At the end of December, we presented a competition for institutional grants under the Impulse project, supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD), in partnership with Sweden (Sida), and in cooperation with the East Europe Foundation. Its goal is to help organizations become stronger, work more effectively in their communities, and contribute to Ukraine’s sustainable recovery.
If we were to keep our own record book, this competition would definitely be included in it as one of the most popular.
We received 432 applications from civil society organizations from the south, east and north of Ukraine to participate in the first round of the competition. And while each one is being preliminarily evaluated and reviewed, we can draw only one conclusion: there are at least 432 cool, strong, and interesting organizations in Ukraine. They are brave enough to do new things, ready to learn, and have ideas on how to help their community in difficult times.
What’s next?
If your application is among these 432, we will inform you of the results of the first round by email by March 7, 2025.
The members of the Expert Council will take into account your experience, achievements, publicity and team motivation to develop and increase influence on solving pressing issues at the local or regional level.
Based on the results of the first round, the experts will select up to 45 organizations that will undergo a basic organizational audit. It involves us getting to know you and your work, meeting your team, and talking about your plans and opportunities. And each of the organizations admitted to the 2nd round of the competition will simultaneously prepare its project proposal to improve its organizational development.
Second round
The decision to support or reject the project proposal in the second round will also be made by an independent Expert Council, which will pay attention to
- the results of the organizational audit;
- the quality of the project proposal and its relevance to the needs and vision of the organization’s development identified during the evaluation and organizational audit;
- the team’s motivation to build its organizational capacity and the quality of meaningful work.
- the project budget’s compliance with the organizational development plan, which is the basis of the project proposal;
- compliance with the organizational development criteria.
Based on the results of the evaluation, up to 30 organizations will receive institutional grants lasting 26-28 months. The results of the second round will be known no earlier than May 2025 and will be publicly announced on the platforms of the International Renaissance Foundation and the East Europe Foundation.
What awaits the winners?
All organizations participating in the program will receive not only financial support for more than two years, but also the opportunity to learn – communications, project and financial management, establishing organizational processes in a team, etc. The Impulse training program will be developed by the project partners, the East Europe Foundation.
The teams will participate in coordination and networking meetings, present their interim results at the annual Impulse forums, and build new partnerships with each other.
Later on, the project will also launch an internship program, so stay tuned to the platforms of the Renaissance Foundation and partners.
