The Westbury Group is delighted to announce a second funding round of the Tachles Fund. Please read these guidelines for applicants carefully in order to decide if your organization is eligible to apply for funding to the Tachles Fund. Please note that the nature of the Tachles Fund can change from year to year. If you decide to submit a proposal, please use these guidelines to ensure you complete the form correctly.

We hope these Guidelines will help you to improve the quality of your proposal. The Tachles Fund aims to support and strengthen organizations in the long-term, and therefore we are interested in obtaining a full picture of your organization and its activities.

Please note that due to scheduled meetings of the board of the Tachles Fund, only completed applications that are received before the deadline along with all required supporting documents will be considered for funding.

Eligibility:

1. Applicants must be registered charities or non-profit organizations in a European country, or operating under the aegis of a local, legally incorporated community body or organization. Proof of the charitable status of the organization that will be receiving funds, should a grant be approved, must be submitted along with the application. Organizations without charitable status can apply only if a registered charity is willing to accept funds on its behalf.
2. The Tachles Fund aims to strengthening Jewish life in Europe by supporting small organizations and initiatives that are grassroots funded and led, rather than established bodies with significant annual budgets, strong support from the local Jewish community and links with state institutions. Applying organizations must involve and benefit European Jews. European projects or departments of international organizations will not be considered for funding. Grants are intended to support and invigorate grassroots organizations with an annual operating budget of no more than €50,000.
3. The Tachles Fund will offer a number of grants of up to €20,000 for capacity building and an upgrade of organizational infrastructure.
4. Preference will be given to applicants who can demonstrate an ability to increase the impact of grants awarded by the Tachles Fund by raising matching funds.
5. As the Tachles Fund has limited resources, there is a preference to support initiatives in emerging communities in Central and Eastern Europe.
6. The Tachles Fund seeks to support innovative approaches to Jewish life. There is a preference to fund initiatives that do not already receive significant grants from Jewish communal or statutory bodies.
7. It is important to demonstrate in your application that you have researched the need for your project and have tested its methodology. In addition, we would like to hear about your planned evaluation methodology.
8. Only applications in English can be accepted. However, we recognize that English may not be your organization’s language of operation and will take this into account when assessing proposals.
9. Applications must include an operating budget with organizations’ income and expenses for the current year and any subsequent year for which funds are being requested. We will not be able to consider applications with missing or incomplete operating budgets.
10. Applications must include at least one recommendation by an impartial expert. It is the responsibility of the applicant to obtain recommendations and submit them along with their application before the deadline.

The deadline for the submission of applications to the Tachles Fund is Friday, January 7, 2011.

For additional information, and an application, please contact miri.benchetrit@googlemail.com.