NGO Grants 2025–2027 — a complete guide to funding with a call schedule

The nonprofit sector in Poland numbers more than 140 thousand active organizations — foundations, associations, social cooperatives and social economy entities. Every year several billion zlotys from EU funds, the state budget, local governments and private sources are available for distribution. The problem? More than 60% of non-governmental organizations do not apply for available funds, most often citing “procedures that are too complicated” as the main barrier.

This guide was written to remove that barrier. In it you will find a complete map of available funds for 2025–2027, concrete amounts and call deadlines, as well as proven rules that increase the chances of a positive evaluation of an application. Whether you run a local foundation with a budget of PLN 50 thousand a year or a nationwide association employing several dozen staff — this information will let you plan financing for the next three years.

The NGO funding landscape in Poland 2025–2027

The scale of available funds

The European Union’s 2021–2027 financial perspective is entering its decisive phase. The years 2025–2027 are the period in which managing authorities must contract and spend the remaining funds — which means an intensification of calls and greater pressure for fast competition decisions.

In numbers it looks like this:

~PLN 5 billion a year from European funds goes directly or indirectly to the NGO sector (through national and regional programmes)
~PLN 2 billion a year comes from the state budget — ministerial programmes, targeted grants, commissioning of public tasks
~PLN 1.5 billion a year is distributed by local governments under open calls for offers and small grants
~PLN 500 million a year is distributed by corporate foundations, foreign programmes and individual donors

In total the nonprofit sector can count on access to around PLN 9 billion a year — an amount comparable to the budget of a medium-sized Polish city.

Trends for 2025–2027

An analysis of published call schedules and programme documents makes it possible to identify clear priority directions:

1. Digitalization and digital competences — programmes increasingly require a technology component. NGOs that implement digital tools in their statutory activity receive extra points in the substantive evaluation. This applies both to digitalizing social services and to building beneficiaries’ digital competences.

2. Green transition — projects with an environmental component gain priority. Environmental education, circular economy, climate change adaptation — these areas have dedicated budget lines in most operational programmes.

3. Social inclusion and accessibility — people with disabilities, seniors, migrants, people in a homelessness crisis. Social programmes constitute the thickest stream of funding available to NGOs.

4. Partnerships and consortia — programme operators openly promote projects delivered in partnership. Applying independently is still possible, but consortia receive a higher score at the substantive evaluation stage.

The problem: 60% of NGOs do not apply

The 2024 Klon/Jawor study confirms a phenomenon we have observed for years — most non-governmental organizations do not use available funds. The most frequently cited reasons are:

“Procedures that are too complicated” — 47% of respondents
“Lack of knowledge about current calls” — 38% of respondents
“Deadlines for preparing an application that are too short” — 31% of respondents
“Lack of own contribution” — 24% of respondents
“Negative past experience” — 19% of respondents

These barriers are not objectively insurmountable — they result from a lack of a systematic approach to monitoring calls and preparing applications. An organization that learns about a call two weeks before the deadline will indeed not manage to prepare a good application. But the same organization that knows about the call three months earlier has enough time to prepare documentation, secure partners and think through the intervention logic.

It is also worth looking at the structure of the problem — according to GUS and NIW-CRSO data, organizations with an annual budget above PLN 500 thousand apply for grants almost a hundred times more often than those with a budget below PLN 50 thousand. A cumulative effect arises: large NGOs have fundraising teams, gain experience, build a history of project delivery — and win subsequent competitions. Small organizations, without the resources for a first application, never enter the grant system. Breaking this cycle requires two things: access to information at the right time, and simplifying the process of preparing an application.

EU funds for NGOs (FERS, FEnIKS, ESF+)

European funds remain the largest source of financing for the Polish nonprofit sector. In the 2021–2027 perspective Poland received a total of EUR 76 billion — a substantial part of which goes to NGOs as beneficiaries or project partners.

