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

Over half of the annual development cooperation budget for NGOs is used to support ten organisations that have signed a ‘Partnership Organisation Agreement’ with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

However, the MFA also grants support to Finnish non-governmental organisations for project preparatory missions and to cover travel costs resulting from participation in international conferences by representatives of developing countries. Specific information on the eligibility to receive such funds can be found on the website.

Finnish development cooperation support for NGOs is channelled through several funding opportunities. The co-financing instrument described below offers funds for projects in developing countries that are carried out only by NGOs registered in Finland.

No minimum or maximum amounts specified. If the requested grant size exceeds €20,000 a year, the project is considered a large project. In this case more rigorous audit requirements apply.

Self-financing must be at least 15% of the project's total costs. In projects targeted towards the disabled, the percentage of own contribution may be reduced to 7.5%.

As a general principle, the self-financing has to originate from Finnish sources and the sources have to be clarified in the application. However, where the NGO has problems collecting the self-financing share from Finnish sources, the Ministry may also consider international financing to be included in the self-financing share.

Financing from other Finnish state support sources is not regarded as self-financing; the NGO’s own financial share for the project must be true financing, collected specifically for the project concerned. Funds may be collected through collections, events, selling of products, donations, etc. Voluntary work and contributions in-kind may also be regarded as self-financing. However, their share may not exceed 7.5% of the project’s total costs.

The Finnish support is aimed at supplementing local resources. The bigger the local share of the financing, the better the possibilities to create a sustainable basis for continuing the operations after the project has been completed. It is therefore extremely important that the project relies not only on the Finnish support. Local resources – work, materials, tools and equipment, rooms and facilities, and financing – may however, not be included in the Finnish NGO’s self-financing share.

NGOs applying for co-financing from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs have to support the central principles of Finnish development cooperation policies as stated in Finland’s “Policy on Relations with Developing Countries”:

•    Reduction of widespread poverty, with increasing gender equality being an integral part of poverty reduction work
•    Prevention of global environmental problems to achieve the principle of sustainable development
•    Promotion of human rights and democracy
•    Promotion of global security, i.e. peace building and the development of human and ecological security
•    Promotion of economic dialogue in order to foster the integration of least-developed countries into the world economy

As well as complying with these basic principles, all projects must be financially, socially and environmentally sustainable. The results of the project’s activities should provide the basis for further, self-reliance based development.

The MFA explicitly encourages NGOs to widen the scope of their cooperation beyond the traditional social and education projects towards population policy, environmental, democracy and human rights as well as cultural cooperation activities. Therefore, projects addressing population and SRHR issues should have good chances to be selected for co-financing, provided they follow the rules and grant making criteria as closely as possible.
Finland also encourages NGOs to widen Finnish development cooperation to countries with which Finland does not practice official development cooperation.

NGOs applying for co-financing from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs have to support the central principles of Finnish development cooperation policies as stated in Finland’s “Policy on Relations with Developing Countries”:

•    Reduction of widespread poverty, with increasing gender equality being an integral part of poverty reduction work
•    Prevention of global environmental problems to achieve the principle of sustainable development
•    Promotion of human rights and democracy
•    Promotion of global security, i.e. peace building and the development of human and ecological security
•    Promotion of economic dialogue in order to foster the integration of least-developed countries into the world economy

As well as complying with these basic principles, all projects must be financially, socially and environmentally sustainable. The results of the project’s activities should provide the basis for further, self-reliance based development.

The MFA explicitly encourages NGOs to widen the scope of their cooperation beyond the traditional social and education projects towards population policy, environmental, democracy and human rights as well as cultural cooperation activities. Therefore, projects addressing population and SRHR issues should have good chances to be selected for co-financing, provided they follow the rules and grant making criteria as closely as possible.
Finland also encourages NGOs to widen Finnish development cooperation to countries with which Finland does not practice official development cooperation.

The Department for Development Policy has published a "Development Cooperation Manual for Non-Governmental Organisations" for NGO project proposals. Part I of the manual sets out the guidelines for project planning while part II explains the procedures that apply for NGO co-financing as well as containing detailed instructions for completing the application form, project plan and annual report. The manual can be downloaded here: http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?nodeid=34673&contentlan=2&culture=en-US

No maximum project duration specified. However, support is granted for one year at a time. In some cases, the Ministry may make a budget reservation for two subsequent years. Funds should normally be used during the year of approval and be drawn no later than October in that year.

Project proposals are generally submitted by May 31st, unless otherwise stated. Processing of applications will take around six months.

The application schedule for project proposals will be published annually in Finnish newspapers and on the web site of the Department for Development Policy.  Application forms and guidelines may either be obtained from the Department’s Unit for Non-governmental organisations or the website.

 

Applications must be completed on the Ministry’s specific forms and should include all information necessary for assessment. The mandatory appendices and other required documents must also be enclosed. All necessary information must be included in the application form, not only the appendices.

As the decision to grant financial support is made on the basis of the project plan, NGOs should always present the detailed project plan in accordance with the Project Plan Form for Development Cooperation Projects with NGOs. The project plan will have to include clearly stated objectives and related indicators that will enable sufficient monitoring and evaluation of the NGO’s actions.

When financing has been approved, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs informs the recipient of the conditions that will be applied. The NGO must then approve and officially sign the conditions document, which serves as a binding agreement between the Ministry and the recipient NGO, and return it to the Ministry within the given time frame.

Progress reports will have to be prepared by the NGO for each project on an annual basis. These should be prepared using the standard forms provided with the "Development Cooperation Manual for Non-Governmental Organisations" and sent to the Ministry by the end of April the following year. At the end of the project, a final report must be submitted, highlighting impacts, sustainability, problems and lessons-learned as well as wider applicability of the project’s results.

Finnish, Swedish or English

The instructions for project proposals given in the "Development Cooperation Manual for Non-Governmental Organisations" are very specific and should therefore be followed as closely as possible. The better you provide the information required and follow the guidelines, the better your chances are to get the application approved.

Kehys, the Finnish NGO platform, offers useful advice to NGOs on how to apply for co-financing from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.¹

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