Stream I (Incubator) – second call

The grant opportunity is part of the Stream I (Incubator) initiative, focusing on civil society organizations in Slovakia, particularly smaller and emerging non-profits. It operates under the EU's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program. The total funding available for this call is €60,000, and applications are open until March 13, 2026. This program provides direct grants to eligible civil society organizations that are developing capacity and innovations in two primary sectors: education and democracy/rule of law.

The educational initiatives aim to address socio-economic disparities in education access, enhance student wellbeing, develop critical thinking skills, adapt to digital environments, stimulate active citizenship, and foster educational innovations. The democracy and rule of law focus includes efforts to combat corruption, enhance public accountability, integrate foreigners and refugees, reduce inequalities experienced by marginalized groups, encourage political innovations, and strengthen community trust and social cohesion.

Prospective applicants must register on the platform www.eziadosti.sk to submit their proposals, which will undergo a two-stage evaluation process involving both administrative compliance and substantive assessment by external evaluators. The application must demonstrate alignment with the program’s specified themes and intended outcomes, specifically relating to systemic change, innovation capacity, sustainability, and strategic communication.

The grant is aimed at early-stage organizations, suggesting that projects should be in the initial development or pilot phase rather than fully established operations. While co-funding is typically a common feature, this specific call does not explicitly state such requirements, leaving potential flexibility for applicants. The implementation of funded projects is expected to be completed within a maximum of 12 months and is designed to ensure that selected organizations can effectively scale innovative approaches and enhance their operational capabilities within civil society.

The funding opportunity is Stream I (Incubator) – second call.

The opening date is 20 January 2026. The deadline is 13 March 2026 at 13:00 (Brussels time). The deadline model is single-stage. The opportunity is open for submission. The expected duration of participation is a maximum of 12 months. The total funding available is 60,000.00 €. The grant agreement number is 101184844. The topic is CERV-2024-CITIZENS-VALUES - Call for proposals for civil society organisations active on protecting and promoting Union values: call to intermediaries (giving financial support to third parties).

To apply, register at www.eziadosti.sk and fill in the project form with the required attachments. Only applications meeting the essential requirements and delivered by the deadline are included in the evaluation process. The Intermediary will check that the applications meet the basic formal and content requirements (compatibility with target groups and thematic focus) and within 14 days of the closing date will inform the applicants by eziadosti / notification e-mail whether the nomination will be included in the evaluation process, or whether additional information necessary for evaluation is requested. Some formal mistakes (e.g. missing mandatory attachments) may be requested by the intermediary. The Pontis Foundation shall inform the applicant of the rejection and its reasons by eziadosti / notification e-mail. After assessing the projects, Pontis Foundation will submit formally correct applications for support to the respective evaluators for evaluation, informing applicants about the (non-)referral of their applications for evaluation within 14 days after the deadline for receiving applications via the account at www.eziadosti.sk or notification message to the specified e-mail.

The desired objectives and results of the call are: higher capacity of CSOs for system change – on the local, regional and national levels, higher innovation potential of non-profit sector, higher capacity and ability of CSOs for scaling of their own innovative approaches and services, higher cross-sectoral and intra-sectoral cooperation of CSOs, strengthening of sustainability potential of CSOs and raising their focus on better diversification of resources, strengthening organizational resilience and advocacy abilities of CSOs, higher capacity of CSOs for strategic communication with the public (to fight disinformation).

Areas of support include:

Education: Reducing the impact of socio-economic disparities on access to primary and secondary education, improving wellbeing and mental health of pupils, developing critical thinking and preventing the spread of disinformation, adaptation to the digital environment (AI tools, dependence on social networks, cyberbullying, etc.), stimulating active citizenship (support of European citizenship), innovations in pre-primary, primary and secondary education (freely accessible innovations in education, not necessarily provided to a small group). Final beneficiaries: pre-primary, primary, secondary school students, teachers, principals, youth in nonformal education, young workers.

Democracy and rule of law: Enforcing systemic changes that will help eliminate corruption, enforcing public control and pressure on all actors to comply with law and ethical standards, integration of foreigners and refugees into society, creating conditions for the elimination of inequalities of vulnerable and excluded groups (primarily marginalised Roma communities, LGBTQ+, refugees, women), enabling innovative approaches to transform existing political culture through political/democratic innovations, building trust and cooperation in communities to improve social cohesion. Final beneficiaries: public officials, policy makers, vulnerable and excluded groups from political participation, marginalised Roma communities, LGBTQ+ people, refugees, young people, women.

