Artists or cultural workers can apply for a subsidy either as individuals or as organizations/groups, informal and formal, cultural NGOs and institutions.
A project (programme, action, etc) is eligible if:
The project proposal is submitted in a standard Application Form for Small Actions;
The project documentation is complete;
The project corresponds to the regionaland/or national priorities of the Swiss Cultural Programme; The project corresponds to the criteria as stated bellow;
The project proposal is submitted in due time according to the deadlines (see News);
The required support does not exceed CHF 20,000. Please note: Swiss Cultural Programme supports exchange and cooperation within the country and among the countries within the Programme. Cooperation with the countries formerly included in the Programme: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, can also be supported. Cooperation with other Western and Eastern European and non-European countries is considered exceptionally upon events of major importance.
The following criteria are valid for the programme line small actions. For an application to advance in the selection stage (which is competitive), a project must first demonstrate that it is eligible and that it meets at least one of the regional priorities. If it meets also the national priority this is an asset. At the selection stage, all the eligible projects will be assessed against the criteria and the best chosen for support.
a) Programme eligibility criteria
Projects must not be:
Resubmissions; incomplete files; requests for over 20,000 CHF;
For work with children (though work with children as one project-component, but not the main one, is eligible);
For infrastructure, building costs or cultural heritage;
For running costs by a public institution or governmental bodies
For formal education or scholarships, for health or sports services;
From political, religious, military or trade union organisations;
Discriminatory or anti-democratic in content;
For exclusively commercial activity.
In addition eligible projects must:
Directly advance at least one regional priority area and/or correspond to national priority of the Programme ;
Target a public audience;
Happen in the country or be undertaken by inhabitants;
Contribute to the budget (in cash or in kind);
Respect financial, management and legal norms;
Accept the grant conditions of SCP. The same project (festival, reviews) cannot be supported more than two times in a row.
An eligible Regional Small Action in addition must:
Have participants from at least 3 programme countries (including Montenegro, which can participate in a Regional Small Action, but not be the hosting country)
Be developed by partners (organizations/individuals) from at least 3 programme countries
Contribute to exchange of experience and promotion of best practices;
Have an impact on regional level
b) Selection criteria for Small Actions:
Only proposals that satisfy the eligibility criteria outlined above will be brought to the country boards for decisions about funding. At that point, applications will be ranked according to the following selection criteria:
Artistic quality: For the purposes of assessment, artistic quality will be considered in terms of the following elements (a) technique (b) originality (c) ambition (d) resonance and (e) magic.
Innovation: Projects should demonstrate innovation in their ideas or practice, though it was also accepted that innovation depends on context.
Community development: Projects should be able to demonstrate a clear and achievable community outcome; applicants should be aware of what they aim to do beyond their artistic goals, and have a clear plan for achieving that.
Partnership: Projects should be outward facing and encourage cooperation with others, within and beyond the cultural sector.
Risk: A risk assessment will take account of matters such as the applicant's professionalism and track record, the likelihood of achieving match funding, the potential threats to a project's delivery and so on.
Value for money: Finally, each application will be assessed in relation to the outcomes produced in relation to the proposed cost to the Swiss Cultural Programme.
Application form can be downloaded from the top of this page or sent to you by e-mail upon your request. Complete applications should be returned to the office by electronic mail.
NB: Please don't send only hard copies of the application forms, nevertheless they may bare your MP signature and the original stamp; the procedure of presenting applications to the Board requests them to be submitted in electronic form.
Project documentation though (in hard copy, CD, video or other format) should be sent by regular mail to PRO HELVETIA Belgrade office (see Contacts). The Belgrade office always confirms the reception of the application and/or the documentation; if you don't receive such a confirmation, please contact the office.
The first selection of applications, in general terms of eligibility,
is done by PRO HELVETIA Belgrade office. If a project corresponds
to the Programme guidelines, it will be considered for a subsidy
by the National Advisory Board.
The Board consists of five members: four local experts in the field
of art and culture and one representative from the SDC as the funder.
The Board meets three times per year, in mid January, May and September,
in order to consider the projects which shall be realized in the
following four-month period: February-May, June-September, and October-January.
