Path2EU4AE

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Write down this information to make yourself aware of the capabilities your organization has utilizing its size. Relate the size of your organization to a project idea and look for criteria of size in the documents (calls, application forms) of the EU funding programmes.

Our experts say:

The size of an organisation may it be based on the number of staff or also on the annual turnover has some significance related to the potential and available resources regarding the preparation of EU funding project applications. Also, during the project implementation larger organisations do have more possibilities to shift staff, provide more staff resources in a short time if this is necessary at certain stages of a project etc. For smaller organisations, the selection and decision path should probably lead to easier, smaller and less complex funding programmes or actions within certain funding programmes.

Pro-Tip:

Awarding to a young, small, inexperienced organization is rather unlikely to happen; If your application is convincing it may still be necessary to prove the financial capacity.

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Adult Education Institutions can use the year of foundation, others may refer to the year when they demonstrably entered the field.

Our experts say:

The experience of the organisation will be assessed based on the number of staff, their profile, as well as the existence of financial statements (audited accounts, profit and loss statements) of the previous years. This is especially important for projects and in programmes with a larger (minimum) budget. Organisations should assess for themselves whether they feel able to cope with a high level of administration, possibly hiring additional staff, and deliver high-quality results. Has the organisation been involved with the project's target groups for a long time? Does the organisation have good contacts with grassroots organisations and/or research institutions? All these factors can be decisive for participating in a project as a main applicant (for experienced organisations), as a partner (for less experienced to experienced organisations) or as an associated partner (for inexperienced to experienced organisations).

Pro-Tip:

Show that your staff brings the experience required for managing a project or contributing to a project and that your organisation is willing to bring in new staff as well as consult external experts and/or invest in staff training to elevate the experience, knowledge and competences of the organisation. There are also hard criteria for individual programmes, e.g. to participate in Erasmus+ partnerships, your organisation must have been legally established at least 2 years before the application deadline.

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Many funding programmes require applicants to be either public authorities or non-profit entities. This is to empower the non-profit and public sectors. Carefully read the funding guidelines for the programme that you want to apply to ensure that your organisation is eligible for funding. Non-compliance with the funding rules is likely to result in the rejection of the entire funding proposal.

Our experts say:

Please do check well in advance the required legal status of the applicant organisation within certain funding programmes. In addition to this, a specific legal status might also be relevant for your project partners. There are funding programmes where the applicant needs to have a certain legal status and for project partners, this does not apply, but there are funding programmes where a specific legal status is required for all partners. The programme guideline documents which are available for all funding programmes do contain the relevant information about the legal status of applicants and partners.

Pro-Tip:

In many funding programmes, the legal status will be copied into the project application from a preregistration (e.g. OID registration). So please be careful also during your preregistration as an organisation that you select the proper legal status as this correct statement impacts your future participation and application possibilities. Moreover, many public organisations do register as public organisations but do not select the non-profit option as the assumption is, that public organisations are non-profit by default. However, this is not automatically the case in the preregistration process for EU funding (e.g. in OID registration) which often leads to problems that public organisations are then classified automatically as profit-making organisations and could therefore be excluded from participation in one or the other funding programme or programme call. 

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EU programmes are constantly changing. It makes a difference whether this specific experience and knowledge is accurate and still available in the organisation.

Our experts say:

It does make a difference to offer one or the other funding programmes or actions to organisations with or without prior experience in EU-funded projects. Certain programmes do require a prior history of project implementation (especially when it comes to the operational capacities of organisations), while others are more aimed at newcomer organisations. The same applies to prior roles as project partner or project coordinator. It would make more sense to start participating in EU-funded projects and programmes as a partner, instead of immediately aiming at the coordination role of a large and complex funding project. This would create problems during the application development, especially during the project implementation.

Pro-Tip:

Newcomers go for small partnerships in small projects and build up reputation!

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Applications usually require collaborating with several partners from other European countries. Relate the number of partners to a project idea and look for criteria of size in the documents (calls, application forms) of the EU funding programmes. Sometimes two partners from at least one other country are sufficient, sometimes you will need more and from different origins.

Our experts say:

Organisations with a longer tradition have a broader experience and better access to stakeholders and project partners on national and transnational levels than younger organisations have. Also, the longer history of an organisation may be an advantage in the need arguments in a project application where the arguments about certain needs for this or the other project might be more convincing when they come from more traditional, older and larger organisations than from young and fragile organisations. Also, the history and size of an organisation do most of the time positively correlate, this means that the older and more traditional organisations are probably also the larger ones, this is why the above-mentioned arguments for larger or smaller organisations are probably also relevant for older or younger organisations.

Pro-Tip:

Go for partnerships rather than applying yourself, if your organisation is young in this field.

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Think of potential partners within your network: What competences do they have? Do they complement your skills? How experienced are they in EU projects and their field? What is their reputation and do you feel that they are reliable? Are they the right partners for your aim?

