Dear Madam/Sir
Please note that the foundation is no longer accepting applications until further notice.
Thank you for your attention.
Project ideas must meet the criteria and conform to the thematic and geographic priorities of the Foundation:
for its cooperation activities, the focus women foundation concentrates on thematic areas such as conflict and peace work, women's rights, the elimination of violence and discrimination, socially responsible business practices, and environmental protection. The Foundation's work focuses on women in the global South and in Eastern Europe.
When selecting the projects and partner organizations, the Foundation will take the following criteria into account:
Content: the project addresses at least one of the Foundation's priorities and complies strongly with focus women's vision, values, and goals. The project aims at improving the lives of the women beneficiaries in a sustainable way.
Non-profit character: the Foundation will only encourage projects and organizations with a non-profit purpose.
Beneficiaries: the project's beneficiaries are women and girls, organized in groups or cooperatives.
The beneficiaries' needs must be proven.
Geographical intervention area: the project is intended for a beneficiary target group in the global South or in Eastern Europe.
Partner organization: as a rule, the executing organization is a women's organization that is established in the intervention area and managed by women. It is familiar with the political, social, and economic situation and has appropriate working methods and approaches to determine local needs. In exceptional cases, the partner organization can be located in Switzerland, provided it maintains good long-term relationships for cooperation in the target country.
Project structure: the project must have a sustainable, participatory structure; the beneficiary group must be actively involved in the process. Instruments that are used for internal reflection processes and effect measurement must be disclosed. New concepts, methods, and procedures will be given preference. The continuation of ongoing projects without significant innovations will not be supported.
Multiplication: the project ideally has model character for further regions or a supra-regional orientation. It is designed in such a way as to enable expansion, to be of interest also to third parties, and to promote knowledge and experience transfer.
Sustainability: applicants need to specify from project start how its funding will continue after the focus women foundation's assistance ends, as well as how its effect will be maintained in future.
Step 1: project draft
If your project idea meets the requirements, you can submit your request as a project draft: specify the people involved in the project, the project's main focus, the reasons for the request, the budgeted amount, as well as the requested contribution on up to two A4 pages.
Based on this project draft, the Foundation will decide to reject or support the request.
Step 2: project application
If the Foundation gives a positive assessment of the project draft, you will be asked to submit a detailed project application. Please use the application form.
This application must plausibly demonstrate why this project is needed, in what way it is relevant and ensures quality within its thematic scope, which target group it is aimed at and what goals and intended effect are connected with it.
The Foundation Board will then assess the project proposal.
The decision will be based on the extensively documented application, complemented by a personal conversation in individual cases. Decisions on applications will be made in the meetings held several times a year. Applicants will receive information on the acceptance or rejection of their application within a maximum of 4 months.
If a project is accepted by the Foundation Board, focus women and the project managers will conclude contracts or agreements that also define regular reporting duties. A final report will have to be delivered after project completion.