FERS is the successor to the Knowledge Education Development Operational Programme (PO WER) and the main national programme financing social activities. The programme budget is EUR 4.3 billion, and NGOs are one of the key types of beneficiaries.

FERS priorities relevant to non-governmental organizations:

Priority I: Skills — training, upskilling, lifelong learning
Priority II: Labour market development — labour activation, social economy, social entrepreneurship
Priority III: Accessibility and services for people with disabilities — deinstitutionalization, assistance services, supported housing
Priority IV: Social cohesion and health — combating poverty, care services, mental health

Typical grant amounts in FERS for NGOs range from PLN 500 thousand to PLN 5 million, at a co-financing level of 90–95% of eligible costs. It is worth remembering that FERS requires applying the competitiveness principle when selecting contractors above PLN 50 thousand net, and complying with accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 compliance for digital products and universal design for in-person events).

Key information for NGOs planning to apply to FERS in 2026: the managing authority (Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy) has announced a simplification of the settlement procedure for projects worth up to PLN 1 million — introducing lump sums instead of settling by invoices. This significantly reduces the administrative burden for smaller organizations.

FEnIKS — European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment

FEnIKS (the successor to POIiŚ) is a programme with a budget of EUR 25.1 billion, concentrated on “hard” investments. NGOs can apply in the areas of:

Nature protection and biodiversity — educational projects, management of Natura 2000 areas
Climate change adaptation — green infrastructure, water retention, climate education
Circular economy — educational and pilot projects

Amounts in FEnIKS are typically higher — from PLN 1 million to as much as PLN 20 million — but they require more extensive documentation and a longer preparation period. Non-governmental organizations most often apply to FEnIKS in consortia with local government units or research institutions, which makes it possible to meet requirements concerning financial and technical capacity. The duration of FEnIKS projects is typically 24–48 months, and the requirement to sustain results is 5 years after the project ends.

Regional programmes (RPO) — 16 voivodeships

Each voivodeship has its own regional programme (formerly RPO), with a budget from EUR 1 to 8 billion depending on the size of the region. Regional programmes are often the most accessible for local NGOs because:

Competition is smaller (limited to one voivodeship)
Amounts are adapted to local realities
Intermediate bodies are closer to beneficiaries
Procedures are sometimes simplified relative to national programmes

Programme	What for	Grant amounts	Who can apply	Indicative dates
FERS	Social activities, education, labour market	PLN 500 thousand – 5 million	NGOs, LGUs, universities, social economy entities	Continuous calls Q1–Q4 2026
FEnIKS	Environment, climate, infrastructure	PLN 1 million – 20 million	NGOs, LGUs, national parks	Q2–Q3 2026
Regional programmes	Depends on the voivodeship	PLN 100 thousand – 3 million	NGOs based in the given voivodeship	Voivodeship schedules
ESF+ (national component)	Social innovation, transnational cooperation	PLN 200 thousand – 2 million	NGOs with international experience	Q1–Q2 2026

Government funds and ministerial programmes

Government programmes are the second-largest source of NGO financing in Poland. Their advantage is typically a simpler application process than for EU funds and a shorter wait for a decision.

NOWEFIO — the new-generation Civic Initiatives Fund

NOWEFIO is the flagship support programme for non-governmental organizations, managed by the National Freedom Institute — Centre for Civil Society Development (NIW-CRSO). The programme operates in four priorities:

Priority 1: Micro-initiatives — small local projects, amounts PLN 10–40 thousand
Priority 2: Civic organizations for the common good — medium projects, PLN 40–150 thousand
Priority 3: Civic organizations in public life — large projects, PLN 100–300 thousand
Priority 4: Strengthening NGO capacity — institutional development, PLN 50–200 thousand

The annual NOWEFIO budget is around PLN 80 million. Calls are typically announced in Q4 of the year preceding delivery (i.e. October–December), with projects starting from March of the following year.

