New rules for grants to volunteer organizations
As of January 1, 2025, the municipality of Kerkrade is using new rules for subsidies to volunteer organizations. These rules are contained in a new subsidy ordinance.
Why new rules?
The old rules are from 2017 and no longer fit current policy and legislation. The new rules are made to:
- Better reflect changes in society.
- To meet the latest legal requirements.
- Making the text simpler and more understandable.
What will change?
- New rules from January 2025: The new rules apply from January 1, 2025. They include additional provisions that are mandatory under the General Administrative Law Act (Awb) but were not yet in the 2017 rules. For example, rules on European state aid. For grants up to €300,000 over three years, there are usually no additional rules from Europe. This means that most voluntary organizations in Kerkrade will not be affected.
- New Supplementary Rules as of May 2025: The new rules describe only general matters. Specific rules, such as on grant amounts and Requirements for sports and cultural associations, will come in supplementary rules. The municipality is working on these new rules in the coming months. Until then, Chapters 7 and 8 of the 2017 rules will remain in effect through April 30, 2025. The "Activity Subsidy Policy Rule" will also remain in effect through April 30, 2025.
- Clear goals: The Municipality of Kerkrade considers association life and volunteer initiatives very important. Therefore, the new rules include clear goals.
What remains the same?
The way grants are calculated and the amount of grants remain the same. The changes are mainly adding or removing text so that the rules are more current and understandable again.
Learn more
Learn more on the Grants for Volunteer Organizations page. The new supplemental grant rules will be available on this website starting May 1. Have questions? If so, send an e-mail to subsidies@kerkrade.nl.