Our experts say:

Some programmes and actions require a larger transnational partnership and a more stable transnational network than others. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the actual transnational network. If the applicant has to search for potential project partners from scratch, this would take much more time.

Pro-Tip:

Larger projects are only possible if there are already existing network partners in other countries which are relevant to the project and the funding programme. If you need to look for partners, start early and think of smaller projects to reduce the risk of failing.

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The focus of interest is necessary to look for funding opportunities that may match your interest. Although Erasmus+ is probably the most well-known programme, other programmes could fit the provider's planned projects that are not as well known in the sector. Also, remember that multi-sectoral cooperation can enrich a project! It is helpful to think about the interlink between different spheres, e.g. learning and health, development, migrants, employment, and others. A good match between the fields of interest of the organisation and the priorities and key actions of a specific funding programme is a good reason for a high funding probability and a solid basis for successful project implementation. It is important to follow the path from the field of interest (the project idea) to the relevant funding programme and not the other way around.

Our experts say:

The general fields of interest or activity of an organisation is an important selection criterion since there are funding programmes which allow quite broad and large access in terms of ideas and interests. On the other hand, there are funding programmes which are focusing on more specific topics which might then not be relevant for an organisation. For, if an organisation has no particular interest in health issues, health awareness or public health, the EU4Health programme is not an option. The same applies to topics around refugees and migration where the AMIF programme has its priorities and support actions etc.

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When calculating think of costs for employees/staff, overheads, travel, equipment, sub-contractors etc. It is important to find out if this project idea requires comparably low funding or higher funding. This has an impact on the choice for a funding programme, but also on single actions within funding programmes which then will become more or less relevant.

Our experts say:

As you are configuring the project, think about the amount you need. Use spreadsheets and project management tools to estimate the budget. The lower the budget, the higher the probability of receiving funding. A bigger project is always more effort and needs human resources, financial power and appropriate partners. You may always start with a smaller project and go for a bigger one once you succeed.

Programmes that fund projects below 70.000 euros include Erasmus+ (KA1 and KA2 small-scale) and the European Solidarity Corps. Programmes that fund projects between 70.000 and 400.000 euros include Erasmus+ (KA2) and CERV, and programmes that fund actions with budgets above 400.000 euros include Erasmus+ (Forward-Looking), Horizon Europe, DEAR, LIFE, and others. The latter category requires substantial experience of the organisation as well as operational capacity (i.e. an annual turnover that indicates that the organisation can manage a big budget).

Pro-Tip:

You have calculated the budget, but there is no suitable programme. Then consider adjusting the project idea to a need of budget that may be suitable for a funding programme.

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Most funding opportunities rely on co-financing by own means (fees, member fees, voluntary staff time) or other sources (e.g. funding from national ministry, in-kind contributions, donations). Rates can go up to 30% of the budget needed. Even lump sum calculations need co-funding and cannot cover all the costs.

Our experts say:

Sufficient financial resources are another important aspect when choosing one or the other EU funding programme. This relates among others to necessary co-funding (as practically all EU funding programmes do only offer a certain co-financing of activities, the rest of the total costs are own contributions of the participating organisations or from other sources) but also to the costs of the development of a complex project application, meetings, costs of obtaining relevant information, national travels for preparation, eventual prior preparatory visits to partners for application development etc. There is, however, another important factor behind sufficient financial resources which relates to the financial survival of such an EU-funded project. There are funding programmes where EU funds are only paid after the whole project has been successfully implemented and all results and costs can be documented, other funding programmes do only pay parts of the EU funding during the project implementation (e.g., 60% or 70%) and the rest will be paid upon successful and positive evaluation of the final report including 100% of all costs realised. This means that between 30-40% of costs need to be pre-financed by the organisations and the reimbursement might come much later after the final reports assessment (which might take 2–6 months on average). For small and financially fragile organisations, this regulation might lead to bankruptcy immediately.

Pro-Tip:

Always make sure that you are on the safe side with your budget and consider potential and unforeseen risks in your financial management. Only commit to participation in a project (especially with a higher budget) if your financial management is sound so that your contribution to the project can be guaranteed over the entire lifetime of the project.

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For a project, you need appropriate roles covered to get the work done that is required to reach the aims. Those are management/project management, administration, professionals (trainers, researchers, specialized pros), and technicians (like coders, graphic designers, and event engineers).

Our experts say:

The availability of sufficient human resources within an organisation would be an important factor to consider. It has influence if a small and fragile organisation applies for a project, this could probably then be a smaller, shorter, less complex, less risk-attached project than for larger organisations which can provide more staff in a short time if needed during a project. Also, the available human resources for the development of an application would be an important criterion. If a project application requires complex information, complex budget calculations etc. more staff resources also from different departments of an organisation would be needed for this.

