The Westbury Group is delighted to announce the launch of the Tachles Fund, a small grants programme designed to:

• Engage new European and non European based funders and philanthropic entities with an active interest in European Jewish life in a pan-European, professionally managed funding effort; and
• Identify and bring to attention grassroots projects in different areas which are currently overlooked by existing communal and state funding structures.

The Tachles Fund was launched by 10 Westbury members, along with European and non-European partners open to funding Jewish life in Europe. The goal of the partnership is to accelerate the process of creating an active, broad, professional funding landscape in Jewish Europe.

Eligibility:

• 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.
• The Tachles Fund aims to support Jewish life in Europe. Organizations therefore must involve and benefit European Jews. European projects of international organizations will not be considered for funding.
• The Tachles Fund supports initiatives in the following five areas of Jewish life: Education, Religion, Cultural, Welfare and Chesed and Jewish Identity.
• The Tachles Fund will offer grants of up to €18,000. As these grants are intended to support and invigorate grassroots efforts, the annual overall operating budget of your organization should be no more than €50,000. Grants from the Tachles Fund are intended to strengthen the infrastructure and core activities of smaller organizations, rather than supporting short-term projects. Therefore, organizations with a larger annual budget are not eligible to apply, even if the project budget for which they are seeking funding is less than €50,000.
• As the Tachles Fund has limited resources, there is a preference to support initiatives in emerging communities in Central and Eastern Europe. Application from the UK and France can only be considered if the proposed projects are pan-European or benefit emerging Jewish communities.
• 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.

The deadline for the submission of applications to the Tachles Fund is Monday, May 3rd, 2010. For more information, please contact, miri.benchetrit@googlemail.com.

about: The Westbury Group, an informal association of more than 20 leading Jewish philanthropic organizations and individual funders, was founded in 2000 with the purpose of increasing the depth and scope of support for Jewish causes and programmes in Europe, other Diaspora communities and Israel. The Westbury group is committed to enabling and empowering our members to explore issues pertaining to Jewish life in Europe in new, educational and inspiring ways.

Other initiatives of the Westbury Group include the publication of Compass, a new and timely guide designed to introduce, inform and enlighten readers about some of Europe’s most vital, innovative, effective and sustainable Jewish organisations and programmes. The 36 organisations and programmes featured in this first edition of Compass reflect the breadth and depth of communities that are innovative, creative, effective and most importantly, sustainable.