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COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch

Database of national-level responses

Eurofound's COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the crisis, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for case AT-2020-28/951 Updated – measures in Austria

Support fund for non-profit organisations

NPO Unterstützungsfonds

Country Austria , applies nationwide
Time period Temporary, 08 July 2020 – 30 June 2021
Type Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Direct subsidies (full or partial)
Author Bernadette Allinger (Forba) and Eurofound
Case created 09 July 2020 (updated 29 June 2021)

Background information

Non-Profit-Organisations (NPO) are also strongly affected by the Corona 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 Corona crisis are eligible:

  1. Non-profit organisations such as sports, cultural and animal welfare associations
  2. Organisations which are responsible for fire brigade tasks according to state law
  3. 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

Subsidisable 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 Corona 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.

10 May 2021

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 July 2021 onwards.

17 December 2020

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%.

07 October 2020

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.

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.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Sector specific set of companies
Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role No involvement as case not in social partner domain No involvement as case not in social partner domain
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • No involvement
  • Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Not in social partners' domain.

Views and reactions

Not available.

Sectors and occupations

    • Economic area Sector (NACE level 2)
      O - Public Administration And Defence; Compulsory Social Security O84 Public administration and defence; compulsory social security
      R - Arts, Entertainment And Recreation R90 Creative, arts and entertainment activities
      R93 Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities
      S - Other Service Activities S94 Activities of membership organisations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Support fund for non-profit organisations, case AT-2020-28/951 (measures in Austria), COVID-19 EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, http://eurofound.link/covid19eupolicywatch

Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process. All information is preliminary and subject to change.