Recommended results
Non-reimbursable grants often encourage or require the mandatory formation of a consortium. When the objectives pursued by the funder are complex, partnership becomes necessary. In almost all cases, international partnerships are accepted, and many European Commission funding programmes actively recommend them. In addition, in the next EU budget, the “Global Europe” instrument will enable the EU to continue engaging alongside international partners more broadly. In this way, the EU will promote stability, development, and strategic cooperation beyond its borders.
Through both direct experience and consultancy work, the ILIGRA team has participated in the formation and implementation of international partnerships within European consortium projects, as well as in global entrepreneurship projects with partners from more than five countries.
Conditions for a successful partnership:
At ILIGRA, we have developed specialised consultancy services for partnerships within non-reimbursable funding projects.
A service particularly suited to organisations and companies that frequently apply for non-reimbursable funding, collaborative evaluation of potential partnerships included in a subscription can save valuable time. ILIGRA can handle the analysis of the funding call documentation proposed by a potential partner, assess your organisation’s eligibility, and issue an informed opinion on the suitability of such a consortium collaboration. In these cases, we focus on clearly identifying the benefits for your organisation, potential risks, and the overall funding framework, which may or may not be advantageous.
As part of our general strategic analysis process, we assess existing partnerships as well as opportunities to develop new ones. Depending on your field of activity, chosen objectives, and contracted consultancy services, we can provide strategic recommendations for identifying and initiating new partnerships that may open access to more advanced funding opportunities.
If you have already identified a funding opportunity where partnership is required, you can choose the optional partner eligibility verification service to ensure that your project is not rejected. At ILIGRA, we can analyse documentation directly in English or Romanian, and for other languages we offer several working options. We accept translated documentation provided by partners themselves, online tools (with their obvious limitations), or collaboration with specialised translation services. It is also important to consider that, in certain cases, funders themselves may later require translated documentation.
For projects involving a consortium of multiple organisations, it can be useful to opt for the optional service of managing the partner collaboration process during the application writing stage, including organising online working meetings, managing communication, and monitoring tasks and timelines. This allows you to focus on the most important discussions and work - such as negotiations, the strategic approach to the partnership, and alignment between partner teams - while we ensure the smooth running of the funding application preparation process.
If you choose to receive consultancy support during the implementation of an international partnership project, the selected service package will also take into account the roles and reporting and monitoring requirements for project indicators allocated to partners. The consortium lead organisation retains responsibility for overall partnership management and coordination. However, a European funds consultant can provide impartial support and help ensure proper implementation and compliance with the funding contract. Especially when the consortium includes organisations with limited experience in managing non-reimbursable funding, a workshop on project management can be an effective first step in ensuring smooth project delivery, allowing you to focus on the qualitative aspects of the project.
The first challenge many organisations face is how and where to find partners interested in collaboration. For clients who purchase our general strategic analysis service or certain subscription packages, we also include recommendations on partner search methods. These may be strategic partners with whom you aim to develop long-term collaborations, or partners for medium-term cooperation. A European partnership project typically lasts from 18 months up to 36 or even 48 months.
Once a group of partners has come together, it is the responsibility of the partnership leader to coordinate the development of the project idea and harmonise the contributions of all partners. Based on our experience, ILIGRA has developed specialised creativity workshops for project idea development and Logical Framework workshops for structuring the project, including for consortium projects, which we recommend delivering with the participation of all partners.
