FAQ

A: Yes. To create a new application with an already existing account:

• Go to the homepage (http://my.visegradfund.org) without logging in.
• Under registration, select the program that you want to apply for and register again using the e-mail address and password belonging to your existing account.
• Fill out the data of your organization and click on the Register button.

A: You can submit one project application for each deadline. Please note that if you submit more than one applications, we will only consider the first submitted one. Any further applications will automatically be disregarded.

Should your application be approved in a grant scheme (e.g. Visegrad Grants), you will not be able to submit another project until the previous one is fully concluded. It is, however, possible to apply for another project in a different grant scheme (e.g. Visegrad+ Grant) for another deadline.

A: Although Visegrad, Visegrad+ and Strategic Grants have no strict limitation for the size of the financial support you can apply for, our average project budget does not exceed €20.000. Each submitted proposal is evaluated on its on merit, taking into account the potential outreach and impact of the project, the elaboration of the grant budget in the "Outputs" section and adherence to the "value-for-money" principle.

In order to get an estimate of the average size of our grants, check out our previously approved projects here.

A: Consulting your project proposal with the Fund’s staff is possible via e-mail, phone, Skype or personal meeting, on an appointment basis. Consultations can take place up to 14 days before the given application deadline.

A: Project proposals are only accepted electronically through the Fund’s online application system (http://my.visegradfund.org), which opens 30 days before each deadline. Registering your application is possible only with a valid e-mail address. Each application is password-protected, and can be accessed and edited later.

Our application system is fully electronic and therefore we require no printouts or hard copies of the application form. Please note that the Fund will not accept nor evaluate any external documents, attachments, official letters sent to us via e-mail or regular post.

A: Proposals for Visegrad Grants, Visegrad+ Grants or Visegrad Strategic Grants are accepted regularly three times per year, always by February 1, June 1 and October 1. Applications must be submitted 12:00 p.m. (noon) CET on the given deadline date.

A: A grantee can have a maximum of two running projects at the same time, in different grant schemes (e.g. applicants having a running Visegrad Grant may apply for Visegrad+ Grants or Strategic Grants.)

A: Organizations with running projects cannot reapply in the same grant program with another project until the previous one is concluded (officially closed by your assigned project manager). It is, however, possible to be a partner in any number of projects.

Faculties of universities, institutes, or organizational units of academical, artistic, social, educational, cultural, research and/or science organizations can be exempt from this rule if a different organizational unit applies (e.g. the university has a running project managed by the Faculty of Arts and the new application is submitted by the Faculty of Economics). Please note that this exemption is valid only if the applicant can, according to their own internal rules, apply for funding independently.

The new application will be accepted only if the organizational unit is correctly entered when filling out the application form (section “Organizational unit”).

A: No. Preference is given based on the project content as long as the project is in line with the Fund’s main mission, objectives and the Grant rules (see also the IVF official website).

A: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

A: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia

A: Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia

A: Visegrad+ Grants support projects which contribute to the democratization and transformation processes in non-EU member states of the Western Balkans (WB) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Projects can address one of our regular objectives. Visegrad+ Grants should be implemented in the Eastern Partnership or Western Balkans region, or have a strong impact on local communities in at least one of those countries.

Please note that simply having a project partner/applicant from the EaP or WB region does not automatically make an application qualify for a Visegrad+ Grant!

Conditions for applying:

Projects must develop meaningful cooperation and ensure active involvement of at least 3 V4 partners and 1 entity from the EaP region or the Western Balkans countries.

The maximum duration of project implementation is 18 months.

A: Strategic Grants support projects addressing the annual strategic priorities of the Visegrad Group. These priorities are announced on a yearly basis by the V4 country holding the rotating presidency over the group.

Please note that Strategic Grants have a different set of conditions than our other grant programs:

A strong partnership involving at least 1 organization from each V4 country (full V4 participation).

An implementation period of min. 12, max. 36 months.

Projects must clearly address one of the annual strategic priorities of the Visegrad Group, available on our website.

Please keep in mind that projects applying with objectives marked as “(Strategic)” in our application system will be evaluated based on the rules applying for Strategic Grants. Should your application not comply with these criteria, the application will be automatically considered non-eligible.

A: Bilateral cross-border cooperation is a sub-type of the Visegrad Grants, involving at least 2 organizations from two neighboring V4 countries. Here the “3xV4” rule does not apply; you can implement your project with another partner from the other side of the border if your proposal addresses a specific geographical area and a local issue/problem. If the project addresses a general issue, this problem should be tackled and addressed while taking the local context into consideration and from a local perspective. Consequently, all project activities within cross-border projects should take place within approximately 40 km from the state border, preferably on both sides (the grantee’s and project partner’s official seats do not necessarily have to be located within the 40 km limit).

Keep in mind that projects applying as cross-border cooperation (by ticking the field in our application system) will be evaluated based on the rules applying for this project type. Should your application not comply with these criteria, the application will be automatically considered non-eligible.

Please note that only the following partner combinations are possible:

Polish and Czech partnership

Czech and Slovak partnership

Hungarian and Slovak partnership

Slovak and Polish partnership.

A: Visegrad grants support regional partnerships among civil society organizations, public institutions and municipalities, private companies and non-profit organizations as well as education and research centers that contribute to cooperation in the Visegrad region.

Conditions for applying:

Projects must develop meaningful cooperation and active participation of organizations from at least three V4 countries.

Projects must address at least one of the objectives of the grant program´s seven focus areas.

Maximum duration of project implementation is 18 months.

A: Any non-governmental legal entity from any country can be an official partner. As a general rule, however, all IVF-funded projects must have at least three organizations from three different V4 countries in the consortium. Logically, if the applicant has its seat in the V4, only two more partners are required (e.g. the applicant is a Polish organization, the partners are from Czechia and Hungary). If applying from outside the V4, however, make sure that you fulfil the condition of having three V4 partners. We recommend having the whole Visegrad region covered in the partnership and, therefore, proposals with a full V4 consortium will have preference.

The selection of relevant partners is fundamental for a successful project bid. In principal, all partners within the consortium should have experience in the area your project is dealing with and show commitment for joint action. To show the benefits of working as a consortium, you need to describe the role of each partner in the application and the specific tasks that they will carry out.

Please note that the role of the partners cannot be limited to simple logistical help or participation in project events. We expect our applicants and their partners to actively work together throughout the project’s implementation and share their skills and know-how for the benefit of the whole region.

Bilateral cross-border projects are an exception from the “3xV4” rule but only in proposals that directly benefit a specific border area between two neighboring V4 countries (see section 1.10). Exceptions may also apply in cases when projects respond to concrete calls for proposals published by the Fund.

A: Natural persons (individual citizens) or institutions of state administration (ministries, government agencies, regulatory agencies, embassies, state-funded cultural institutes, etc.) can neither apply nor be valid project partners.

Private entrepreneurs are not eligible to apply or be partners.