An important change from the 2026 edition: NIW-CRSO has introduced a mandatory online application generator (Grant Handling System — SOD), which replaced earlier PDF forms. The application is submitted exclusively electronically, with a qualified signature or a Trusted Profile. Formal evaluation is automated — the system verifies completeness of attachments and consistency of data with the KRS/CEiDG at the moment of submission. A positive change: it eliminates rejections on formal grounds, which previously accounted for 12–15% of all applications.

PROO — Civic Organisations Development Programme

PROO is complementary to NOWEFIO — while FIO finances projects, PROO supports the institutional development of the organizations themselves. Four PROO priorities:

Priority 1a: Institutional development — staff salaries, IT systems, development strategies (PLN 50–300 thousand per year)
Priority 1b: Institutional development of think-tanks — analysis, research, expertise
Priority 2: Development of network organizations — federations, coalitions, unions of associations
Priority 3: Institutional development of local watchdog organizations — watchdogs, social oversight organizations

PROO is one of the few programmes from which you can finance an organization’s administrative and management costs — coordinators’ salaries, accounting, IT systems, staff training.

Solidarity Fund — senior programmes

The Solidarity Fund finances programmes dedicated to older people and people with disabilities:

ASOS (Social Activity of Older People) — activation projects for seniors, PLN 20–200 thousand
Senior+ — creating and equipping day facilities (Senior+ Day Homes, Senior+ Clubs), up to PLN 400 thousand for creation, up to PLN 60 thousand/year for operation
Care 75+ — care services in municipalities of up to 60 thousand residents
Personal assistant for a person with a disability — financing personal assistance

Programme	Operator	Grant amount	Call date (indicative)
NOWEFIO Priority 1–4	NIW-CRSO	PLN 10–300 thousand	Q4 2025 / Q4 2026
PROO Priority 1a	NIW-CRSO	PLN 50–300 thousand/year	Q3 2026
PROO Priority 2–3	NIW-CRSO	PLN 100–500 thousand	Q2–Q3 2026
ASOS	MRPiPS	PLN 20–200 thousand	Q1 2026
Senior+ (creation)	MRPiPS	Up to PLN 400 thousand	Q4 2025 / Q1 2026
Senior+ (operation)	MRPiPS	Up to PLN 60 thousand/year	Q1 of every year
Personal assistant	MRPiPS / PFRON	By number of participants	Q4 2025

Local government and local funds

Territorial local governments — municipalities, counties and voivodeships — are the largest financial partner for local non-governmental organizations. Cooperation takes place primarily on the basis of the Act of 24 April 2003 on Public Benefit Activity and Volunteer Work.

Open calls for offers (Art. 11–19 of the Act)

Open calls for offers are the basic mechanism for commissioning the delivery of public tasks to non-governmental organizations. The local government defines the task (e.g. “running community day-care centres”, “organizing summer recreation for children”) and NGOs submit offers for its delivery.

Characteristics of open calls for offers:

Budget: from a dozen or so thousand to several million zlotys for a single task
Own contribution: typically 10–20% (may be financial or in-kind — volunteering)
Delivery period: most often a calendar year or a school year
Procedure: simplified relative to EU funds — an offer form according to the ministerial template
Evaluation time: 30–60 days from the end of the call

Every local government publishes an annual programme of cooperation with non-governmental organizations, in which it indicates priorities and planned amounts for particular areas. This document is adopted by the municipal/county council typically by 30 November of the preceding year.

Small grants — the Art. 19a procedure

Art. 19a of the Act makes it possible to award a grant without an open call for offers — the so-called “small grants” or “simplified procedure”. Conditions:

Grant amount: up to PLN 10,000
Task delivery time: up to 90 days
Combined grant amount for one organization under the Art. 19a procedure: up to PLN 20,000 a year

Small grants are an excellent tool for organizations that are only starting cooperation with a local government or want to test a new project idea without committing to a full competition procedure. The offer is considered within 7 business days, which makes this procedure the fastest available grant mechanism.

