An umbrella project is a superordinate project within which a single entity – the administrator – redistributes funds to a larger number of small projects of final recipients. Instead of the provider administering hundreds of small applications, it announces a single call for the administrator, who then organises its own rounds for smaller entities. The model is used for community activities, culture, youth and cross-border cooperation, where typical projects are in the order of thousands of euros. The advantage is a lower administrative burden for the final recipient and faster decision-making. However, the administrator bears responsibility for the eligibility of all supported activities, which requires its own control system and staffing capacity that must be included in the budget. For the final recipient, it is therefore important to know that its contractual partner is the administrator, not the provider of the contribution directly.
See also: Micro-project, Aid scheme, Foundation grant programmes.
