Advice for National Subgrant Program applicants

Please find tips and a list of common mistakes for ZMINA: Rebuilding national subgrants programme that should be considered when applying will be helpful. 

Steps for a successful application 

1. Carefully read the conditions of the announcement, and highlight the control points for yourself (deadlines, how to apply, requirements of technical selection, aspects of evaluation, mandatory attachments, format of submission of documents, etc.). 
2. Pay attention to the technical selection criteria and submit the application and documents (appendices) according to the technical selection conditions. Here, it will not be superfluous to make a control check: whether you have fulfilled all the technical selection conditions. 
3. Pay attention to aspects of assessment and familiarize yourself with the questions to be assessed and their scores. When writing an application, you should try to evaluate your application according to the evaluation aspects independently. In this way, you will be able to independently check to what extent the information presented by you in the application form and budget provides answers to questions in aspects of evaluation. 
4. Also, here, it is worth separately reviewing the budget and how it is filled. The "justification" budget field is not just a field for notes. This is a very important field, where you can explain and justify the need for these costs for the project. Please also note that the budget form has a division of funds at the expense of sub-grant funds and at the expense of co-financing funds. All columns must be filled. Co-financing is not mandatory. In the absence of co-financing, zero values should be entered. 
5. Re-reading of the prepared application and control. Writing a grant application is painstaking work. Each section and point of the completed application must be carefully read. One of the team members must monitor the correctness of filling out the application. This will reduce the likelihood of errors and failure to provide information affecting the evaluation of your project.

Typical mistakes regarding technical selection 

The main mistake is inattention to the terms of the technical selection of applications. These conditions are actually easy to fulfill. You just need attention. Because it will be a pity not to pass the technical selection, having a good project. 

❌ Error: The start of project implementation is indicated before the evaluation results are provided. 

✅ How it should be: The project cannot be planned for implementation before November 2023. The actual start of project implementation will be from the date of the bilateral signing of the agreement on providing a charitable sub-grant. To avoid incorrect interpretation, do not forget to specify the year when specifying the terms. For example, the start of the project is November 2023. 

❌ Error: The project implementation period exceeds six months. 

✅ How it should be: The project implementation period should not exceed six months. To avoid incorrect interpretation, do not forget to specify the year when specifying the terms. For example, project implementation period: November 2023 — April 2024 

❌ Error: Not all required applications are loaded to the application on the platform. 

✅ How it should be: All necessary applications must be downloaded. The list of required applications is specified in the Detailed Terms. 

❌ Error: required attachments are uploaded in other formats than defined for this wave of selection of national projects, or one document is uploaded not as one file, but as each page separately. 

✅ How it should be: The necessary applications must be uploaded in the appropriate formats, and each document uploaded must be a single file. The list of forms is specified in the Detailed Terms. But everything is actually very simple: all applications (except the budget) should be uploaded only in .pdf format. Only the budget is uploaded in .xlsx/.xls format — without a signature. You can upload four documents if you need to upload four. 

❌ Error: Something completely different was uploaded instead of the required document. 

✅ How it should be: The appropriate document must be uploaded. After uploading, you can check which document you uploaded and download the right one. 

❌ Error: Instead of a full extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Organizations, an extract or an incomplete extract was submitted. 

✅ How it should be: A FULL EXTRACT from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs, and Public Organizations must be uploaded. The information in the full extract must be current. For our part, we will also check the information the applicants provided with the EDR data. 

❌ Error: The amount of the sub-grant was submitted exceeding the maximum allowable amount of the sub-grant. 

✅ How it should be: The amount of the sub-grant cannot exceed 10,000 euros. If the applicant is a non-profit organization or an individual, the amount of the sub-grant cannot exceed 8,050 euros. Here, one should not confuse the project's total budget with the sub-grant's amount. The total project budget may exceed 10,000 euros. For example, the allocation of your project is 11,000 euros, where 10,000 euros is the amount of the requested sub-grant, and 1,000 euros is co-financing (the source of this co-financing must be indicated, such as: own funds, funds from another donor, co-financing funds from a partner, etc. otherwise it will not be clear how the project will be financed then). 

❌ Error: The application form fields do not contain the required information. 

✅ How it should be: Consider whether your answer reveals all the information required for this section when filling out the application form. For example, in the section "Project team (main executors) with an indication of full name, role in the project, list of main duties, relevant experience," do not forget to indicate experience. After passing the technical selection, one of the aspects of evaluation is the project team: How experienced is the project team in implementing projects, including in providing descriptive and financial reporting? (maximum 10 points). 

All aspects of the evaluation are specified in the Detailed Terms.

❌ Error: Answer “No” to the question “On the application's submission date, the Applicant's location is listed in the non-occupied territory”. This means that the Applicant is IN the occupied territory, which is not admissible. 

✅ How it should be: All applicants and their partners, who are NOT in the occupied territory, agree with the statement: "Yes, it is listed in the non-occupied territory". 

❌ Error: Unsigned documents (letter of guarantee, Articles of Association, etc.) were submitted. 

✅ How it should be: The guarantee letter must be signed by the head of the organization applying, and a seal must also be affixed (if a seal is available). If the application is submitted by a sole trader or a natural person, the letter of guarantee must be signed by this sole trader or crude person. When downloading the Charter/Regulations, you must download the signed Charter/Regulations. 

❌ Error: There is specified information and/or warranty letters about partners for the partner projects. Current Extracts from the Unified State Register, etc., have not been uploaded from partners. 

✅ How it should be: For partner projects — check that information about partners is specified and that mandatory documents are also uploaded from them.

ZMINA: Rebuilding is a project co-funded by the EU Creative Europe Programme under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced people and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors. The project is a cooperation between IZOLYATSIA (UA), Trans Europe Halles (SE), and Malý Berlín (SK).