The Active Citizens Fund 2021 calls, which took place between September 1 and November 16 of this year, received a total of 243 applications for the development of projects in the four outcomes of the Programme, namely:

Outcome 1 – Strengthened democratic culture and civic awareness: 50 applications;
Outcome 2 – Increased support for Human Rights: 36 applications;
Outcome 3 – Empowerment of vulnerable groups: 105 applications;
Outcome 4 – Enhanced capacity and sustainability of NGO’s: 52 applications.

For the total of the submitted applications, support of 11.559.795 euros was requested, representing 624% of the available budgetary allocation for the 2021 calls (1.850.000 €).

In terms of the territorial distribution of applications, it appears that 44.4% (108) of these are sponsored by an NGO based outside the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto.

About 59% (143) of the applications were submitted by small NGOs, with an annual expenditure value of fewer than 250.000€ per year.

Candidate projects can have a maximum duration of 20 months and a total cost of up to 75.000€ on all outcomes. Funding from the Active Citizens Fund can reach 90% of eligible costs.