The local office processes and presents projects to the Board in
a concise form standardized on the Programme level, minimum one
week prior to the meeting. Deadlines for receiving applications
by the office are thus set approximately four weeks before the dates
of the Board meetings.
The Board decides which projects shall be supported and defines
the purpose and the amount of the grant. The decision of the Board
is delivered in an official letter from PRO HELVETIA Belgrade office.
Please note: Project ideas and proposals are treated with
discretion and full respect of authorship.
Decisions of the Board cannot be a subject of complaint.
Approved projects will receive 50% of the allocated grant
as an advance payment prior to the project realization.
The second part of the grant shall be transferred upon finalizing
a project (RETROACTIVELY) and receiving the two reports:
The narrative report should present in brief how the project
was realized, with emphases on the granted purposes, and documented
by specimen copies of publications, CDs, promo material, press clipping,
etc. Please use the standardized form for narrative report. You can download it or requested from our office in electronic form.
The financial report should provide a clear explanation on
how the grant was used, as a final statement of accounts - a list
of expenses documented by original invoices. In case the originals
cannot be left with Pro Helvetia, it is necessary to submit them
for inspection together with the photocopies. Please use the standardized
form for financial report. You can download-here
or requested from our office in electronic form.
We expect the grantees to send a notification on project commencement
and/or invitations for public events: performances, openings, lectures,
screenings, etc. Selected projects are monitored and evaluated by
the representatives of the Programme.
Logos
The support of the Swiss Cultural Programme Serbia
should be mentioned with official logos in the project outcome (publications,
magazines, etc) and the printed material regarding the project (press,
catalogue, posters, etc) on the appropriate place. Five versions of the logo, depending whether the
background is white, black or colour are available (download
here).
Guide through the Application Form
In order to consider your application we need complete and precise
information. Application is considered complete if no substantial
information on the project is missing from the application form.
The project should be worked out in detail, providing as much factual
information as possible (Who, What, Where, When, How...).
Please note: Only one project can be submitted
by one applicant (NGO, institution, individual...) per application
period. If you apply with more projects, you will be asked to
choose one that shall be presented to the Board.
Please note: The application form should be completed in
English. In case you need further assistance or clarifications
in completing the application form you may contact the office
directly.
The Application form consists of questions on Organization,
Project, Budget and Financial plan.
Organization:
Who is the Organizer?
The organizer can be an individual, a group of individuals,
an NGO or an institution. If there are several partner organizations
involved in a project, the organizer should be the one who holds
official prerogatives.
Who is a Person in charge for the realization of the
project?
One, maximum two persons in charge for project coordination/realization
should be stated. This person shall also be your contact with
the Programme in the process of completing of your application.
Your Contacts:
Please state the address, phone numbers, e-mail address etc.
of the organizer i.e. the person in charge.
Project:
Project title:
Please state the title of the project you are organizing, but,
in case you are applying for e.g. an action within a large Festival,
do include the title of the main project.
Time of realization:
Your project may take months of preparation or gradual realization
in order to be executed (exhibited, performed, recorded...)
in few hours; please state the total time needed for the project
realization. If the project is to be realized in phases, please
include this information too.
Place(s) of the project realization:
It is necessary to know the exact place (venue, hall, gallery...)
where your project shall be realized. Non-specified answers
indicate potential risks in the project realization. If your
project is to be realized in a non-belonging space, please attach
a Letter of Intent of a partner organization.
Detailed Description of the project:
We are interested in your concept, participants, technical details,
dynamics of realization etc. It is in your interest to present
the project in detail. Factual precision contributes to the
credibility of the project, and a detailed description helps
to recognize and understand the specific qualities of your project.
Priority areas:
Project has to be relevant to at least one of the priority areas
as defined in the Country Concept Serbia and Montenegro. Please
mark the priority area-s applicable for your project.
Objectives:
Please state affirmative artistic and social values that shall
be achieved by the realization of your project.
NB: The space left within any of the sections does not restrict
you in regard to the volume of the text. We kindly ask you to include
all relevant information in the Application form. Attached separate
project proposals shall not be considered. Please remember that
your application is one among a large number of applications that
have to be presented to the decision making body in a standardized
form.