In practice the Art. 19a procedure works particularly well in the following situations: the organization wants to deliver a one-off event (conference, festival, social campaign), needs to quickly finance a response to a current problem (e.g. help for people affected by a random event), or plans a pilot of a new project before submitting a larger application. Many experienced NGOs use small grants strategically — as a way to build a relationship with the local government and generate data for larger applications (e.g. “a pilot with 50 participants showed that the method works — now we are applying for PLN 200 thousand to scale”).

Participatory budget and local initiative

The civic (participatory) budget — although formally it is a tool for residents, not organizations — can be a source of financing for projects initiated by NGOs. The organization prepares a project, mobilizes the local community to vote and oversees delivery.

A local initiative (Art. 19b–19h of the Act) is in turn a mechanism in which residents together with the local government deliver a public task, contributing in the form of social work, in-kind benefits or financial contributions. NGOs can play the role of coordinator of such an initiative.

Private and foreign funds

Beyond public funds, non-governmental organizations have access to a rich offer of private funds and international programmes. Although their scale is smaller than public financing, they have an important advantage — greater flexibility in terms of goals, procedures and reporting.

Corporate foundations

The largest Polish corporations run their own grant programmes through corporate foundations:

PZU Foundation — educational programmes, health prevention, safety. Grants PLN 10–100 thousand. Calls: 2–3 times a year.
ORLEN Foundation — children’s and youth sport, ecology, safety. Grants PLN 5–50 thousand. Continuous calls.
mBank Foundation — mathematical education, digital competences. Grants PLN 10–80 thousand. Calls: Q1 and Q3.
Bank Pekao Foundation — culture, heritage, financial education. Grants PLN 10–150 thousand.
Polish Development Fund Foundation — social innovation, entrepreneurship. Grants PLN 20–200 thousand.

Corporate foundations value projects with a clear image component — branding opportunities, media relations and impact reporting in a format attractive to the donor’s stakeholders.

EEA/Norway Grants — Active Citizens Fund

The European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (so-called Norway Grants) is a programme that only civil society organizations can use. In the current edition Active Citizens Fund Poland has a budget of EUR 30 million, distributed in three areas:

Democracy and human rights — watchdogs, civic education, countering discrimination
Civic engagement — participation, volunteering, local activity
Strengthening organizations — institutional development, coalition building

Grants in Active Citizens Fund range from EUR 6,000 to 120,000 (approx. PLN 26–520 thousand), at a co-financing level of up to 90%. The programme operator in Poland is a consortium of the Stefan Batory Foundation, the “Shipyard” Social Research and Innovation Workshop Foundation and the Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation.

Direct EU programmes

In addition to funds managed at national level, the European Commission runs programmes in which NGOs can apply directly to Brussels:

Erasmus+ — education, youth, sport. Action KA1 (mobility), KA2 (strategic partnerships), KA3 (policy). Global budget EUR 26.2 billion for 2021–2027. NGOs can receive from EUR 30,000 to 400,000 per project.
Horizon Europe — research and innovation. Cluster “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society”. Grants EUR 100,000–2 million.
CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) — civic rights, equality, European values. Grants EUR 50,000–500,000. Particularly accessible for NGOs dealing with human rights and democracy.
LIFE — environment and climate. Grants EUR 500,000–5 million. Requires substantial experience and an international partnership.

Direct programmes require applying in English and creating international consortia (minimum 3 countries), but they offer significantly higher amounts and prestige that makes it easier to raise subsequent funds.

For organizations considering applying to direct EU programmes, obtaining a PIC (Participant Identification Code) in the European Commission’s Funding & Tenders Portal is key. Registration is free and one-off — after completing it the organization can apply to all centrally managed EU programmes. It is also worth using Erasmus+ Action KA1 as an “entry gateway” — staff mobility projects are relatively simple to prepare and give experience with the EU reporting system, which pays off when applying for larger partnership grants.

