Grants
Application Guideline

GRANTS OVERVIEW

Grassroots Projects Grants aim to provide and to democratise access to cultural funding for small cultural organisations, operators and activists in promoting tolerance, non-discrimination, freedom of expression, and democratic processes in the shrinking civic space of Turkey.

These grants are devised as an instrument to reach individuals and organisations that have an impact on local communities and audiences on a grassroots level. Grassroots Projects Grants focus on implementing a broad and flexible range of cultural projects that facilitate dialogue and examine social issues.

Structural Support Grants provide much-needed financial support for increased capacity to organisations and professionals in the field of arts and culture and related civil society engagement both in and beyond the three major urban centres of Ankara, İstanbul and İzmir. Structural Support Grants aim to strengthen the operational capacity of organizations to function independently and to sustain their operations by providing structural support.

Implementing projects depends to a great extent on the availability of venues and spaces for dialogue, presentation and audience development. Providing new and improved spaces for independent cultural activities, accessible to independent actors in the field of arts and culture, fosters cultural and artistic encounters as well as collaboration, resulting in audience growth and improvement in audience engagement.

Inter-city Networking Grants focus on the development of inter-city networks and dialogue between different actors beyond the urban and cultural centres of Ankara, İstanbul and İzmir. These grants foster decentralised exchange and network-building throughout Turkey.

The aim of these grants is the implementation of inter-city projects involving cultural actors from different cities – thus, only one of these cities can be designated as Ankara, İstanbul or İzmir to ensure geographical inclusion and diversity.

Art Production Grants are intended to fund stand-alone productions by visual artists between the ages of 25 and 45, who will work in tandem with well-established mentors from the Turkish art scene throughout the implementation of their project. This programme aims to provide mentoring and cultural infrastructure development opportunities as well as access to artistic networks within the international art scene for contemporary artists nationwide.

An important focus of the program will be on inclusion of emerging artists on wide geographic coverage extending beyond the urban and cultural centres of Ankara, İstanbul, and İzmir.

ELIGIBILITY OF APPLICANTS

Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements specific for each grant programme shown below in Table 1. Applicants must include proof of eligibility at the time of application.

The applicant must be resident in Turkey and carry out the project activities in Turkey.

Project applications may include co-applicants and associates, if appropriate. The co-applicant is the applicant's partner with whom he/she designs and executes the project. Associates are individuals and institutions that have duties in a certain part of the project.

Co-applicants and associates may be individuals or organizations. The applicant should specify the co-applicants' duties, responsibilities and budget allocation. The applicant should indicate the participants and their role in the project. Both the applicant and the co-applicant/participant must fill out the declaration on the portal.

The eligibility criteria that the applicant must meet are not mandatory for co-applicants and associates.

Table 1 also provides information about the co-applicants and third parties of each grant programme. The proof documents can be found in the “Supporting Documents” section.

The executives of the projects that are entitled to receive funding under CultureCIVIC can apply again after successfully completing their projects. An applicant cannot be a project manager and co-applicant in two projects at the same time. The project owner, who is actively carrying out a project, can only be a participant in another project within the same period. If you want to make a new application while you have a project you are running, you must first contact your project coordinator.

ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES

All activities must be carried out on a non-profit basis in the field of arts and culture and related civil society engagement. The aim and objectives of the proposed project should be clearly aligned with the funding priority of the grant programme applied for.

Priority will be given to those activities which support rights-based activities, bring together actors from different ethnic, religious, linguistic backgrounds and give special importance to cross-cutting issues such as promotion of gender equality, LGBTI+ rights, social cohesion, human rights, freedom of expression and children’s rights.

Eligible activities for each grant programme are shown in the Table 2. A proposed project may consist of several activities as long as they are linked logically and form a cohesive unit. For example, grantee may participate in an online conference and hold a workshop afterwards to share new knowledge with peers.

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Grant application must be supported by an estimated budget showing all the costs and revenues that the applicant considers necessary to carry out the project. The budget must be presented using the “Budget Spreadsheet” available on the website.

Should the applicant have another funding source, it must clarify this in the application form and in the projected budget for the proposed project. If there are any expected contributions to the project other than CultureCIVIC, they should be mentioned in the references section at the application stage. When it comes to the approval of the contract, it is required that other contributions are finalised.

The final grant amount will be calculated based on actual expenses. All unused grant funds must be returned to CultureCIVIC. Indirect costs of the applicant cannot exceed 5% of the total budget.

Cost effectiveness is one of the evaluation criteria. Budget proposals should be prepared in accord with the real operational expenditures.

The grantee must certify that the costs incurred can only be considered eligible in accordance with the Agreement and that the request for payment is substantiated by adequate supporting documents that can be produced in the context of receipts, official vendor statements and bank statements.

It is reminded that under the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Union, no grant may be awarded retrospectively for actions already completed.

A third party can also receive financial support from both CultureCIVIC and another EU fund provided that the criteria for the sub-granting that were elaborated are met and that the same cost is not financed twice by the EU funds.

If awarded the grant agreement, the lead applicant will become the beneficiary identified as the Coordinator. The Coordinator is the main interlocutor of the Contracting Authority. It represents and acts on behalf of any other co- beneficiaries and coordinates the design and implementation of the action.

Co-applicants can participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.

It will be compulsory to sign protocols among the lead applicant and their co- applicants before or during the implementation period to institutionalize the cooperation. If such tools already exist among the lead applicant and co- applicants, it is recommended to mention this in the application form.

