Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development

Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development             
For the past 15 years, one of the core activities of the Prince Claus Fund was to fund cultural initiatives through open calls for project proposals in the field of culture and development.
The Prince Claus Fund firmly believes that culture is a basic need and actively seeks innovative, quality cultural projects in spaces where resources and opportunities for cultural expression, creative production and research are limited and/or threatened.
In addition to being a financial partner, the Prince Claus Fund contributes its expertise and its extensive network to its collaborations and grants recipients.
As of 2012, the Prince Claus Fund will issue two targeted calls to support cultural initiatives in all artistic disciplines. One annual call will target a specific region or number of countries. The second call will be thematic.
Each call remains open for approximately six weeks. After the call closes, the evaluation and selection process takes another four months before grant recipients are announced.

CURRENT CALL
The current call welcomes project proposals for cultural initiatives from organizations and individuals from the following countries:
Cambodia, East Timor, Nepal, Laos, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, The Philippines, Thailand, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan.
The deadline for the submission of projects is 15 March 2012. Only applications received before the deadline will be considered.
For examples of projects funded by the Prince Claus Fund, please check our annual reports http://www.princeclausfund.org/en/the-fund/facts-and-figures
The development, scripting, production and post-production of short and full-length documentary, animation, experimental and feature films, as well as research and writing of literary works, novels, short stories, poetry and biographies is not included in this grant.

GRANT GUIDELINES
1.    About Prince Claus Fund’s Grants
•    Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
•    In the event that the grantee does not sign the grant contract within 60 days upon receipt thereof, the grant will be canceled.
2.    Eligible Candidates
•    The Prince Claus Fund invites all parties working in the cultural and artistic spheres in the countries included in the current call to send their project proposals regardless of age, years of experience, nationality, ethnicity, religion or any other factor.
•    This includes individuals and organisations concerned with culture and development.
3.    Eligible Expenses
•    Prince Claus Fund only covers project-related expenses, and not running operating costs.
4.    Place and Duration
•    Prince Claus Fund will not provide support retroactively, i.e. to projects already implemented
•    The Prince Claus Fund will only accept proposals for activities that start at a minimum 4 months after the deadline of the deadline of the call for proposals.
•    The project’s timeframe should not exceed 12 months
5.    Eligible Applications
•    Previous grantees may not apply for a new grant unless the previous grant expired before the application submission deadline for this year.
6.    How to Apply
•    Applicants may file applications online on our website. Links to work samples on sites such as YouTube or Vimeo can also be added directly into the application. Photos, documents can also be directly uploaded in the electronic application form.
•    You will receive email confirmation once the online application has been received. You are advised to follow up on receipt for mailed material, as we will not contact you if any part of your application is incomplete.
7.    Evaluation and Selection Process
•    Please see ‘Procedures’ http://www.princeclausfund.org/en/programmes/about-the-applications for more details.
•    The grant recipients’ names will be published on our website.
8.    Grant Contracts
•    Prince Claus Fund will draft a contract to be signed by the selected grantees. The contract will include contract start and end dates, grant amount, financial requirements, payment schedule, general provisions, implementation and amendments, required reports, and project results.
9.    Payment Schedule
•    A grantee will receive 25% of the grant total amount as a first payment. Once a first progress report has been received, a second installment of 50% will be made. Once the project is complete and the grantee has submitted the deliverables, narrative and financial reports, the remaining 25% will be transferred.
PCF's grant selection aims to ensure that projects are selected in a transparent and fair manner, according to clear criteria and a rigorous selection process where due consideration is given to all proposals that meet our eligibility requirements.

Evaluation Process
Phase 1: Intake
Proposals are screened in order to verify whether they fall within the Fund’s criteria for consideration. Only requests for activities starting the earliest four months after the deadline will be considered.
Phase 2: Evaluation of Applications by the Programme Committee
The Program Committee evaluates all applications according to the following criteria: Quality, Innovation, Engagement and Development Relevance, Crossing Cultural boundaries, Trust and Respect, Amnesty for Culture, Culture and Conflict, Beauty in Context, Zones of Silence. Each criteria will be given a score between 1 and 3 quantified as follows: 1 = low, 2= medium, 3 = strong.
Phase 3: Research and Approval
The selected proposals will be researched and second opinions are gathered from independent experts. Although applicants may provide references, the Prince Claus Fund always seeks independent and objective opinions for each proposal. Based on the results of this phase, the Programme Committee approves or rejects a proposal.
Phase 4: Reporting, Evaluation and Communications
Once approved, the applicant is notified about the amount of financial support. A contract is drafted and signed by both the applicant and the Prince Claus Fund. Timely reporting and communication are preconditions for continued support. After finalization of the project, the project and the degree to which the objectives have been fulfilled are both evaluated and documented. Exemplary projects that the Fund has supported are being disseminated on the website and shared within its network. The grantees are announced on the Prince Claus Fund’s website

Criteria for the Evaluation of Applications under Research
1.    Quality: Does the individual/organization have an established record on quality? Will the proposed activity take place at a sufficient level of quality to reach its stated objectives and impact? Are the project results specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and do they meet a specific deadline? To what extent is there coherence among the identified project objectives and expected outcome and results?
2.    Innovation: Is the activity innovative enough, in format and organization, and/or in terms of content? Does it relate/address issues that are unusual and open possibilities for dialogue and/or new interpretations of the social and artistic environments? Will the activity bring in new ideas/perspectives? Are applicants’ utilizing new tools for
expression? Would the project be visible? Will relevant collaborations and networks be employed?
3.    Engagement and development relevance: Does the activity engage with society, through content or format? What will be the impact and contribution in the local or worldwide cultural development? Will it make a difference? Will it stimulate culture?
4.    Crossing cultural boundaries: Will the activity contribute to intercultural exchange? Does it cross political, social, ethnic, cultural or artistic boundaries? Does it bring people together?
5.    Trust and respect: Are the organizers of the activity trustworthy? Are they respected by their peers? Is the requested support sensible in relation to the stated activities?
6.    Amnesty for culture: Will the activity provide an avenue for or stimulate cultural expression for those that for social, political or other reasons find themselves limited to express themselves?

The Fund’s main working themes are:
-    Culture and Conflict: further the role of culture as a way of engaging with people and communities in countries which have undergone recent experiences of profound social upheaval and conflicts
-    Beauty in context: the creation of beauty in places where ugliness seems to have triumphed through war, poor government or other forms of misfortune.
 -     Zones of silence: space for the people and activities that are hidden and silenced through exclusion, war and/or unjust local or national government.