particular regulations concerning creating partnerships. Enclosed to the application should be a letter of intent which declares the partner’s participation in the project. If a grant is given it will be necessary to enclose a partnership contract which defines in detail the scope of work and partner’s responsibilities in the project, his costs and technical input.
  

• place and date,
• indication of agreement parties including detailed teleaddress data,
  
• indication of the partnership subject (project title),
  
• a clear description of cooperation and the range of operations,
  
• clear and coherent description of responsibilities among partners connected with fulfilment and management of the project including financial management as well as flow of financial means between partners,
  
• information on intent of signing a partnership agreement in case of receiving a grant,
  
• signatures of people authorised to represent the partners.
  

Does an application have to concern one area (one application for one area) or is it possible for an application to concern many focus areas?

One application can cover many focus areas of Lot II as long as the project remains coherent and activities included will be logically connected. In such case field 1.4 should be filled with the main focus area of the application.

The rest of the areas should be placed in the description of the project. What is the percentage of investment expenditures in the project?

There is no percentage or numerical limit for the value of investment part. However, one should justify the necessity of running the investment part along with its necessity to complete the project’s "soft" part.

Is purchasing books for the library covered by the term „equipment purchase”?

Costs will be considered eligible only if they are directly connected with the project and are necessary for its preparation or completion. Therefore if purchasing books for the library is directly connected with the project and is essential for its completion it can be counted as an eligible cost. G2 " Costs of devices / equipment ..."

If we purchase a copier considering it as buying equipment, are the costs of paper and toners considered as printing and copying of materials (costs coming from project’s specific character) or as office costs?

In case of projects which aim in printing and copying of materials these costs should be treated as coming from the project’s specific character. In other cases, costs of copying and printing are considered as office costs and have a limit of 1000 PLN for each month of project completion.

Is there a plan of a training concerning Lot II application forms in zachodniopomorskie voivodship?

We would like to inform you that we do not plan on running any field trainings concerning applying to the NGO Fund. It is possible however, to ask questions using our hotline (phone number: 22 339 36 36) and e-mail which is sent directly from our website. Our experts will answer all questions from the beneficiaries. You can also make an appointment for a consult at our office where experts will share their knowledge about the project, financing sources etc. As our experts will assess the applications and cannot be their co-authors, so filling in the application cannot be a subject for a consult