Associates can play a useful role in projects, e.g. sponsorship, technical support, etc. but they cannot benefit directly from the grant except per diem or travel costs.

CultureCIVIC has to be notified of any changes in the financial planning in advance. The notification must be justified in time and approved by the project team in order to be eligible.

Failure to comply with the terms or conditions of the Grant Agreement may result in the grant payments being suspended, reduced, reclaimed or withheld, and/or the Grant offer being withdrawn.

For further information, see the “Budget Plan Manual” on the website.

GRANTS AMOUNTS

Maximum grant amounts for each project differ according to the grant programme:

• Grassroots Projects Grant Programme gives grants up to a maximum of EUR 8 250.
• Structural Support Grant Programme gives grants up to a maximum of EUR 12 500.
• Inter-City Networking Grant Programme gives grants up to a maximum of EUR 20 000.
• Art Production Grant Programme gives grants up to a maximum of EUR 3 000.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

All applications must be submitted through the Grant Application Portal of the Goethe-Institut. The link to the Grant Application Portal is only available on the project website.

Applicants should register on the application platform to be able to fill in an electronic application.

Applications should be submitted in Turkish.

Please note that the application form and the supporting documents can only be submitted when they are fully completed. It is therefore of utmost importance that these documents contain ALL the relevant information concerning the action.

Once the application is forwarded for review, no more changes or uploading any additional files will be possible.

The Grant Application Portal accepts applications for 8 weeks from the day it is opened.

An applicant can submit only one application within one open call.

By submitting an application for a grant, the applicant agrees for their personal data to be processed in compliance with GDPR requirements.

Applications after the deadline will not be accepted.

Applications via email or post will not be accepted.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The frequently asked questions page about the grant programs is constantly updated after the e-mails, messages we receive from you and the informational meetings we organise. After reviewing the application guide, we recommend that you review the frequently asked questions about the grant program you want to apply for, and before contacting the CultureCIVIC project team, check that your question about the application process is not on the FAQ page.

OPEN CALLS

There will be a total of 14 open calls in 4 different grant programmes. The application period for each grant programme is planned yearly and approximate application cycle is shown in the Table 3. Goethe-Institut Istanbul reserves the right to change the dates.

APPLICATION TIMELINE

The application timeline outlines key dates and deadlines in the 2023 application cycle for each grant programme. There will be open calls for Art Production, Grassroots Projects, Inter-city Networking and Structural Support in 2023. There will be 2 open calls for Grassroots Projects.

Goethe-Institut Istanbul reserves the right to change the dates.

EVALUATION AND SCORING

Applicants with no or difficult access to traditional funding sources are prioritised by CultureCIVIC. A selection quota will be applied for greater participation and diversity from cities other than İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir.

In each open call, a third of the grants to be given under the Grassroots Projects, Art Production and Inter-City Networking will go to selected applicants from Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir. For Structural Support, the total amount of grants in each open call will be equally allocated between applicants in these three hubs and other cities.

Applications that meet all the outlined application requirements are submitted to an independent jury after being reviewed by the CultureCIVIC team. The jury grades the applications on the basis of a set of established assessment criteria as shown in the following tables.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

The application forms require supporting documentation to be uploaded. Applicants will not be able to submit their applications until all supporting documents have been uploaded and all required fields have been filled in. Uploaded documents have to correspond to the eligibility criteria of the applied grant.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS

The results will be announced to all applicants via email six weeks after the application deadline. If the application is not successful, the applicant(s) can apply for the next open call or check other CultureCIVIC programmes.

Because of the large volume of applications, we are unable to provide every applicant with an explanation and individual feedback on the decision.

GRANT CONTRACTING

If the application is successful, additional documents required for the preparation of the grant contract will be requested. The applicant may be asked to elaborate on the proposed project or its budget.

If the proposal is selected for funding, the applicant will receive two (original) grant agreements which should both be sent back to the address indicated, initialled, signed and dated. The beneficiary will then receive from CultureCIVIC a countersigned original. Only when the agreement has been signed by both parties, the beneficiary is entitled to the grant.

The grant agreement explains, in detail, the grant amount, budget breakdown, financial requirements, payment schedule, general provisions, implementation and amendments and required reports. In addition, a document explaining the intellectual property rights of both parties will be sent to the grantees.

Projects must be completed within 12 months after the date the contracts are signed between grantees and CultureCIVIC.

REPORTING & COMMUNICATION

Grantees are required to provide progress reports and a final report on the dates specified in the Grant Agreement.

The reporting process starts from the beginning of the grant payment. Without a submitted progress report, grant payments cannot be continued.

All submitted reports will be monitored, evaluated and reviewed by the project team. Grantees may be asked to revise and re-submit the report where appropriate.

Final report should be provided at the latest one month after the end of the contractual period.

The remaining 5 percent of the grant will be allocated once the final report is submitted.

Grantees will receive detailed information about the reporting process before they sign the Grant Agreement.

Grantees are required to share news of grant awards, grant-supported activities, and any impact or outcomes from their work. All requested content will be utilised for the overall project communication, visibility and/or dissemination activities.

SUPPORT

This guideline and its annexes are the most fundamental supporting tools for applicants. Webinars will be held to inform wider audiences. The dates will be published on the project website. Applicants can also get direct support about the application procedure by contacting us at hibeler@culture-civic.org. The consultation period ends four days before the deadline for the submission. CultureCIVIC has no obligation to provide clarifications to questions received after this date.

This page is published on 23 June 2021.
Last update: 3 November 2023