About the EYF:

The European Youth Foundation (EYF) is a fund established by the Council of Europe to provide financial and educational support for European youth activities.

Eligibility: 

Only youth NGOs from Council of Europe member states, as well as the European Cultural Convention Signatories: Belarus, Kazakhstan, and the Holy See, can apply to the Foundation.

The mission, roles, and responsibilities of the Directorate of Democratic Participation:

• Enable Europe’s citizens to participate effectively in today’s diverse and complex democratic societies. 

• Encourages active and responsible citizenship by empowering citizens to contribute and develop a sense of ownership over the activities of decision-makers and institutions.

Criteria

The following hard criteria are a requirement for an international activity:

• Must fall under the Youth Sector Priorities in effect during the activity; 
• Participants must represent at least 7 Council of Europe member states*; 
• It has to be run by an international team (4 nationalities represented in the project team); 
• 75 % of participants under 30 years old; 
• A gender and geographical balance must be ensured; 
• A gender perspective is taken into account throughout the whole process. 
• Importance is also given to a non-formal education approach in your projects.

No longer a hard criterion for an international activity:

• Minimum duration of four working days (based on the principles of non-formal education/learning)

PS: NGOs applying for activities lasting less than four days will have to convince the EYF that the activity is based on a non-formal education approach.

The application process

Every NGO interested in applying to the European Youth Foundation has to go through this process.

• NGO registration

NGO wishing to apply for a grant must first of all register online.

• Grant application

There are four kinds of grants open to different types of organisations:

• International activities (open to  international, national, regional, NGOs/networks)
• Annual work plans (open to international NGOs/networks, can include pilot activities)
• Pilot activities (open to local, national, regional NGOs/networks)
• Structural grants (open to international and regional NGOs/networks)

Projects must fit the current priorities of the Council of Europe’s youth sector.

Grant application tips

1. Check the forms & guidelines documents before starting work on your application in the online system. Use them to draft the application. A model daily programme, a budget form and list of participants are also provided.
2. Read the explanatory text (watermarks) and help buttons in the online system.
3. Try to be as clear and concrete as possible.
4. Give your application to someone else to read before submitting it to EYF (just to make sure it’s easy to understand for an outsider that does not have your experience).

• EYF assessment

Each application will be assessed by three different people in the secretariat.

• The first person checks the application according to the 3 Cs –clear, coherent, convincing. 
• The second impression’s focus is on the content and methodology of the application. 
• The third person, as soon as the communication is closed, will prepare a recommendation for the next stage of the process, the decision-making.

More information on our approach and how we work

• Decision

The EYF secretariat only prepares a recommendation which is passed onto the Programming Committee on Youth which takes all decisions about applications.

Who can apply?

• International non-governmental youth organizations can apply on their own; 
• International networks of youth NGOs can apply on their own; 
• Regional networks of youth NGOs can apply on their own; 
• National non-governmental youth organizations can apply if the activity is prepared in partnership with at least 3 other national NGOs or networks from different countries or with at least 1 international NGO or network.

Deadlines for EYF grant applications

• Deadline 1 April (midnight CET)

– International activities to be carried out between 1 January and 30 June (1st half of the following year)

– Annual work plans for following year

• Deadline 1 October (midnight CET)

– International activities to be carried out between 1 April and 31 December (2nd half of the following year)

– Annual work plan for following year

– One-off structural grants for following year (regional network)

Reference:

1. Funding opportunities, the European Youth Foundation, https://funding-opportunities.org/en/opportunity/1009/european-youth-foundation 2. Council of Europe, the European Youth Foundation, https://www.coe.int/en/web/european-youth-foundation/home