Budget and financial management is a crucial part of project management. This is even more so for the grants that the European Youth Foundation provides to youth organisations, since the EYF budget is made up of public money for which there needs to be transparency and accountability.

For youth organisations, financial management is a continuous process linked to the activities carried out by the organisations to fulfil their mission. Making sure the money is well spent and that there are no losses which could have been avoided is also part of the sustainability of the organisations.

Within the projects that the EYF supports, financial and budget management is understood as an integral part of what the grantee organisation should look after, from the moment when they develop their project idea until they finalise the project reporting and their report is accepted by the EYF.

This page introduces the parameters and rules for the grants of the European Youth Foundation.

For each grant application, the applicant NGO will have to fill in a budget, indicating the project costs per types of expenditure and the amounts foreseen, and an income sheet indicating the sources of funding. Before starting to fill them in, NGOs should be familiar with the instructions for financial management and reporting of the EYF. These rules are fundamental in building up a consistent budget.

Budget rules for Pilot Activities

  • Maximum grant: 15 000 euros that cover the direct costs for the project
  • The budget can also include administrative costs, which may refer to salaries, office rent, insurance, electricity, water and heating bills, up to 7% of the grant awarded
  • When applying, you must indicate the full project duration. Please note that the full project duration means the period within which the project costs incur and project activities, including preparations or evaluation, happen. 
  • No co-financing required
  • Payment of the grant by the EYF: first instalment, 80% roughly 10 weeks before the project starts and the conditions in the contract (if any) are met, and 20% paid upon the receipt and approval of the final report of the project. 
  • For more information about Pilot Activity grants, check the specific page on our website. 

Budget rules for International Activities

  • When applying, you must indicate the full project duration, not only the dates of the meeting of young people. Please note that the full project duration means the period within which the project costs incur. The project duration must be within one calendar year (the project must end at the latest end December of the year concerned).
  • Maximum grant: 20 000 euros, that cover up to 2/3 of the total real costs of the project. Costs that can be covered by the EYF grant include: participant travel, accommodation and meals, trainer or expert fees, production of materials, renting of rooms and equipment.
  • When applying, you must indicate the full project duration, not only the dates of the meeting of young people. Please note that the full project duration means the period within which the project costs incur, and  and project activities, including preparations or evaluation, happen.
  • The budget can include VTR, up to 10% of the total budget. The volunteer cannot be remunerated (although travel, accommodation, and food can be covered) but the monetary value of the volunteer’s contribution can be included. If VTR is used, it must be present in both expenditure and income, and the amount must be the same in both tables. Find out more at the specific page.
  • Co-financing is required to cover at least 1/3 of the project budget
  • Payment of the grant by the EYF: first instalment, 80% roughly 10 weeks before the project starts and the conditions in the contract (if any) are met, and 20% paid upon the receipt and approval of the final report of the project.
  • For more information about International Activity grants, check the specific page on our website.
  • The EYF accepts salaries as co-funding, provided that your organisation can explain the involvement of the staff member in the project and the time dedicated to the project. However, should your organisation also receive an EYF structural grant, please note that the salaries must be included either as co-funding under the Work Plan/International Activity or under the Structural Grant and not under both. For more information, see in the financial management and reporting instructions. 
     

Budget rules for Work Plans

  • Maximum grant: 50 000 euros that cover the costs directly linked to the project
  • For the international activities (IA) within the workplan, the NGO needs to ensure the 1/3 co-financing for the international activities. The budget of the international activities can also include VTR. Find out more at the specific page. If more than one IA is included in the Work Plan, the sum of all costs for IAs is considered for the calculation of the 2 /3 – the total amount of EYF support for IAs cannot exceed 2/3 of the total expenditure for IAs.
  • Payment of the grant by the EYF foresees 3 instalments: 60% when the signed contract is sent to the EYF by post and the conditions in the contract (if any) are met, 25% upon assessment of the interim report and the remaining 15% upon receipt of a satisfactory activity and financial report.
  • For more information about Annual work plan grants, check the specific page on our website. 
  • The EYF accepts salaries as co-funding, provided that your organisation can explain the involvement of the staff member in the project and the time dedicated to the project. However, should your organisation also receive an EYF structural grant, please note that the salaries must be included either as co-funding under the Work Plan/International Activity or under the Structural Grant and not under both. For more information, see in the financial management and reporting instructions. 

Budget rules for Structural Grants

  • Maximum grant: €25 000 per year for 2 years (i.e. a maximum of €50 000 for 2 years) to cover for general administrative costs incurred by youth NGOs. 
  • A list of criteria for eligibility and allocation of Structural Grants is revised and approved by the Programming Committee on Youth ahead of each two-year cycle. Check this at the specific webpage.
VOLUNTEER TIME RECOGNITION VOLUNTEER TIME RECOGNITION

Volunteer time is a contribution/support/input people provide of their own free will to invest time and service for the benefit of a youth activity implemented by a non-profit-making youth- led organisation, and for which there is no monetary or in-kind payment (e.g. fees, salaries). The volunteer time recognition is a system used by the EYF to value this time as part of a project budget. Find out more at the specific page, including instructions for the calculation of VTR limit.

General rules for VTR

  • The same amount of VTR needs to be added in both expenditure and income. It is understood that the volunteers contribute to something that otherwise would be paid work (which constitutes an expense needed to do the work), but that contribution is “paid” in time, rather than funds (which needs to be reflected in income).
  • VTR can not exceed 10% of the total cost for the activity.
  • VTR can be included in all project grants: Pilot Activities, International Activities and Work Plans.
Non-eligible costs Non-eligible costs

For all project grants, the EYF is not allowed to cover certain costs, which may not be included in the budget, or will not be reimbursed as part of the grant, such as:

  • purchase of equipment, software, computers, printers, or any other electric device;
  • administrative costs not clearly and visibly linked to this project other than the exceptions under administrative costs for pilot activities;
  • scholarships of any kind (school, university, research, programmes or exchanges, vocational training);
  • commercial operations;
  • construction, purchase or equipment of buildings;
  • sports activities;
  • tourism;
  • participation in international exchanges;
  • projects in agriculture and water sanitation;
  • additional funding to cover costs for disadvantaged participants to take part in projects and/or activities funded by other donors;
  • micro-credit;
  • financial support for collecting and sending pedagogical material and/or food and/or clothes and/or books anywhere in the world.

Furthermore, for international activities and work plans, the EYF will not cover:

  • salaries (people employed by the NGO); 
  • office rent, insurance, electricity, water and heating bills.