Call schedule 2026 — when to submit applications?

Planning grant applications requires thinking on a horizon of at least 3–6 months before the call deadline. The schedule below lets you plan the grant year in advance.

Quarter	Programme / Call	Indicative deadline	Amount
Q1 2026	ASOS — senior projects	January–February 2026	PLN 20–200 thousand
Q1 2026	Senior+ (operation)	January 2026	Up to PLN 60 thousand/year
Q1 2026	LGU open calls for offers — round I	January–March 2026	Depends on the LGU
Q1 2026	Erasmus+ KA1/KA2 — round 1	February 2026	EUR 30–400 thousand
Q2 2026	NOWEFIO — evaluation and agreements	Decision: April 2026	PLN 10–300 thousand
Q2 2026	FERS — social services	April–May 2026	PLN 500 thousand – 5 million
Q2 2026	Regional programmes — social inclusion	May–June 2026	PLN 100 thousand – 3 million
Q2 2026	CERV — rights and values	May 2026	EUR 50–500 thousand
Q3 2026	PROO Priority 1a — institutional development	July–August 2026	PLN 50–300 thousand/year
Q3 2026	FEnIKS — environment	August–September 2026	PLN 1–20 million
Q3 2026	Corporate foundations — autumn calls	September 2026	PLN 10–150 thousand
Q3 2026	Active Citizens Fund — round 2	September 2026	PLN 26–520 thousand
Q4 2026	NOWEFIO 2027 — application call	October–November 2026	PLN 10–300 thousand
Q4 2026	Senior+ (creation) for 2027	November 2026	Up to PLN 400 thousand
Q4 2026	LGU open calls for offers — round II	October–December 2026	Depends on the LGU
Q4 2026	Erasmus+ KA2 — round 2	October 2026	EUR 30–400 thousand

Key rule: preparing an application for an EU programme requires a minimum of 6–8 weeks of intensive work. For government programmes — 3–4 weeks. For LGU open calls for offers — 1–2 weeks. Plan backwards from the deadline and start work sufficiently early.

It is also worth tracking schedule updates — managing authorities can shift call dates (both forward and back). Official schedules are published on programme websites and updated quarterly. An organization that monitors these changes in real time has a competitive advantage over those that rely on outdated information from the beginning of the year.

How to increase your chances of funding? 7 rules of effective applying

Statistics show that the average success rate in grant competitions is 20–35%. That means 2 out of 3 applications are rejected. The rules below — resulting from an analysis of hundreds of decided competitions — make it possible to shift the odds significantly in your favour.

1. Match the project to the programme’s priorities (not the other way around)

The most common mistake of applying NGOs: the organization has an idea for a project and looks for a programme that will finance it. The effective approach is the opposite — read the call regulations, identify the priorities and evaluation criteria, and only then design an intervention that responds to them.

This does not mean giving up the organization’s mission. It means the ability to talk about your activity in a language that matches the programme’s goals. The same “youth community centre” project can be described as:

Countering social exclusion (for social programmes)
Addiction prevention (for health programmes)
Social activation of young people (for civic programmes)
Equalizing educational opportunities (for education programmes)

2. Build partnerships (consortia have a higher score)

Applications submitted in partnership receive extra points in most programmes — typically 5–15 points out of 100 possible. But the partnership must be real, not paper. Evaluators check:

Does each partner have specific tasks assigned?
Does the budget split match the work split?
Do the partners bring complementary competences?
Is there a history of cooperation between the partners?

The best partnerships combine organizations with different competences — e.g. an expert NGO (substantive know-how) with local NGOs (access to beneficiaries) or with research institutions (research, evaluation).

