Guidelines for applications to the Nordic LGBTI Fund

The Nordic LGBTI Fund is managed and administered by MR-JÄM’s co-operation body Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK).

Purpose and criteria

The purpose of the fund is to stimulate Nordic co-operation in the field of LGBTI issues within the framework of the Nordic Co-operation Programme for Gender Equality and LGBTI 2025–2030.

Funding is granted to projects that provide both benefits to the Nordic region and added value in terms of LGBTI policy. MR-JÄM, through the Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality and LGBTI (ÄK-JÄM), may decide on priority themes for each call, which will be assessed in addition to the criteria listed here.

Applications may also need to indicate whether and to what extent they encompass other applicable policies and strategies within Nordic co-operation

All applications must state and will be assessed based on how well they meet the following requirements and aims:   

a) Nordic benefit

Nordic benefit means the extent to which the project:

• Generates significant positive effects through Nordic cooperation, compared to the project having been implemented at the national/bilateral or other transnational level
• Manifests and develops Nordic cohesion, both within and outside the region
• Contributes to infrastructure that strengthens Nordic co-operation for equal rights, treatment and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic countries
• Responds in a constructive way to the challenges of Nordic co-operation such as national barriers and differences.

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• Justifies why the project should be implemented as Nordic co-operation
• Describes the added value and the challenges that the co-operating parties perceive in working together across country borders.

b) Added value for LGBTI policy

Added value for LGBTI policy refers to the extent to which the project:

• Aims to address problems and obstacles that limit equal rights and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic Region.
• Contributes to new/changing and/or exchanging knowledge, working methods and models on/for equal rights and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic Region.
• Contributes to meeting the challenges identified in the Nordic Co-operation Programme for Gender Equality and LGBTI 2025–2030

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• Describes the challenges in relation to equal rights and opportunities for LGBTI people identified by the co-operating partners and which the project intends to address
• Shows the co-operating parties’ understanding of these problems based on theoretical knowledge and/or proven experience
• Demonstrates an awareness of previous work, knowledge and/or research concerning the problems that the co-operating parties intend to respond to and, based on this awareness, describes how the project will contribute to change and add new knowledge

c) Sustainability/long-term view

Sustainability/long-term view means the degree to which:

• The project design provides scope for others to draw conclusions and learn from the project’s successes and setbacks
• The project results and efforts are expected to have long-term effects through infrastructure and products which persist after the end of the project such as networks, websites, reports, etc, and how these have been designed to reach relevant target groups.

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• Describes how and with which target groups the co-operating parties plan to communicate the project and its results, and how they will ensure that these results will be available even after the end of the project.

d) Implementation

Implementation means here:

• How likely it is, in light of the applicant’s skills and experience, that the project will be implemented in the manner described by the applicants
• What bases do the applicants have for working together, for example that they contribute different skills, perspectives and experience which means that they can complement each other.

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• describes how the cooperating parties plan to go about responding to the identified problems, and the justification they have provided for their choice of approach with regard to the feasibility of achieving the results and drawing conclusions from these results
• describes what the main applicant and each of the partner organisations will contribute to the project, the roles of the organisations, as well as their previous experience of similar collaborations.

e) Economic viability

Organisations applying for grants need to be able to contribute at least 20 per cent themselves and/or have other sources of funding. The size of this investment should be at least 20%. The organisation’s own contribution and/or other sources of funding could come from sponsorship or other financial contributions, voluntary work, participant fees, or indirect costs for example. 

The amount applied for should be between DKK 50,000 and DKK 500,000.  

The application must be accompanied by a budget containing all items specified in DKK and include the total amount. Self-funding and total funding must be made apparent in the budget. The budget should explicitly state what the funding amount applied for is intended to cover in the total budget.   

A separate audit is not required for the final accounts of projects, but project managers should keep their accounts in order so that any external audit can easily gain an overview of the financial management of the project. 

Funds will not be granted for audits. No funding will be granted for travel costs (with the exception of travel costs for representatives of NGOs and invited speakers). 

Funding is not available for indirect costs, such as salaries of support activities and operating costs such as rent, electricity and IT. 

