General Guidelines for the Institutional Grants Program

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Application Review and Assessment

Applications are submitted for review to the Claims Conference on a semi-annual basis. The application forms can be found in the Claims Conference Grantee Portal at claimsconference.fluxx.io. Application deadline information and funding guidelines are available both on the Claims Conference website and the Grantee Portal.

The application review and approval process takes between 6-8 months.

Social Services

In social services, the main priorities include: homecare/housekeeping services, case management, food programs, transportation, health and medical related services, emergency assistance programs, and socialization programs.

In evaluating social service applications, the staff looks at several items such as:

  • The type and nature of the needs of the vulnerable Jewish Nazi victims in each catchment area;
  • The number of Jewish Nazi victims currently served by the organization;
  • Unmet homecare needs of Jewish Nazi victims served by the organization or on a wait list for service;
  • The level of government services and social safety nets;
  • The availability of other resources (e.g., restitution, compensation, philanthropic and governmental);
  • Types of services being provided;
  • Track record of the organization if previous grants have been awarded;
  • Reasonableness of the budget and the cost of providing services;
  • Professional standards of organization (e.g., service delivery, budgets, results of audits, etc.).

In addition to the internal staff review, many projects are also assessed by outside professionals.

For the former Soviet Union, the Claims Conference works closely with its partner the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) who possesses hands-on knowledge of the locality, communities, infrastructure and local personalities and are often in a position to provide advice and recommendations. Certain limited capital projects may be considered for minor capital improvements that directly facilitate the delivery of social services to Nazi victims in economically distressed countries, not to exceed $10,000 on a matching basis.

After the analysis of the applications is completed, recommendations are formulated taking into account (with flexibility) the following general funding guidelines:

  • The Claims Conference does not fund 100% of the cost of any project;
  • The Claims Conference does not underwrite running costs of institutions;
  • The Claims Conference does not underwrite deficits;
  • At this time, the Claims Conference is NOT accepting any applications for Institutional capital projects. The Claims Conference previously funded capital projects for Institutions only in Israel.

Please review guidelines for Shoah Research, Education, Documentation and Film projects. 

Evaluations

All project proposals are required to include a plan for evaluating the project and all evaluations shall be shared with the Claims Conference. For applications for funding of above $250,000, the grant recipient will be required to present for Claims Conference approval a detailed plan and budget line for an evaluation, which may be conducted internally by the institution. The evaluation plan should be included in the original application but may be amended with the agreement of the Claims Conference as the project develops. For certain designated major projects the Claims Conference may require that an independent evaluation be carried out.