3. Take care of own contribution (often 5–20%)

Most programmes require own contribution — most often 5–20% of the project value. Contribution can take the form of:

Financial — funds from your own budget, other grants, donations
In-kind labour — volunteer work valued at market rates (typically PLN 30–50/h)
In-kind — making premises, equipment, materials available (valued at market value)

When planning own contribution, include it in the budget from the very beginning. An organization that cannot demonstrate 10% contribution should not apply for a project — it is better to choose a programme with no contribution requirement (e.g. Art. 19a small grants) or build financial capacity gradually.

4. Write in the language of the evaluators (criteria → answers)

Every programme publishes a substantive evaluation sheet with criteria and points assigned to them. Treat this sheet as the template for your application. If a criterion reads “Adequacy of the problem diagnosis (0–10 pts)”, your application should contain a clearly separated chapter “Problem diagnosis” with numerical data, sources and a reference to the target group.

Practical tips:

Use the same keywords as the regulations (not synonyms)
Support every claim with data — “the problem concerns 2,300 people in municipality X” instead of “the problem concerns many people”
Formulate result indicators in a measurable way — “80% of participants will raise competences by min. 20% measured by a pre/post test”
The description of the target group should include: size, demographic characteristics, recruitment method, barriers to participation

5. Submit the application earlier than the deadline

IT systems (application generators) tend to overload in the last hours before a call closes. Every year hundreds of organizations lose a chance at a grant because the system froze at 23:45 and the call closed at midnight.

In addition — submitting early gives time for possible supplements. Many institutions call for correction of formal deficiencies (missing signature, wrong form), but only if the application arrived on time. Submit the application a minimum of 48 hours before the deadline — that is your insurance against technical problems.

6. Prepare documents in advance

Regardless of which programme you apply to, you will need a set of standard documents:

Current extract from the KRS (valid 3 months)
Organization statute (current version)
Financial statement for the last year
Substantive report on activity
Personal data protection policy (GDPR)
CVs of key project staff
Letters of intent from partners
Documentation of the organization’s experience (references, descriptions of completed projects)

Prepare these documents once and update them quarterly. When an interesting call appears, you will not waste time gathering papers — you will focus on the substance of the application.

7. Monitor calls automatically (not by checking websites by hand)

Information on calls is published on dozens of websites — European funds portals, NIW-CRSO pages, local government Public Information Bulletins, corporate foundation websites, European Commission portals. Manually monitoring all these sources is physically impossible for an organization employing a few people.

Automatic call monitoring — with alerts matched to the organization’s profile — is the difference between “we find out two weeks before the deadline” and “we know about the call three months earlier and have time to prepare an excellent application”.

dlaNGO — automatic monitoring of grants and calls

The solution to the problem of fragmented information on calls is dlaNGO — a SaaS platform designed specifically for non-governmental organizations, which automates the process of monitoring available funds and grants.

A database of current calls from all of Poland

dlaNGO aggregates information on calls from several hundred sources — EU, ministerial, local government and private programmes — in a single, searchable interface. Every call in the database contains:

The name of the programme and the operator
Grant amounts (minimum and maximum)
The deadline for submitting applications
Formal requirements (who can apply, required own contribution)
A link to the competition documentation
Call status (planned / open / closed / decided)

The database is updated daily, which eliminates the risk of missing an important call because of a delay in publishing information.

Alerts — a new call matching the organization’s profile

After configuring the organization profile (area of activity, territorial reach, budget size, preferred project types), dlaNGO automatically sends notifications about new calls that meet the set criteria.

You do not have to check portals and Public Information Bulletin pages every day — the system does it for you and informs you only about calls in which your organization can realistically apply. That is a saving of several hours a week that you can spend on actually preparing applications.

Timeline — when to start writing the application so you make it

Every call in dlaNGO has an assigned preparation timeline — based on the type of programme, the complexity of documentation and historical data on the time needed to prepare a good application. The system reminds you of key milestones:

“In 90 days the FERS call closes — time to start the diagnosis and partnerships”
“In 45 days the NOWEFIO deadline — time to write the application”
“In 14 days the generator closes — time to finalize and submit”

Thanks to this approach the organization is never surprised by a deadline and always has enough time to prepare a high-quality application.