Funding will not be granted to activities that aim to generate financial profit or equivalent for beneficiaries.

Activities that are granted funding may be awarded a lower total amount than applied for, and/or parts of the application. In such cases, contracting is subject to a revision of the project plan and budget in relation to the amount granted. 

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Requirements on activities and beneficiaries

The following activities may be funded:

• Staging of Nordic gatherings/meetings  
• Investigations/inquiries  
• Network-building  
• Activity projects  
• The participation of volunteer organisations in Nordic or international conferences/courses/meetings/gatherings

The Fund is aimed at a broad target group and calls are open to a wide range of activities and organisations, such as:

• Voluntary organisations (citizens’ organisations)
• Networks and interest organisations
• Authorities and other public organisations
• Other non-commercial actors
• Small and medium-sized enterprises

The Fund does not finance activities that include as partners political parties or individuals.

Each project must involve at least three different organisations from at least three of the following countries/areas:

• Denmark  
• Finland  
• Faroe Islands  
• Greenland  
• Iceland  
• Norway  
• Sweden  
• Åland Islands  

Alternatively, an organisation from Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania may be included as a partner in a project involving at least two organisations from at least two Nordic countries/areas. The lead applicant must come from a Nordic country/area. Otherwise, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ current policy on co-operation with non-Nordic countries applies at all times. 

Institutions subordinate to or partly funded by official Nordic co-operation may be involved in projects but do not count towards the above requirements. Their participation cannot be financed by the Fund.

The Fund only finances activities that commence no later than six months after the signing of the contract and are completed within two years of the signing of the contract. Activities that commence before the signature of the contract will not be funded.

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Application and time limits

Applications are to be made in one of the three Scandinavian languages or English on a form specifically for this purpose available on NIKK’s website (www.nikk.no). The application form will be available to download from www.nikk.no approximately one month before the deadline for applications.   

Grant applications are to be accompanied by a project plan and a budget for the planned activity. In the application, one of the applicant parties is to be designated as the principal applicant.

Decisions, contracts and reporting

NIKK will communicate its decision by e-mail to the main applicants once it is made and after the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality and LGBTI (ÄK-JÄM) has been given the opportunity to veto the decision. Decisions cannot be appealed.

Activities that have been granted funding must be subject to contracts drawn up with NIKK according to specific procedures. After the contract has been signed, the funding can be dispersed.

By default, 75 per cent of the activity’s total granted funding will be dispersed following requisition and the remaining funds, up to 25 per cent, following the approval of final reporting, including the final report. 

The main partner with responsibility for the project is responsible for sending the final report (self-evaluation) and financial accounts to NIKK no later than two months after the end of the project. Unused funds must be refunded to NIKK.

The final report is to include the following:   

• What Nordic synergies has the activity had?   
• How has the activity contributed to the work to ensure equal rights, treatment and opportunities for LGBTI people in the Nordic countries?   
• What results (such as products, knowledge, processes, procedures) has the activity produced?  
• How has information about and knowledge from the activity been communicated (how many individuals/countries has the activity reached, which target groups, which channels)?
• How will (the results from) the activity continue to be spread/used within the applicants’ organisations?   
• The most important lessons learned from the activity

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Administration of the Fund

The Nordic LGBTI Fund is managed and administered by MR-JÄM’s co-operation body Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK).   

MR-JÄM decides annually on the size of the fund in connection with the approval of MR-JÄM’s budget. The Fund’s budget is established through a decision by the Nordic Council of Ministers on the overall budget. Money for the Fund constitutes a special annual grant to NIKK under the annual decision on the budget by the Nordic Council of Ministers.   

The Secretariat to the Nordic Council of Ministers (NMRS) monitors the administration of the Fund through dialogue with NIKK. NMRS is responsible for preparing meetings and drafting decisions about the Fund for MR-JÄM and EK-JÄM.   

NIKK ought to continually assess whether the guidelines need to be specified in more detail or revised in order to fulfil the objective of the Fund in the best possible way and is to propose any changes deemed necessary to the Nordic Council of Ministers.  The above guidelines have been approved by the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI (MR-JÄM.  

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