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What are the steps for applying to EU/Government Funded Projects?

Daniel

26-07-21

Through the previous funding related blog posts we have looked into what type of projects can be eligible for funding.In this post, we shall be looking at what would be the general process needed for obtaining funding. The process we will discuss applies for the majority of the grant schemes available, however, there might be schemes for which this might differ slightly..

  1. Identification of the best scheme for the selected project

Identifying the ideal scheme for the project in mind is a crucial step and requires an in-depth knowledge of the schemes available. Should this step be taken lightly one could be risking either going for the wrong scheme, which would then risk having funding declined, or else result  in a lower funding amount than what could be obtained with the proper scheme.

  1. Creation of a detailed project plan

For the majority of the schemes it is required to submit a detailed plan which generally takes the form of a business plan. The good news is that specific schemes are available to support you in obtaining consultancy services to prepare the business plan that would be required when applying.

  1. Submission of the application and evaluation

The grant application is a document that is crucial in the awarding of a grant. Through it, one will explain the general concept of the project, the funding required and what impacts it shall have both on a national and EU level

Call for applications can be either open calls or time-limited calls. For the former one would be able to apply over a longer period of time and cut-off dates, such as once a month, would be set, after which, the evaluation of the applications received till that date will take place. Whilst in the case of time-limited calls, these would be open for several weeks but then all applications received are evaluated at the same time.

Once the Managing Authority (MA) or the Intermediary Body (IB)  evaluate the applications received, they will then inform the applicants of the outcome of the evaluation.

  1. Project implementation

Once a grant is awarded a contract generally referred to as the ‘Grant Agreement’ would be signed between the applicant and the MA/IB. In the contract, there would be specific rules under which the project is to be implemented.

Once the contract is signed the implementation of the project can begin. During this stage, one is to make sure that all relevant documentation, which could take the form of photos, correspondence and documents such as contracts and invoices, are kept in one place to be utilised during the next step.

  1. Claims for reimbursement

The step that most business owners would be waiting for is the reimbursement stage. In this stage all the documentation relevant to the project would need to be submitted to the MA/IB for evaluation. On-site inspections could be carried out to evaluate various aspects such as the physical condition of the project, the financials and also the documentation.

When the claim being made is legitimate the MA will issue the money and will be reimbursed to the applicant.

  1. Project sustainability

Many might think that once the reimbursement is issued the project is closed. This is not the case as the project needs to be sustained for a number of years as specified in the grant agreement.

Further to this, for the items procured through EU and Government Funding, adequate publicity material needs to be present on the premises or as specified by the MA/ IB.

This is a crucial step so as to ensure that you get the best return on the investment that you put into the project. As Business Doctors we can also support you with this through hands on support to assist you in growing your business. How do I successfully grow my business? – Business Doctors

All the above stages might sound like a lot of work, however, here at Business Doctors we can support you in all of the above stages. Contact us on freesupport@businessdoctors.com.mt to discuss further on how we can support you through the whole process.

Next Post:

EU Funding: Is it worth the hassle?