The call, titled Stream I (Incubator) – second call, aims to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in protecting and promoting Union values. It focuses on enhancing the capacity of CSOs for systemic change, innovation, scaling their approaches, cross-sectoral cooperation, sustainability, resilience, advocacy, and strategic communication to combat disinformation. The call provides funding to intermediaries who will then provide financial support to third parties. The areas of support are Education and Democracy and Rule of Law. Education projects should focus on reducing disparities in education, improving mental health, developing critical thinking, adapting to the digital environment, stimulating active citizenship, and fostering innovations in education. Democracy and Rule of Law projects should focus on eliminating corruption, enforcing public control, integrating foreigners and refugees, eliminating inequalities for vulnerable groups, enabling political innovations, and building trust and cooperation in communities. The call is specifically targeted towards smaller organizations and those just starting out.

Eligible Applicant Types: The call is specifically targeted at civil society organisations (CSOs), particularly those that are starting and smaller organizations, as indicated by "Otvárame Impact Lab Inkubátor 2025 pre začínajúce a menšie organizácie" and the topic description mentioning "Call for proposals for civil society organisations active on protecting and promoting Union values." The call also mentions that it is a call to intermediaries (giving financial support to third parties).

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically cascade funding, as indicated by "GrantCascade funding." This means the primary recipient (the intermediary, Pontis Foundation) will distribute funds to other organizations (third parties).

Consortium Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required. However, given the focus on supporting individual CSOs and the cascade funding mechanism, it is likely that single applicants are eligible. The call aims to support individual CSOs to scale their innovative approaches and services, which suggests that single applicants are welcome.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is not explicitly stated. However, the call is under the topic "CERV-2024-CITIZENS-VALUES," which is a part of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme. This program typically targets organizations within the EU. The mention of "European citizenship" further suggests an EU focus.

Target Sector: The program targets the following sectors: Education, with a focus on reducing socio-economic disparities, improving mental health, developing critical thinking, adapting to the digital environment, stimulating active citizenship, and promoting innovations in education. Democracy and rule of law, with a focus on eliminating corruption, enforcing public control, integrating foreigners and refugees, eliminating inequalities for vulnerable groups (Roma, LGBTQ+, refugees, women), enabling political innovations, and building social cohesion.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned. The focus is on the EU and European citizenship.

Project Stage: The call is for an "Impact Lab Incubator," suggesting that the projects should be at an early stage of development, likely at the idea, research, development, or validation stage. The incubator program aims to support the development and scaling of innovative approaches, indicating that the projects are not yet at the commercialization or scale-up stage.

Funding Amount: The total funding available is €60,000. It is not clear how this amount will be distributed among the selected projects.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by "Call for proposals." The submission process involves registering at www.eziadosti.sk and filling in the project form with the required attachments. The deadline model is single-stage.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money through cascade funding. The Pontis Foundation acts as an intermediary, receiving funds and then distributing them to selected CSOs.

Application Stages: The application process appears to be single-stage, as indicated by "Deadline model single-stage." However, there are multiple steps in the evaluation process: initial check for essential requirements, formal and content requirements check by the Intermediary, assessment by evaluators, and final decision.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the CERV-2024-CITIZENS-VALUES program, specifically targeting civil society organizations (CSOs) through an "Impact Lab Incubator." The Pontis Foundation acts as an intermediary, distributing cascade funding to selected CSOs. The total funding available is €60,000. The call focuses on supporting projects in the areas of education and democracy/rule of law. In education, the focus is on reducing socio-economic disparities, improving mental health, developing critical thinking, adapting to the digital environment, stimulating active citizenship, and promoting innovations in education. In democracy and rule of law, the focus is on eliminating corruption, enforcing public control, integrating foreigners and refugees, eliminating inequalities for vulnerable groups, enabling political innovations, and building social cohesion. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline of March 13, 2026. Applicants must register at www.eziadosti.sk and submit a project form with required attachments. The projects should be at an early stage of development, suitable for an incubator program. The call aims to support CSOs in scaling their innovative approaches and services, strengthening their organizational resilience, and enhancing their capacity for strategic communication.