Registration of applications to grant competitions for 2021 carried out by Act Locally Centers has been launched. Informal groups, communal or municipal institutions, and NGOs may get up to PLN 6,000 for activities aimed at the common good. The total fund earmarked by Polish-American Freedom Foundation for that fund is PLN 3,5 million.
Robotic classes, street-games, a new playground, zero-waste or cooking workshops, classes of furniture modernization and renovation, outdoor cinema, sports activities for the disabled or for seniors, and many other ideas have an opportunity to be implemented thanks to Act Locally program. Grants go to projects that contribute to solving defined local problem, respond to the residents’ needs, promote local traditions, history or tourist attractions, introduce application of innovative solutions in local community, help develop the residents’ skills and improve their chances for education and progress, change local neighborhood and make the commune or municipality more attractive.
Who can apply?
A grant for local projects can be awarded to NGOs and informal groups operating in the villages and small towns of up to 20,000 residents. They have to be carried out in a commune or municipality covered by the Act Locally Center. It can be checked on www.dzialajlokalnie.pl in „Zasięg programu bookmark.
“It is important that the project under ‘Act Locally’ is carried out jointly by residents, local institutions, with participation of volunteers, local governments, local entrepreneurs and media. The rules of participation in the program are made to be friendly to organizations and civil groups that are less experienced,” program coordinator Paweł Zań explains.
What can you get a grant for?
Under each of ALC’s competitions there are several or more grants (of maximum PLN 6,000 each) for projects with clear objective, well planned, with tangible effect and sensible costs of implementation, which are to be carried out jointly by the residents and local institutions and sensibly involve local resources (natural, social, human and financial).
In 2021, it is especially worth carrying out projects that counteract negative effects of the pandemic and eco-initiatives.
Apart from that, projects may be related to such areas as social assistance, science, education, culture, arts, protection of cultural goods and tradition, health care, activities benefitting the disabled, employment promotion and activation of the unemployed, popularization and protection of women’s rights, sightseeing and leisure time activities for children and young people. But it can also be nature protection, public order and security, counteracting social pathology, promotion and organization of volunteering, charity, or activities supporting integration and local community development.
Decisions on awarding grants to projects are made at local level. Each Act Locally Center sets up a grant committee composed of independent experts and donors.
When and how to submit an application?
The application deadlines are in May or June, as individual ALCs decide. The list of deadlines is available on “Act Locally” website.
“ We encourage you to learn the rules of accepting applications adopted by the Act Locally Center selected by you. It can be found on the website of that organization. Applications can be submitted only and exclusively via the generator available on www.system.dzialajlokalnie.pl” , Paweł Zań says.
About “Act Locally”
It is a program of Polish-American Freedom Foundation managed by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland in cooperation with a network of 78 Act Locally Centers. It supports and activates local communities in villages and small towns through civil projects that are important for the residents, serve awakening developmental aspirations and improving the quality of life, as well as contribute to building social capital. Since 2000, over 12,000 local projects have been supported; over 4 m people have been involved in their implementation, including ca. 230,000 volunteers.
Act Locally Centers are organizations that run local grant competitions allowing to award funds received from PAFF as well as raised thanks to donations from local governments, entrepreneurs and individual people. They are also involved in training activities and consulting, and they support volunteering.
For more information visit: http://dzialajlokalnie.pl/zasady-programu/
