The initiative aims to address educational poverty in countries where UniCredit operates
The UCF Foundation is giving non-profit organizations focused on improving education for young people the opportunity to apply for a project through the UCF Edu-Fund Platform.
The Platform is now open for applications for projects from Austria, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. This initiative is further proof of the UniCredit Foundation's commitment to provide young people:
- Acquisition of skills appropriate to the attainment of university studies.
- Acquisition of adequate skills to enter the job market.
- Tackling early school leaving.
The initiative is a bold move to support programmes in Central and Eastern European countries and Italy, especially among primary and upper secondary students aged 11-19.
There are no pre-set quotas for approved projects per country. The UniCredit Foundation will provide financial support to anyone who successfully passes the evaluation process, ranging from €100 thousand to over €1 million, depending on their scale. epleted.
How to apply?
Non-profit organisations can apply by choosing among three funding streams:
- Small-scale (€100,000–300,000): high-impact local projects;
- Mid-scale (€300,000–600,000): structured national or local programmes;
- Large-scale (over €600,000): multi-country or large-scale national projects.
Evaluation
Evaluation of applications
- A committee of international experts from non-profit organizations, academia, business, and community service members will judge the entries.
Evaluation of projects
- Experience and competence of the proposing non-profit organization (25%)
- Coherence and content of the action plan, methodology and approach, monitoring and reporting tools (50%)
- Cost-efficiency of the proposal and sustainability over time (25%)
More information about the guidelines you could findhere.
The platform will be open for applications until 16-th February 2026
UCF Edu-Fund Initiative 2025
Among the winners of the first edition of the initiative in 2025 was the Bulgarian initiative “Better at Math with Khan Academy” of the organization “Education Without Backpacks”. In the previous edition of Edu-Fund, it won funding in the amount of 1,070,000 euros and thanks to this support, the program will reach 50 new schools in the country and will support tens of thousands of students over the next three school years – 2025/2026, 2026/2027 and 2027/2028.