Factsheet for measure
AT-2020-28/951
–
Updated
– measures in Austria
Support fund for non-profit organisations
NPO Unterstützungsfonds
Background information
Non-Profit-Organisations (NPO) are also strongly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The NPO Support Fund is intended to support organisations with their own legal personality if they pursue non-profit, charitable or ecclesiastical purposes in accordance with the Federal Tax Code. Political parties and organisations subject to the control of the Court of Audit are excluded. It is planned that the Minister of Finance will provide funds amounting to €700 million from the COVID-19 crisis management fund for this purpose.
The following types of organisations affected by the COVID-19 crisis are eligible:
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Non-profit organisations such as sports, cultural and animal welfare associations
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Organisations which are responsible for fire brigade tasks according to state law
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Legally recognised churches, religious communities and institutions which have legal personality under state law on the basis of religious law provisions
Content of measure
The aim of the funding is to mitigate the loss of revenue caused by COVID-19 for organisations eligible under the law (i.e. NPO's) by means of grants for eligible costs. The funding consists of two areas:
Reimbursement of the eligible fixed costs
Subsidised fixed costs (rent, insurance, water, sewerage, waste, tax consultant, energy, telco - no personnel costs) will be reimbursed up to 100% for the period from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020.
Exceptions: Costs incurred as a result of the COVID-19 crisis will already be subsidised from 10 March 2020, e.g. protective equipment or disinfectants. Expenses for cancelled events must have been incurred before 10 March.
Structural security contribution
The flat-rate contribution to structural securities is intended to cover costs that do not fall under the eligible fixed costs (see above), such as maintenance or servicing costs, and normally amounts to 7% of the income generated in 2019.
The grant is the sum of eligible costs and the structural support contribution, if this sum does not exceed €3,000.
If the sum of eligible costs and the structural support contribution is higher than €3,000, the maximum grant is the amount of the loss of income.
How is the loss of income calculated?
Normally, the difference between the income of the first three quarters of 2019 and the income of the first three quarters of 2020.
Applications can be made from 8 July 2020 until 31 December 2020. The grant is paid up to a maximum of €2.4 million per organisation. The Austrian Promotional Bank AWS is responsible for processing the applications, and reporting obligations to the National Council are planned.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
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31 October 2022
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The NPO fund was further extended for 7 months and applications could be submitted until 31 October 2022.
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04 May 2022
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The NPO fund was extended until the end of the first quarter 2022, applications may be submitted from June 2022 onwards.
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15 December 2021
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In view of a further lockdown in autumn 2021 and the difficult pandemic situation, the federal government reinstated the NPO support fund for the fourth quarter 2021. Applications can be submitted from February 2022 onwards.
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10 May 2021
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The prolongation of the fund for non-profit organisations for the second quarter 2021 was announced by vice chancellor Mr Kogler and Federal Minister Ms Köstinger. Applications for the first half year of 2021 can be made from 8 July to 15 October 2021.
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17 December 2020
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On 17 December 2020, it was announced in a press conference that the funding period is to be further prolonged into the first quarter 2021. Applications for the fourth quarter 2020 will be possible from February 2021 onwards. The structural security contribution is also extended (beyond April to September 2020): For the months October to December 2020, the structural security contribution remains at 7%.
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07 October 2020
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On 7 October 2020, the federal government announced (following a decision by the Council of Ministers) the prolongation of the funding period by one quarter, i.e. until 31 December 2020.
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Use of measure
As of 24 August 2020, the NPO-Fund has pledged a total of €107.2 million, as announced by the responsible Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler. 5,245 applications have been processed positively. So far, €17.6 million have been paid in the sports sector, €10.3 million in the arts and cultural sector and €30.2 million for churches and similar institutions. The difference to the €107 million results from the payment modalities; they will be paid at the submission of the final invoices. A total of €700 million are available in the NPO fund.
By 7 October 2020, around 10,000 applications have been filed and €186 million have been pledged.
On 17 December 2020, funding for 14,000 applications has been promised for the period April to September and €270 million have been approved.
By May 2021, almost 20,000 applications have been approved, worth €341 million. As of 15 December 2021, 45,763 applications have been approved, worth €673 million.
After its re-instatement, new numbers were presented in spring 2022: As of 30 April 2022, €725.1 million have been spent with 49,239 successful applications.
In total (according to information from 31 May 2023), €817.9 million were paid to 58,806 NPOs. The largest share of recipients were from the areas sports (29.4%), followed by arts&culture (18.3%), churches and religious organisations (14.9%) and voluntary fire brigades (14%).
Target groups
Actors and funding
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Actors
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Funding
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National government
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National funds
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Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
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Trade unions
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Employers' organisations
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Role
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No involvement as case not in social partner domain
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No involvement as case not in social partner domain
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Form
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Not applicable
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Not applicable
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Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
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No involvement
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Main level of involvement: N/A
Involvement
Not in social partners' domain.
Views and reactions
Not available.
Sectors and occupations
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This case is sector-specific (only private sector)
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Economic area
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Sector (NACE level 2)
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O - Public Administration And Defence; Compulsory Social Security
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O84 Public administration and defence; compulsory social security
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R - Arts, Entertainment And Recreation
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R90 Creative, arts and entertainment activities
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R93 Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities
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S - Other Service Activities
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S94 Activities of membership organisations
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This case is not occupation-specific.
Sources
