Knowledge Base

As a means of raising money, the European Scout Foundation developed the Friends of Scouting in Europe (FOSE). Through this initiative, the ESF is aiming to enable its members to demonstrate their support for the ideals and aspirations of Scouting, by contributing financially to the Movement’s growth in Europe.

In March 2021, following a number of transitions including the ESF Board elections and change of staff support in the WSB Europe Support Centre, a review was completed focusing on the current status of the European Scout Foundation process and approach to funding grassroot level projects.

This review considered the current process, the associated workload, roles & responsibilities of key stakeholders. As a result, two key recommendations were formulated proposing (1) the consideration to make use of WSB’s Grants Management Software System (Fluxx) to both benefit from an existing and well established system and contribute to the streamlined approach of the WSB in grant management; and (2) the need to further clarify and define the funding criteria by the Board of the European Scout Foundation.

At its April 2021 meeting, the board of the ESF approved the adoption of the WSB’s Grants Management Software System (Fluxx) and agreed to proceed with the review and definition of its funding criteria.

In June 2021, As per the proposed approach to the ESF, a Consultant was identified to lead and deliver a workshop for the board of the ESF to review and define its funding criteria.

The guidelines serve as reference for all Applicants to provide them with further information on Project Principles, Eligibility Criteria, Timeframes, Application development and How to Apply.

These guidelines go in pair with the Project Funding Application Form and Report which though fully embedded in Fluxx, WSB’s Grants Management Software System.

Please read carefully each of sections before preparing your application.

1. Impact

Impact shall be at the core of all Project Applications with a particular focus on membership development plans and ambitions. Growth can consist of increase of membership (new members, training of leaders), increased access to Scouting and diversification of membership, increasing quality of Scouting initiatives, visibility of events and activities and related communications, retention actions, etc.

2. Safe from harm

Safety of young people and activities is essential. Associated measures to ensure the safety of all those involved should be outlined in project applications.

3. Clear and relevant

Clarity and relevance of projects define the quality of each application. Project Applications must include:

• a clear description of the project (what is “problem” or “need” of the group and how is the project aiming at addressing/solving it, what is the current situation and how are project activitie(s) contributing),
• anticipated impact
• detailed budget (own income, expenses)

4 Supported

In the process of the project application, support can be made available through a project coach or mentoring during the implementation. Ultimately, increased quality of projects benefits all parties, including the donors.

Eligibility criteria are an important aspect of the Project Funding Guidelines. Clarifying these criteria enables applicants to understand the requirements they are expected to comply with. It also sets a standard mirroring the expectations of ESF. Clear and public eligibility criteria increase the transparency of the decision process.

Ten eligibility criteria were defined to all project funding applications. They shall serve both Applicants, when completing their project funding applications, and Reviewers when evaluating project applications.

1. Applicants

Project applications can be received from all NSO/As of the European Scout Region.

2. In good standing with WOSM

NSO/As endorsing Project Application should be in good standing with WOSM.

3. From local level approved by national level

Project Applications should come from a local Scout group and have the endorsement of the NSO/As through the International Commissioner.

4. Membership growth and development

Providing support to grass root level initiatives in Member Organisations to encourage membership growth and development are at the core of the ESF funding principles. Clear knowledge of both membership status and growth goals are therefore a requirement in all project applications. Growth can consist of an increase of membership (new members, training of leaders), increased access to Scouting and diversification of membership, visibility of events and activities and related communications, retention actions, etc.

5. Overlaps

Project Applications should not overlap with other funding applications to other internal grants (such as MoP, LTF, EFT etc.). If a project is anticipated to have multiple sources of funding, these should be announced in the application accordingly.

6. Number of project applications

As project applications are expected to come from the local scout group levels, no maximum is set per NSO/As.

• The National Leadership can be asked to help prioritize applicants.
• No new project applications will be considered if projects (from the previous fiscal year) have not yet been reported on.
• A maximum of 1 grant per local group/ fiscal year ( oct – sept ).

7. Administrative and Infrastructure Costs

• Administrative costs are eligible with a cap of 5% (max) of the overall budget of the project. It is however preferred that these charges are at the cost of the local group. Fully administrative projects are not eligible.
• Infrastructure projects at local levels are considered contributing to membership retention and growth. Project Application can be about infrastructure only. For national level, loans are favored if supporting the NSO/As.

8. Project Budget

Support is prioritised for small size grants for local levels

9. Partnerships

Partnerships encouraged but not mandatory.

10. Track record

All project applications will be reviewed based on reporting track record. It is therefore essential to comply with the reporting requirements, providing a complete final narrative and financial report, including quality pictures, to continue benefiting from such funding opportunities.

By project period, two aspects are identified, the duration of the project and the timeframe for application submissions. Based on the past experience, it has been identified that announcing deadlines increases the planning capacity of both Applicants and Reviewers.

