How to write a quality KAPP application: our top 9 tips!

Read the “Call for proposals” document

The “call for proposals” is your main reference document when preparing your proposal: even if it seems lengthy, boring, or familiar (the same as the previous year etc.), you will always find useful and crucial information such as:  

• aims, objectives and priorities of this year’s call topics, 
• application procedures and deadlines,
• eligibility criteria concerning the applicant organisations,
• minimum and maximum amounts of funding to be requested, as well as minimum level of your own contribution.  

Each topic of the KAPP call has its own specificities (i.e., objectives, outcomes, priorities) and therefore the proposal must be planned and written accordingly. Please pay attention to these elements as your proposal will be evaluated against them.

We can’t emphasise it enough: please read the call documentation. Then read it again in case something is not clear. And if you still have any doubts, please consult the FAQ section or raise any questions directly with the KAPP team, well in advance of the call deadline. 

Make it work for you and for the wider civil protection community

Submit a project proposal that fits your organisation's profile and needs (ideally, a project with activities that fit into the existing activities of your organisation) and explain why your organisation is the right one to carry it out.

Try to include civil protection authorities, first responders and/or disaster risk management end-users in the project, starting from the formulation of the proposal. Their involvement is a crucial element for the success of your project efforts and for future sustainability of the results.

Be needs-driven and relevant

Show us that you know what you are talking about, that your needs analysis is justified and sound (What are the needs justifying the proposed action? How are the needs explained and justified?), based on evidence and lessons learnt. Do not hesitate to refer to previous research or project results that support your ideas. If possible, link your analysis to the current debates in the UCPM community and other DRR projects at EU/national/regional level.

Make sure that proposed activities bring value for the entire community of the UCPM, not only countries or organisations actively participating in the project efforts. Explain it well in your proposal, do not make the evaluators guess or estimate relevance of your action to the UCPM as this is one of the most important criteria we usually look at.

If your proposal is a continuation of a previous EU-funded action, explain clearly what is new in your proposal, what is its added value and why the needs identified by you could not have been addressed in your previous project(s).

Build your project with the right partners

There is no “ideal” number of project partners. This should be adapted to the scope of activities foreseen, but we recommend keeping this number in single digits. In our view, this allows the consortium to focus on implementation of activities as opposed to administrative management of many partners, which can at times be cumbersome.

The consortium of partners should reflect the diversity and complementarity of the UCPM member and participating states and ensure a balanced representation of different regions and stakeholders. The consortium of partners needs to have the competence to support project’s activities. See also “Consortium roles” in the final “Important” section of the call document. 

In case you are a project coordinator looking for a project partner with specific expertise, or of a particular eligible country; if you are an organisation looking for a consortium to join, you can find project partners via the Partner Search on the Funding and Tenders Opportunities portal. You can publish your partner search request or offer by selecting the KAPP call topic you are interested in. Further help is available in the IT HOW TO on the Funding and Tenders Opportunities portal. 

Be coherent

Pay attention to articulating clear problem statement and overall aim of your project proposal. In addition, make sure that needs, aim, objectives, activities, and resources logically flow from one to another. 

Objectives should be relevant and fit the overall aim. Activities should be adequate and appropriate to achieving the objectives and reflected in the budget. Your needs in terms of resources should be accurately estimated and justified, and the ratio between the estimated costs and the results satisfactory. 

Check your proposal for consistency of ideas presented, so that the evaluators don’t have to choose between contradictory statements.

Consider the sustainability of the project

Make sure to let us know how the results of the project can be used in the future. This is an area which is often overlooked, but for us it is essential to understand how you will ensure that the results of the project can be used. 

Please consider how one or several of the organisations involved in project implementation can become an owner or guardian of (some of) the project results, without the necessity of future EU funding. This is where the role of civil protection authorities or first responders’ organisations as potential end users is very important.

Be specific and concise

Say what you intend to do. Avoid vague statements and unclear descriptions. Use the space provided in the application form and try to use the right number of words. Proposals are limited to 50 pages (Part B), excluding annexes: this doesn’t mean that you must use all 50 pages. Provide all the information necessary but do not fill up pages with reiterations and duplication of information. Be reasonably concise.

This also applies to the project deliverables: limit the number of project deliverables to a maximum of 10-15 for the entire project. 

Be clear

Use language that is easy to understand. You can of course use the UCPM’s vocabulary (you can familiarise yourself with it by reading the relevant UCPM reference documents) but it is also important to explain what you will do in your project in concrete terms, rather than only using jargon-related terms in the descriptions of your aims and project activities.

Be ready

It is never too early to start writing a proposal and to deal with all tasks linked to the application process. Ensure you have enough time before submitting your proposal, to have it read by other partners or peers/colleagues in your organisation. 

Keep in mind that you have to allow for enough time to request and obtain the letter of support from the competent national civil protection authority (for each country participating in the consortium that will benefit directly from the action’s results), and to deal with the various tasks linked to the application process and admissibility of the proposal (creation of the user’s account, registration of organisations …, see point 5 of the Call, “Admissibility and documents”). 

And finally… try to avoid submitting your proposal on the last day of the application window! This will save you some last-minute jitters.