Goals project funding
What do we want to achieve?

The Van Doorn Foundation supports local organisations with an educational objective that want to make vocational training more accessible to the target group, but also to increase the chance of work after the training and thus increase the self-reliance of these young people.

This support may consist of providing funds:

  • to start new vocational training courses (e.g., to purchase teaching materials, equipment, and tools)
  • to improve accessibility of existing vocational training (e.g., to purchase means of transport / bicycles)
  • to increase accessibility to the labour market (e.g., to set-up internship programmes, learning-on-the-job trajectories and to purchase tools for starters).

The Foundation will in principle not provide financial support to the construction of new schools or classrooms.

The main criterion to support local organisations is to improve the accessibility of vocational education for vulnerable and disadvantaged youth. Accessibility has primarily to do with the fees to be paid for vocational training. The amount of training fees to be paid will be an important criterion in assessing applications for project funding. Accessibility has also to do with availability of training centres. The Foundation may give priority to e.g., the establishment of new training programs in areas where these are not yet offered or not offered to the underprivileged.

Providing bicycles for pupils / students also belongs to the possibilities. We also want to pay special attention to increasing employment opportunities by assisting local organisations in developing apprenticeship and internships for on-the-job training. This may facilitate access to the labour market. Providing tools in the form of a micro-credit is another possibility which allows young people to start up their own small businesses.

When assessing applications for project funding, we pay particular attention to:

  • recognition and experience of the organisation
  • availability of a policy plan for the organisation
  • insight in the finances of the organisation
  • alignment with our objective (education and/or empowerment)
  • alignment with our target group (vulnerable and/or underprivileged young people)
  • project cost (and own contribution)
  • feasibility and sustainability of the project

Grants for vocational education and informal vocational training have a maximum of € 5,000 (for the purchase of training equipment). Financing several small projects in succession for the same local organisation is a possibility. Grants for self-reliance have a maximum of € 3,000 (for the purchase of toolboxes).

The Foundation allocates annually € 26,000 for project  funding, of which 60% will be available from its own resources and 40% from fundraising.

Grant agreements will be signed with local organisations, in which mutual obligations are defined, such as the funding commitment of the Foundation and the reporting obligations of the local organisation.

Targeted countries
The Foundation will focus its project-funding support on four countries in East Africa, namely Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

 

We keep our promises!

Once a year (in October) the received applications for project funding are reviewed.

More resources for the Foundation mean that we can fund more projects. More money does not mean that we suddenly start funding other kinds of activities or become more relaxed with our review criteria. You can be confident that your money will be spent the way we promised!