Part A. General information

1. National Scout Organization submitting the Proposal

Please state the name of the organization submitting the proposal and the local scout group name that is implementing the project.

2. Project title

Please state the title of the project. The title of the project should be short and demonstrate the purpose of the project intervention.

3. Start and end date

Indicate the start and the end of the project. It is important to plan the decision response time and plan the start of your project accordingly.

4. Level of intervention

Select the level of intervention. Most of the projects supported by the ESF are focused on the local level but if they impact a greater region or produce resources that can be used on a national level, please indicate the planned intervention.

5. Point of contact

Please provide the name of the person nominated as the primary point of contact in the organization for this application, together with his/her contact information (telephone and email).

Part B. Project Description

Executive Summary:

Please provide a brief description (no more than 10-12 lines over the two paragraphs) of the project proposal, summarizing the problem to be addressed, project strategy, target group, expected results and desired impact.

Please state:

• What is the general objective? This is a goal that we will not achieve with our project and should demonstrate the nature of the actions. (The longer-term positive effects in society that the project wishes to contribute to). Our specific objective contributes to the general objective.
• What is the specific objective? Specific objectives are detailed objectives that describe what will be addressed during the project and what we will try to achieve.
• The current status / baseline of the situation in the proposed areas and the specific intervention, improvements, membership engagement or capacity building need(s) that the project will address.
• How your project will ensure that we do not do the same again after the project is finished. How will it be sustainable?

Part C. Performance Indicators

The key performance indicators (KPI) are used to evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs) that will be implemented.

1. Engagement

Take time and plan how many people your project will engage. You have two categories:

• Participants: People that will take direct participation in the activities
• Beneficiaries: People that will not take part in the activities but will be impacted by the project.
• Example: 70 Scouts (Participants) are building a botanical garden in the school that will be used by 700 students (Beneficiaries).

2.Beneficiary target group

The target is the group of people or institutions whose capacities the project will build/impact them with the project. Please describe who they are and what their background is.

3. New members

It is important to plan each project as a possibility to bring more members and offer more young people to join Scouting. Describe what is your current membership situation and how many new members you will recruit with the project.

4. KPI – How we will measure our success

In the table set your indicators that you would like to measure your project success. This will help you have a target and see how successful you were at the end of the project. KPIs should ideally be numeric values. Example: Number of trees planted, Waste collected, Volunteer hours, New Members, Visitors in the activity.

Part D. Activities and outputs

In this area you need to describe your intervention – the activities that you will implement to achieve the specific objective of your project. The activities of your project should provide information what will happen (description of the activity), what will be the result from the activity (outputs from the activity – should contribute towards achieving the specific objective), what is the budget for the activity, detailed cost of the intervention and when will this activity start and finish.

Accordingly, you should have not more than 5 activities for your project and try to provide as detailed as possible information for each of the activities.

Part E. Budget

Please indicate the total budget for your project (sum from the totals of each of your project activities) and what amount you are requesting from the European Scout Foundation. If you already secured additional support for your project or are planning to apply for support please write the names of the institutions/organisations in the table, indicating if this support is confirmed or not.

Part F. Partnership

Please describe the partnership strategy that will be employed in the implementation of this project, including a list of potential partners that will be involved, their concrete roles, the approach to be used to work with them.

Finally, describe how this project contributes to the national scout organisation strategy. What area of its strategic priorities contributes to?

Please describe how the lessons and results from the project will be documented and shared across your national scout organisation and with other partners (e.g.workshops, publications, conferences, evaluations).

You can apply for support through the Fluxx, WSB’s Grants Management Software System. Each National Scout Organisation has access to the system and can submit applications. Please contact your international commissioner or the national office that can provide you access or submit your application.

Once your application is reviewed (see project period section for reviewing periods) you will be informed of the result and will receive a project funding agreement if your project is selected for funding. With the signing of the project agreement the funds will be transferred and you will start with the implementation of your project.

Below you can find simple illustration of the process each Project Funding Application will follow:

1. Projects are developed by the Local Group or the National Scout Organisation/ Association
2. Projects are submitted using the Fluxx – WSB’s Grants Management Software System. Each National Organisation has dedicated access to submit projects in the software.
3. The ESF team will review the application
4. Applicant is informed of the funding decision or requested to provide additional information
5. In case an applicant is requested to provide additional information, the new information will need to be integrated in the original application on Fluxx and will be reviewed again.
6. If the project is selected for funding, applicant is notified and funding agreement is sent to be signed
7. Upon signature of the agreement, funds are transferred to the applicant.

Once your project is implemented it is expected that you will share the story with the European Scout Foundation and provide information for the intervention and the expenses.

In a specific template available on Fluxx, you need to provide a description of what happened and what was the results/ success of your project, supported with photos, videos and testimonials from the participants and the activities. Additionally you need to provide expenses breakdown and payment details.

General questions about the European Scout Foundation grants can be sent to this e-mail