Get money from the Council of Europe - The European Youth Foundation

The European Youth Foundation is a body of the Council of Europe which gives money to youth activities.

ESN Sections can apply for grants for a project, activity or event, as ESN is made of young people and supports young people.

Two types of grants are very interesting for ESN Sections. Read on how to get started with a project and have some useful tips.

Types of grants

Grant A is for international youth meetings, means:
- Seminars
- Workshops
- Camps
- Festivals

You can apply two times per year for such a grant. The deadlines are:

01. April;
if your project starts between 01. January and 30. June the following year (e.g. 01. April 2009 if you have a project for June 2010)
01. October;
if your project starts between 01. April and 31. December the following year (e.g. 01. October 2008 if you have a project for September 2009 - excellent for the 20 Anniversary of ESN!)

Grant D is for pilot projects which are creative, lead to new approaches of youth participation in Europe, bring (young) people closer together (social cohesion) or deal with changes in society.

You can apply anytime during the year until 3 months before your project starts (e.g. 01. September if you have a project in December)

You will get no money for e.g. profit making events, tourism, and statutory meetings (read more here)

First steps

It seems like a lot of bureaucracy but once you take the first steps, you see it is not difficult at all. By the way, you always can get support from ESN International; just contact us.

So, for a successful project application, do the follwing steps:

Register your section here
Think of a project – get ideas and help from the Project Development WG
Look for partners – locally, internationally (get support from the International Board)
Write the grant application using the online application form (you need to be logged in to access it) – get support from the Grant WG
Submit your project – Good luck

Tips

To make your project most succesful with the highest chances of funding you should consider the following points:

Size doesn't matter but quality! A pub crawl with 150 participants will have no chance of funding, but a good workshop with 20 participants certainly has.
International organising teams: Get in touch with a section from another country!
Geographical distribution of participants: Make your event as international as possible
Learning objectives: Design your event so that participants can take some knowledge home
Feasible budget: Don't exaggerate, but also don't write too little amounts

Stick to your promises as much as possible! Still deviations from the original plan are possible (e.g. Your university rector as a speaker but only Vice-rector shows up; but not, 'we make an intercultural seminar and then you only do a Eurodinner)