Impulse: Empowering Civil Society for Resilience and Recovery of Ukraine

The project is implemented by the International Renaissance Foundation together with the East Europe Foundation supported by Norad in partnership with Sida.

Goal: to enhance the capacity of CSOs to achieve development goals for early recovery and reforms. The contest supports initiatives in inclusivity, gender equality, and environmental sustainability.

For winners, a mandatory training program is provided (trainings, consultations, learning on the "Zrozumilo!" platform).

Types of eligible organisations:

• Eligible applicants include local or regional civil society organisations, associations, charitable foundations, and community self-organisation bodies.
• Organisations must actively contribute to recovery processes within their communities or regions.
• Projects must target specific beneficiary groups, including veterans, internally displaced persons, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations.

Territorial eligibility requirements:

• The organisation must be registered in one of the designated regions of Ukraine, including Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Poltava, or Cherkasy regions.
• Participation is allowed for organisations registered in territories under the control of the Government of Ukraine as of 24 February 2022, including those that have relocated due to the war.
• Relocated organisations must maintain active engagement and demonstrated contribution to initiatives supporting their original communities.

Organisational and team requirements:

• Members of the applicant organisation’s team must be physically present in Ukraine and ready to participate in programme activities.
• The organisation must have at least one year of operational experience from the date of its registration.
• Organisations that have re-registered in government-controlled territories due to war-related relocation remain eligible, provided they continue to operate in line with the programme’s objectives.

Optimal budget for one project:

from UAH 1,000,000 to UAH 1,500,000.

Eligible project budget costs are those that:

• are necessary for the implementation of project activities;
• will actually be incurred during the project implementation period;
• comply with the principles of appropriateness and eligibility of costs, including the principle of “best quality at the lowest price” and cost efficiency;
• can be properly documented, justified, and clearly explained, and are supported by relevant financial and accounting documentation.

Ineligible project budget costs include those related to:

• preparation of the project proposal for participation in the call;
• establishment and registration of an organisation;
• purely institutional development of the applicant or other organisations;
• exclusively psychological support;
• repayment of debts;
• compensation for expenses related to exchange rate fluctuations;
• provision of direct fiscal support to public authorities;
• political activities or religious propaganda;
• activities leading to direct or indirect discrimination against any social groups;
• projects aimed at generating profit from activities;
• construction or renovation works;
• purchase of equipment exceeding 15% of the total project budget;
• procurement of humanitarian aid and/or military equipment;
• purchase of vehicles and/or luxury items and related services;
• provision of financial support to third parties (re-granting).

Types of activities that may be included in the project implementation plan (non-exhaustive list):

• increasing awareness and demand among residents of territorial communities for inclusive, nature-based, and human-centred solutions in Ukraine’s recovery planning, particularly at the community level;
• active engagement of local residents in recovery planning and advocacy processes, ensuring representation of various stakeholders and vulnerable groups, including internally displaced persons, veterans, persons with disabilities, and others;
• development of local and/or regional civil society networks and participation in civic networking initiatives and actions;
• analysis of critical issues affecting territorial communities, including the development of conclusions and recommendations and the implementation of relevant advocacy activities;
• communication activities accompanying the project and based on materials generated through the organisation’s own activities (including research, observations, and analysis);
• activities aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of the applicant civil society organisation, including strategic planning, with consideration of the principles of sustainable development, non-discrimination, and gender equality.

Participation of partner civil society organisations or individual experts working in the civic, academic, or educational sectors is also encouraged, where relevant to the project implementation.

Submission of proposals (calls) until:

• 03 April 2026
• 27 August 2026

Announcement of results: approximately 1.5 months after the deadline.

Start of project implementation: approximately 2 months after the deadline.

Project duration: total duration of up to 12 months.

Project proposals with attachments must be registered on the IRF website using the “Electronic Competition” service. All documents must be submitted in .doc, .docs, .xls, .xlsx, or .pdf formats. The maximum size of each attachment must not exceed 8 MB.

Project proposals registered on the IRF website after 15:00 Kyiv time on the specified submission dates (except for the final deadline) will be considered in the next call period. Project proposals registered on the IRF website on 27 August 2026 after 15:00 Kyiv time will not be considered.

In case of technical issues, please immediately contact technical support at contests@irf.ua .

Criteria for the evaluation of project proposals:

• compliance of the submitted project proposal with the objectives of the call and a clear link to recovery plans in specific communities;
• clarity of the project objective and consistency between all sections of the project proposal;
• feasibility of project implementation, including a clear implementation plan and defined expected results;
• anticipated impact of the project in achieving positive changes within the applicant organisation and the community(ies) it serves;
• a well-structured project communication component;
• integration of the principles of sustainable development, inclusiveness, non-discrimination, and gender equality in the planned project activities;
• appropriateness and balance of the project budget, with clear alignment between budget items and planned activities;
• involvement of additional partners in project implementation, including representatives of local communities.

a) Project budget

b) Information about the organisation according to the following structure:

• brief information about the organisation (1–2 paragraphs, including the period of operation, mission, objectives, tasks, governance structure, etc.);
• experience in implementing donor-funded projects, including those supported by the IRF (indicating the implementation period of each project, the donor, and the donor organisation’s contact person who can provide references regarding the organisation’s activities);
• achievements of the organisation and involved implementers in carrying out similar projects;
• links to the organisation’s annual narrative and financial reports for the previous calendar year, published in open access on the Internet.

c) Copy of the organisation’s Statute

d) Copy of the extract from the Unified State Register (USR)

e) Other attachments required under the terms of the call

Costs must be supported by financial and accounting documentation.

• The International Renaissance Foundation does not provide grants to political parties, religious organisations, territorial communities, private individuals, or for-profit entities.
• Project proposals submitted in any manner other than the one specified above will not be considered.
• Materials submitted to the competition will not be returned or reviewed.
• All participants will be notified of the competition results by email.
• The final decision regarding project proposals is not subject to review.
• Reasons for rejection of project proposals will not be disclosed.