Application process

The Van Tienhoven Foundation (co-)sponsors projects with a maximum of €20,000 through an annual call for proposals.

Please read this carefully
The 2026 application round has been cancelled. Unfortunately, this means that funding applications for nature projects in Central and West Africa, or other regions, cannot be submitted this year.

The following application process is used:

• Grantseekers start the application process by submitting a project proposal through the online application form (only available within the set time frame for the specific call for proposals). Only completed application forms in English will be accepted. To help you prepare your application you may download this pdf document.
• Upon submission, grantseekers agree with the privacy policy of the van Tienhoven Foundation, and agree that (meta) data from the application may be published in the public domain via a Creative Commons license CC-BY-4.0 with proper citation to the grantseekers organization. The Van Tienhoven Foundation will provide the grantseeker with information prior to such publication.
• All applications will be checked in respect to the eligibility criteria. Applications that do not meet these criteria will not be proceeding to the assessment phase.
• All applications that pass the eligibility criteria will be assessed based on assessment criteria. The Board of the Van Tienhoven Foundation performs these assessments unremunerated and may involve unremunerated external specialists in these assessments. After the assessment of applications, the Board may form a set of shortlisted applications.
• The shortlisted applications will be contacted by the Board. Additional information is requested from each applicant at this stage. Applicants are requested to supply the names of two independent referees. The Board may at this stage also seek additional unremunerated referees to appraise applications.
• Based on all information provided the Board makes a final selection of projects to be funded.
• Applicants will receive a decision by the Board within twelve weeks after the submission deadline. Decisions are at the discretion of the Board and arguments will not be given for positive or negative decisions.