Criteria

The following applies to all applications*:

  • The application must fit the transitions that DOEN wants to accelerate and meets the criteria of the DOEN foundation or related brands. In addition, specific criteria apply to each theme or sub-theme.
  • An application can be submitted all year round but must reach the DOEN Foundation at least four months before the start of the project.
  • In principle, an application procedure takes four months.
  • Applications must be submitted using the application form
  • In addition to the above criteria, the following aspects have added value:
  • The initiative should touch upon more than one of the themes on which DOEN focuses (a regenerative economy, an inclusive society and/or the power of imagination to bring about change).
  • DOEN's funding has a catalytic effect.
  • If your application does not fit our objectives and the project does not satisfy the criteria, the application will be rejected with a brief explanation.

Criteria - Regenerative economy

DOEN will support pioneers who are working towards a sustainable and inclusive society in the Netherlands and abroad. The focus is "doing good" rather than "doing less bad". DOEN is committed to restoring the soil, air and water, and the (re)use of raw materials. The aim is to create a balanced ecological living space.  

  DOEN is looking for pioneers that contribute to a "Regenerative Economy": 

  1. DOEN supports entrepreneurs working with new business models on landscape restoration or regenerative agriculture.   
  2. DOEN supports entrepreneurs who are committed to reducing the use of raw materials or replacing raw materials with natural materials.   
  3. DOEN supports citizen collectives putting a regenerative economy into practice.  

Criteria Inclusive society

DOEN strives for a society where everyone can participate and matter. DOEN focuses on pioneers who promote an inclusive society:

  1. Residents' initiatives: DOEN supports both small-scale neighbourhood projects, which mainly have an impact on those directly involved and the neighbourhood, and the more innovative, somewhat larger residents' initiatives, which offer alternatives to how we organise society and work on system change. (through the The Postcode Loterij Buurtfonds)
  2. Social entrepreneurship: DOEN supports social enterprises and organisations that support them in order to strengthen the sector.
  3. Livelihood security: DOEN focuses on the role it can play in supporting initiatives that work in an innovative way towards livelihood security and promote the resilience of vulnerable citizens.

Residents' initiatives
Increasingly, active citizens are taking it upon themselves to get involved in their neighbourhood or community. They want all residents to feel at home in their neighbourhood or community and to be able to contribute to it themselves. DOEN supports small-scale neighbourhood projects (through the Postcode Loterij Buurtfondsen) and more innovative and somewhat larger residents' initiatives which have a wider impact than on only those directly involved.

Neighbourhood projects (via the Postcode Loterij Buurtfonds)

To be eligible for a contribution from the Postcode Loterij Buurtfonds, an application must meet the following substantive and general criteria.

Innovative residents' initiatives
For enterprising residents with innovative ideas for a socially inclusive, engaged society. Initiatives must meet the following substantive criteria:

Social Entrepreneurship

It should be possible for everyone to actively participate in society. Unfortunately, there are still too many people on the side-lines. For example, they lack education, qualifications or a (social) network. Or people experience barriers due to mental or physical disabilities that prevent them from fully participating in today's complex society. Social enterprises give them the chance to get involved again. In recent years, DOEN has supported many social enterprises through the VriendenLoterij Fonds. DOEN aims to take social entrepreneurship from niche to norm and, partly for this reason, also focuses on sector-strengthening initiatives and on social enterprises working intensively with the mainstream business community.

Through the VriendenLoterij Fonds, we support social entrepreneurs and sector-strengthening initiatives that meet as many of the following criteria as possible:

Livelihood security

DOEN is currently focusing on the role it can play in supporting initiatives that work in an innovative way to realise new forms of livelihood security and promote the resilience of vulnerable people. We are looking for radical, experimental initiatives that can break through the system. Fore information will follow.

Criteria - The power of imagination

In the coming years, DOEN will focus even more strongly on fostering radical imagination as a collective process within the arts. Here, changes in society will give rise to projects, and individuals and communities will come together in a joint artistic imagination process. 

DOEN is looking for pioneers who will work in the Netherlands and abroad on the power of imagination to bring about change, focusing on a multitude of perspectives:        

  1. DOEN supports arts and cultural projects that use radical imagination to show people that a different world is possible and that work to create and provide space for a multitude of perspectives.
  2. DOEN supports artists who involve people and communities in their artistic process (social practice) and thus jointly arrive at alternative perspectives
  3. DOEN supports initiatives within the arts and cultural sector that are looking for horizontal, equal and more inclusive forms of collaboration.

The following substantive criteria apply to both initiatives in the Netherlands (including Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the BES islands) and abroad: