Q: Are there any general recommendations regarding the share of various types of activities, such as purchase of equipment, soft actions, promotion and management activities?
A: No. The only relevant requirement is that all partners perform substantial tasks in the project. Whether contributions are substantial will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, relying on information relating to the roles defined in the partnership agreement, in conjunction with the detailed budget and the content of that section in the application form detailing results and activities.
Q: Is it only the promoter who should cover the co-financing of/own contribution to the project?
A: The project promoter is responsible for securing the co-financing. Co-financing may come from both partners as per whatever they may agree in the partnership agreement.
Q: Is there any standard template for the detailed budget of expenses and for the budget of revenues and costs?
A: No. Applicants are free to draft those documents in any way you they see fit. The important thing is that budget-related documents should be clear, correct and based on real costs.
Q: Is there any standard template for a feasibility study where the applicant is a private entity?
A: There’s no standard required for feasibility studies in the case of private companies;
Q: May staff salaries for the implementation team be considered own contribution?
A: Yes, but please note that in-kind contribution should not exceed 50% of the co-financing. Also, the number of members on the team should be justified.
Q: Can the building where a company normally performs its activities be taken into account as in-kind own contribution?
A: No. The idea behind buildings being eligible in-kind contributions applies where the building itself is subject to a project activity – e.g. establishing a centre for something based on the rehabilitation of the respective building which will operate as the centre in question.
Q: Will there be other calls for proposals for this programme?
A: No. There’s only one call based on continuous submission with a deadline on May 31st for seed money projects and on December 31st 2008 for individual projects.
Q: May two Romanian organisations (one NGO and one public authority/ministry) and a Norvegian NGO submit an Application for a Seed Money project, including activities like: financial economic analysis, preparation of technical documentation, creation of a new partnership, etc?
A: Yes, partnerships between NGOs and public authorities are eligible. As regards activities, anything listed as eligible in the rules and procedures and the applicants' guide can be included. Some of the activities might be subject to a public procurement procedure depending on several factors.
Q: When the applicant is an NGO, the Norvegian partner is an NGO and the Romanian partner is a public authority, is the co-financing rate 90%?
A: The answer to this question depends on who contributes the co-financing money, who the actual beneficiary may be and the type and 'weight' of the activities to be undertaken.
Q: In the Seed Money Facility Application Form User Guide, section 4, "procedures ...", it is stated that "the deadline to submit seed money applications is 31 May 2008". Is this the deadline for sending applications by e-mail, or the deadline for receiving also the supporting documents by post at Innovation Norway?
A: This is the deadline for sending applications by e-mail. Supporting documents are ideally (scanned and) attached to the application (the electronic version of the application allows attachments).
Q: The supporting documents (hard copy) should be sent by post to the the "relevant office when the task manager for the project is known". Is this the office in the Bneficiary Country?
A: Please see above (supporting documents are ideally attached to the application). For hard-copies (in case there's still a need for submission thereof) you'll be contacted by the relevant Task Manager in Innovation Norway to whom your case is assigned.
Q: Since applications for Individual Projects can be received by 31 December 2008 and "disbursements are made on the basis of request for disbursement covering minimum 4 calendar months" (Applicant's Guide) can a project duration be 5 months?
A: The project takes as long as it technically needs to take - i.e. the duration of a project is determined by its technical content, not by disbursement-related tentative guidelines. Disbursement details in the case of a 5-month project will be sorted out in the grant letter.
Q: In the seed money User Guide, "1.2 Description of the applicant", it is mentioned that the applicant should "attach last year's annual report..."; should the English version of these documents correspond entirely to the original documents, or can it be a summary?
A: Where the document in question is too hefty, a copy of the original and a summary of the most relevant information in English should be enough.
Q: In the case of Seed Money projects, what kind of documents must be attached to the financial statement to prove the eligibility of expenditures such as personnel costs, travel, services like brochure production or conference/meeting-related administrative costs, and what is the requested format? Is there any special formal document in which the expenditures must be summarized?
A: The relevant template for disbursement claims after a seed money project is completed is available in the 'Report Templates' section of this site. This simple report should be signed by the applicant entity's top manager and head of accounting department. The last item in the report template is an overview of expenses. It'd be enough if expenditure is simply cross-referenced against the relevant invoice or labour contract (by just mentioning the invoice/contract number). There is no need for invoices/contracts or other documentary evidence to be sent to Innovation Norway. However, seed money grant beneficiaries must make sure that all documentary evidence is kept on a preferrably separate file (for at least five years) such that expenditure can be easily proved in case Innovation Norway decides to have an ad-hoc check before disbursement or the project is selected for audit. As per the standard terms and conditions - any misrepresentation of facts could lead to a recovery of the grant. Seed money beneficiaries are encouraged to pay due attention not only to the financial section of the report but also to the technical part thereof. As such, beneficiaries should be as clear as possible on what has been technically achieved with the grant money - i.e. the actual, concrete results of the work. Where results include studies, brochures etc, copies should normally be attached to the report.
Q: What should mandatory annexe A5 (Project Implementation Plan) in the Individual Project Application include? Is there a template available?
A: The Project Implementation Plan should, as a minimum, give an overview of activities, their corresponding budget and timeline, reports and disbursement claims. An indicative template is available here but applicants are free to devise their own formats as long as the minimum requirements above are included.