Background	Project Duration
Grant Size	Deadline
Own Contribution	Application Forms
Funding Priorities	Application & Procedures
Grantmaking Criteria	Languages
Guidelines	Tips

BMZ is the Federal Ministry for Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Germany and has different funding lines. In 2005, Germany's overall ODA budget was US$ 9.915 billion. The German ODA has different funding lines for financial co-operation, technical co-operation and exchange of personnel. BMZ supports both bilateral governmental co-operation and bilateral non-governmental organisations abroad. BMZ makes intra-governmental agreements on the basis of German ODA. Non-governmental support is only given to German NGOs (in co-operation with overseas institutions). This programme supports large-scale projects by German NGOs together with their overseas partners.

The maximum grant size for large-scale projects is Euro 500,000 per project.

25% own contribution is required (minimum 10% from the German partner and up to 15% from other non-governmental sources, although the German partner can also finance the full 25%).

Funding can be provided for projects and that bring about a direct and sustained improvement in the economic, social or ecological situation of the poor in the partner countries, provide effective support to the self-help efforts of these people and involve them as partners in the process of planning and implementation or foster observance of human rights in the partner countries. No restrictions apply within combined projects (= different activities, i.e. costs for training, hardware and equipment, personnel or transport). However, the combined total of personnel and regular costs should not exceed 50% of the total project costs. This means that at least 50% of the total budget is to be spent on investments in the field of structure building measures.

• Before applying for this type of grant, a smaller project (see D2) must be finalized by the German applicant
• German NGO as applicant and grantee is a prerequisite
• Only charitable and registered NGOs may apply
• Clearly defined goals and activities as described in the application package
• Co-operation with appropriate German partners is desired
• Experienced in development work is a precondition for the German NGO (minimum of three years experience)
• German NGO and beneficiary must be two separate institutions, one being independent from the other
• Additional background information (i.e. budget of the last three years; fundraising activities; facts showing the capability and capacity of the NGOs or institutions to handle this kind of project).

The detailed and complex guidelines should be followed explicitly. Please see "Förderung entwicklungswichtiger Vorhaben privater deutscher Träger in Entwicklungsländern" (Titel 68706, Kapitel 2302) (Support of development projects by private German organisations in developing countries). These guidelines can be downloaded at the BENGO web site (see “Tips”).

The maximum project duration is four years.

No deadline applies.

German organisations can order application forms directly from BMZ or the BENGO consultancy office. Application forms can also be downloaded from the BENGO web site (see “Tips”). Organisations from developing countries should contact their German NGO partner to receive application forms.¹

All proposals should be submitted to the BENGO consultancy office, which can also offer helpful advice how to fill out the application forms. (see “Tips”). NGOs from developing countries should complete the application together with a German NGO partner and proceed accordingly. The contact organisation for BMZ must be the German NGO. Please follow the formal rules and procedures closely as incomplete applications will lead to the rejection of the proposal.

German

Before large-scale projects can be approved, one small-scale project by the German NGO partner must have been finalised and approved.
To complete an application, a good knowledge of BMZ procedures is necessary and contact with officers and embassy representatives is advised.

The decision process is as follows: once they have passed the BENGO office, applications will be negotiated within the BMZ. Additional statements will be asked from Sectoral Departments within BMZ, the BMZ Country Department and the responsible German embassy. Therefore, it can be helpful to inform the German embassy in your partner country beforehand.²

_____________________________________________________________________________

1 Contact information can be found in the NGO Platform Contact Information section of this Guide.

² A list of German embassies can be found here.