“ELS Grant” is one of the forms of financial support provided by the ELSA Lawyers’ Society to the Local and National Groups as well as ELSA International. ELSA Groups can apply for financial support from ELS to cover the costs of their projects using the special procedure described below.

This procedure is to be applied for all requests for financial support to be provided to ELSA by ELS, under Point 3 of Schedule 3 of the Cooperation and Administration Agreement.

The ELS Grant application form can be downloaded here.

Procedure description:

1.    Project periods.

For application purposes, the civil year is divided into two project periods: the first one from the 1st January to the 30th June; the second one from the 1st July to the 31st December.

2.    Deadlines.

There are two fixed deadlines throughout the year to apply for an ELS project grant.

1st deadline: 15th April – For projects starting from the 1st July that year to the 30th June next year (two project periods).

2nd deadline: 15th November – For projects starting from the 1st January to the 31st December next year (two project periods).

3.    Application documents.

The application shall be submitted by e-mail to grants@elslawyer.org (with copy to treasurer@elslawyer.org), and shall include the following documents:

a) A filled-in application form;

b) A project description (including at least the nature of the project, dates, venues, fees, target groups, and expected results);

c) A draft budget of the project, including the amount requested for the grant.

4.    Contact person.

The person responsible for receiving the applications and communicate with the Applicant Groups shall be the Executive Officer for the ELS Trust.

5.    Decision.

The Executive Committee of ELS (Exec) will consider the applications and take the final decision. At its’ own discretion, the Exec may decide to:

• Exclude applications that do not present the documents as specified in point 3;
• Request additional information to any Applicant Group, in which case the Applicant Group shall answer within 48 hours;
• Award an amount lower than requested by the Applicant Group.
  
  

6.    Criteria for granting.

The Exec shall establish criteria for awarding grants and shall adequately publicize them beforehand, in an annex to the present document.

7. Announcement.

For applications presented by the 1st deadline, the final decision shall be announced on the 30th May, at the latest. For applications presented by the 2nd deadline, the final decision shall be announced on the 31st December, at the latest. All Applicant Groups shall receive written notice of the result of their application, and the grants awarded shall be publicized at the ELS website.

8.    Payment.

The grant shall be paid in two instalments, of half the total amount each. The first instalment shall be transferred before the beginning of the project. The second instalment shall be transferred after the project is completed, and upon provision by the Applicant Group of a project report and a final budget. The Exec may request additional information and documents before transferring the second half of the grant. If the event has shown profit, the Exec may decide to keep the amount of the second instalment, up to the sum profited by the Applicant Group.

ANNEX 1 – Criteria for granting

The following criteria shall be considered by the Exec when awarding grants, and do not have precedence over each other.

• Internationality.
• Social responsibility: positive impact to society.
• Quality of budget.
• Multiplying effect for the Network.
• Financial situation and level of development of ELSA activities.
• ELS involvement in the project.

Exclusion criteria: a grant shall not be awarded to an Applicant Group that has received a grant for a project that has taken place in the year before the beginning of the new project.