Who is dlaNGO for?

The platform is designed with three groups of users in mind:

NGO boards and directors — who need a strategic overview of available financing opportunities without diving into hundreds of pages of documentation
Project coordinators and fundraisers — who are responsible for the operational preparation of applications and need a time advantage
Small organizations without a dedicated fundraiser — for whom automatic monitoring replaces a post they cannot afford

Regardless of the size of the organization, dlaNGO solves the same fundamental problem: moving from reactive (“oh, there’s a call, we have two weeks”) to proactive fundraising (“in three months a call opens that perfectly matches our profile — we start preparing”).

FAQ — frequently asked questions

Can small NGOs (budget below PLN 100 thousand) apply for EU grants?

Yes, although in practice small organizations should start with programmes that have a lower barrier to entry — small grants (Art. 19a), LGU open calls for offers, NOWEFIO Priority 1. After building experience and administrative capacity you can move on to EU programmes, preferably in the role of a partner (not the leader) of a consortium. EU funds require extensive reporting that an organization with an annual budget of PLN 50–100 thousand may struggle to handle without a dedicated administrative post.

How long does the process take from submitting an application to receiving the money?

It depends on the programme. Indicative timelines:

Small grants (Art. 19a): 7 days for a decision, money within 14 days — together ~3 weeks
LGU open calls for offers: 30–60 days to a decision, money within 30 days of signing the agreement — together 2–4 months
NOWEFIO/PROO: 3–4 months for evaluation, money after signing the agreement — together 5–7 months
EU funds (FERS, FEnIKS): 4–8 months for evaluation and negotiations, money as an advance after signing the agreement — together 6–12 months

Can you apply to several programmes at once with the same project?

No — that is so-called double funding and it is prohibited. You can (and should), however, apply with different projects to different programmes at the same time. You can also split one large undertaking into several smaller, complementary projects financed from different sources — provided the costs do not overlap and each project has separate indicators.

What should you do if an application is rejected?

First — read the evaluation rationale (score sheets are made available on request). Identify which criteria were scored low and why. Second — consider a protest/appeal (in EU programmes you have the right to protest within 14 days of receiving the result). Third — improve the application and submit it in the next call. Statistics show that organizations that apply a second time with a corrected application have a success rate of 40–50% — significantly higher than the average.

How do you find reliable information on current calls?

Official sources are: the portal funduszeeuropejskie.gov.pl (EU funds), the NIW-CRSO website niw.gov.pl (government programmes), local government Public Information Bulletins (open calls for offers), and the websites of individual foundations (private grants). The problem is that there are several hundred of these sources and information appears at different times. The solution is to use a call aggregator — such as dlaNGO — which collects data from all sources in one place and lets you filter it by organization profile.

Summary — from information to action

Money for the activity of non-governmental organizations is available — several billion zlotys a year wait for well-prepared applications. The barrier is not a lack of funds, but a lack of a systematic approach to raising them.

Key takeaways from this guide:

Diversify sources of financing — do not rely on one programme. Combine EU, government, local government and private funds.
Plan on a yearly horizon — use call schedules and start preparations 3–6 months in advance.
Build capacity gradually — start with small grants and open calls for offers, then move on to larger programmes.
Invest in partnerships — consortia have a higher success rate and make it possible to share the administrative burden.
Automate monitoring — do not check dozens of websites by hand. Use tools that do it for you.

The years 2025–2027 are the last chance to use funds from the current EU financial perspective. Organizations that start applying systematically now will secure financing for their activities for subsequent years — and will build experience that pays off in every next call.

Want us to help your organization not miss any important call? Get in touch — we will show how dlaNGO automates grant monitoring and lets you focus on what really matters: writing winning applications.

Article updated: August 2026. Information on call deadlines is indicative — always verify current dates on programme operator websites or in the dlaNGO database.