Budget:
By the regulations of the Programme subsidies will be given to specific
projects: events, issues, editions, etc even if they are a phase
or an event within a project which runs for longer or infinite time
(for instance: one issue of a quarterly; participation of specified
artists in a yearly debate / workshop / lecture programme; one performance
or a screening within a festival; etc).
Subsidies will be given for particular and clearly listed costs.
It is therefore necessary to present the entire budget plan of your
project: please state all the costs that you expect will occur during
the realization of the project.
Production costs:
Please state all the costs you may meet in producing the outcome
of your project: items or goods which you will purchase or rent;
renting of a rehearsing / performing space; renting of technical
equipment, renting of a van (bus, truck...); services provided
by companies of firms: printing costs, music studio rent, etc.
Mobility costs:
Here you can present: travel costs; accommodation; per diem;
local transportation for persons out of station (in another
town or country); etc. Visa expenses, health insurance, airport
fees etc. also belong here.
Organization and administration costs:
Organization costs are expenses which the organizer bares while
organizing for example an event: office rental and maintenance;
electricity; local transportation in your home town; etc, including
administration costs/office expenses: correspondence/communication
(telephone, internet, postage, etc); office material; photocopying,
etc.
Fees and copyrights:
Please state all the honorary payments that will be made through
a contract or a receipt, for example: translation costs; designer's
fees; actors' fees; accountant's fees; tailor's fees; etc. Here
you should also present the copyrights (if applicable). NB: Don't forget to count in the compulsory taxes.
Other costs:
In this section you can present promotional costs: advertising
in newspapers and other media, production of a radio or TV clip,
website related expenses, etc. representational costs: catering,
refreshments, cocktail, etc. project specific costs; reserve
fund; etc.
NB: Please feel free to insert more rows if necessary.
Financial plan:
The Financial plan shows how you intend to provide finances to cover
the costs listed in the budget.
Please note: In accordance with its principles of partnership
and sustainability the Swiss Cultural Programme shall not be the
only donor to a project. It is thus necessary that matching support
from other sources is obtained. Contributions of the organizer,
monetary or non-monetary, are also recognized as matching funding.
The plan should show to whom you have applied (first
column); whether you request is still pending or it
is approved already (second and third column); for
which budget purpose/item (forth column) you will
use the grant; the requested amount (fifth column).
In the first column: Subsidies requested/granted from...
you should state other foundations, institutional funds, corporations
and sponsors which you have addressed for support. The costs that
you as an organizer are covering or baring yourself should be
stated here as well.
If your application is waiting for an answer, please tick in
the second column: Requested; if it is already approved,
please tick in the third column: Granted.
The forth column is a place to show the purpose of the financial
request to a particular source. In order to make it simple you
should cite the 'code' of the items as listed in the budget.
For example:
You have addressed KLM with a request to sponsor the airplane
tickets for the participants coming abroad. This item belongs
in B section: Mobility costs. In
B section you have also listed:
Plane tickets shall thus be presented as budget item B3,
referring with B to Mobility costs and
with number 3 to a specific budget item within
the section.
In the fifth column you should state the amount requested
from a particular financial source.
Please note: All the amounts should be presented in SWISS
FRANCS. If you need more rows then given in the table, please
feel free to insert them yourself.
There are two more information we need from you: If you should
earn some money from selling catalogues, publications, tickets
etc. please state the expected amount in a row: Income expected.
In the row: Amount asked from the Swiss Cultural Programme
please define not only the amount you are requesting, but
also budget items which are the purpose of the grant. Applications
which do not provide information about the purpose of the requested
contribution cannot be considered.
Please note: The total amount of the Financial Plan should
match the total of the Budget.
Application Form can be downloaded at the beginning of
this page.
Short CVs of artists and/or organizations initiating
or participating in the project (sent by e-mail);
Information about the previous artistic work: photos,
brochures, catalogs, press cuttings, video/audio cassettes,
CDs, DVDs, etc. Please remember: It is not the quantity
that counts: choose relevant or most representative pieces;
In case the project involves partner organizations
and/or individuals, Statements of Participation or Letters
of Intent should be submitted.
Mobility grants should be documented by Invitation letters
sent by the organizers.
NB: Project documentation (including video, audio, etc. material)
is not returned to the applicants unless requested.
How to Apply for Small Actions?