Pro-Tip:

If you cannot cover all the roles, go for smaller projects as a partner with limited need to cover those roles. Also, think of temporary employment of professionals with the appropriate skills or hire a freelancer. In any case, funding programmes may allow different legal ways to recruit human resources.

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Staff working on communication tasks with partners, funding authorities and other stakeholders using English need to know English sufficiently well to write applications, mailings and reports to talk to people involved. This applies to e.g. the management and professional staff.

Our experts say:

It might sound obvious but a sufficient command of the English language is an important factor for transnational project cooperation. Hundreds of European cooperation projects run into difficulties or do not achieve the envisaged aims simply because of misunderstandings of words, core concepts and terms. The availability of staff with appropriate, at least sufficient (!) language competences in the English language needs to be a crucial question also for the development of a project application but especially for the successful implementation of an EU-funded transnational cooperation project. If this criterion remains doubtful within an organisation, they should at least be aware of this issue and risk.

Pro-Tip:

If there is a lack of sufficient English skills within your project team, you may need to qualify them or hire competent staff using language. For qualification, you may apply for Erasmus+ Mobility funding to attend English classes. You can also apply for small Erasmus+ partnerships with partners in countries within your language group (e.g. French, German) to avoid the language gap with partners. Use a tool for self-assessment if you do not feel sure about your proficiency level.

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There are certain EU funding programmes and actions which require more precise and comprehensive planning and documentation of activities (not only on a financial level) while others work with more simple application forms and later with a more open and broad documentation regime.

1. Application: detailed application forms with lots of attachments vs. simple online forms
2. Financial management: real cost accounting vs. lump sums
3. Documentation: documentation of activities and successes vs documentation of outcome
4. Working time recording: real-time recording vs daily rates recording
5. Reporting: final reports, interim reports, progress reports (e.g. monthly)

Our experts say:

Within all the European funding programmes there are two different ways of budget co-funding. One system builds on the documentation of the real costs that occurred in the project implementation, their comprehensive documentation including all proofs e.g., of staff costs, operational costs etc. and then the agreed co-financing will be provided by the funding body. The other possibility is the agreement on a lump sum funding budget during the application stage and the whole payment of the funds then only depends on the delivery of the agreed project outputs, impact envisaged etc. but not on documentation of the real expenses made for the project. Both systems do have advantages and disadvantages and we can say that lump sum funding is mainly offered for smaller projects while larger projects and budgets will mostly be run upon cost-based funding. Nevertheless, it will be an important decision criterion which rule will be applied since this creates challenges and efforts for financial documentation and administration that need to be considered from the beginning.

Pro-Tip:

Download the application form and check, what the issuer needs utilizing information, details on the project plan and milestones, credibility of the project partners and especially the budgeting. If you have little EU project experience, start with a smaller project that has less stringent documentation requirements and provides lump sums

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We can say that there are funding programmes or actions with higher selection rates (number of selected proposals/numbers of submitted proposals) and there are funding programmes with lower selection rates because of two factors: too many proposals submitted or not enough budget available (or both). Consequently, there is always the possibility that an application will be rejected.

Our experts say:

It is for sure a little bit tricky to speak about this, but the information about it is no secret and can be obtained from and for all European funding programmes. Based on this we can clearly say that there are funding programmes or actions where there are higher selection rates (number of selected proposals/numbers of submitted proposals) and there are funding programmes where these selection rates are lower because of two factors: too many proposals submitted or not enough budget available (or both). In our view, it is crucially important that potential applicant organisations are aware of this factor and are informed about this in their decision path. A question or a criterion to e.g., only include funding programmes where average selection rates are above 30% (which is already a very high selection rate) would be an important asset of this decision path. Also, it prevents frustration and de-motivation as the own idea may be the most innovative, clever, best elaborated and planned ever and would simply not be selected as there are hundreds of others as well. On the other hand, if potential applicants are aware of this and make their conscious selection upon this information it would be ok.

Pro-Tip:

Think of how much risk you are able and willing to take and which measures you could implement to reduce this risk, e.g. applying for various funding programmes within a certain period, working with freelancers, or going with experienced partners.

Think of this

Does your organisation want the project enough to provide the resources to achieve? Is there a strategy that is supported by the management? Are you and your team willing to bear the risks that are involved? Are you ready to invest in the necessary training?

Our experts say:

The general risk situation is also an important factor. The performance of a short risk analysis aiming at organisational risks, risks connected with the project topic, the project environment but also general risks on local, regional, national and European levels which may impact the planning and implementation of a European cooperation project would be a worthwhile action. If certain risks are identified which could of course not all be avoided or controlled this may also impact the size, duration, budget, aims and objectives of a project idea and the decision for a funding programme.

Pro-Tip:

Promotors/Coordinators should be able to manage higher risks than partners do.

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