How a grant application works in Türkiye, step by step

A grant application is not a form filling exercise. An institution publishes a call document, that document states what it funds and whom it excludes, and you describe your project in the language of that document. Most points are lost not because projects are weak but because the answer addresses a question the call did not ask.

The process at a glance

These are averages. The binding calendar is always the one in the call document.

1. Eligibility screen

Three questions come before anything else:

• Who can apply? Enterprise size, trading history, activity code, ownership structure.
• What is funded? Which of machinery, software, personnel, promotion, consulting, testing and certification costs are covered.
• Where does it apply? Some programmes are open only to particular provinces, regions or investments inside organized industrial zones.

A "no" on any of the three means there is no point preparing a file. This is why the screen is the single biggest time saver in the process.

2. Reading the call document

The call document is the contract. Look for:

• The definition of an eligible applicant and the exclusion cases
• Lists of eligible and ineligible costs
• Support rate and ceiling
• Co financing ratio
• The scoring table and what each heading is worth
• Project duration and the start of the eligible expenditure period
• Closing date and time

The scoring table usually sits as an annex at the end and is the most skipped section. It is also the section that tells you how to write the project.

3. Designing the project

A good project narrative follows one order: what the problem is today, what the solution is, which activities deliver it, and how the result will be measured.

The problem statement has to be concrete. "We want to increase our competitiveness" earns nothing. "Cycle time on the existing line is 42 seconds per part, which cannot meet the delivery times the target market expects" earns something.

Indicators have to be countable. Employment, capacity, export value, scrap rate. Each one carries a baseline and a target.

Sustainability carries separate points in most calls. It explains how the investment stands on its own once the project ends.

4. Budget

The budget attracts more questions than any other section. Three rules help:

1. Put a quote or documented price research behind every line. Where comparative quotes are required, they must predate the purchase.
2. Do not use rounded figures. Write the actual amount from the quote.
3. Decide at the start where co financing comes from. Grant payments are usually made after expenditure, so the cash leaves your account first.

5. Documents

The core list is similar across programmes:

• Trade registry record and certificate of activity
• Signature circular and authorisation documents
• Financial statements for the last two or three years
• Tax and social security clearance letters
• Title deed, lease or allocation document for the investment site
• Environmental permit, building permit or capacity report where relevant
• Quotes and technical specifications

Document collection almost always takes longer than planned. Tax and social security clearance letters have short validity periods, so leave those to the end.

6. Filing

Each institution takes applications through its own system. Ministry of Trade support schemes run through the Support Management System (DYS); KOSGEB applications run through its own panel. Every system requires an authorised user definition and an electronic signature, and those definitions can take days, so they must be ready before the filing date.

Systems get congested at the closing hour. Uploads left to the final day cost a few projects every cycle.

7. Evaluation

Evaluation usually has three stages: formal pre check, technical review and, where needed, a site visit. More files are eliminated at the formal check for missing documents than at technical review. Form matters as much as content.

Institutions may request further information during evaluation. Those requests carry short deadlines, and missing one can close the file.

8. Contract and after

When the support decision is issued, a contract is signed and a guarantee provided where required. In most programmes the signature date also starts the eligible expenditure period, so invoices dated earlier fall outside.

What follows is a separate discipline: procurement, interim reports, expenditure documents and closure. That stage is covered under project management.

Six recurring mistakes

1. Updating last year's file without reading the new call.
2. Writing the project without looking at the scoring table.
3. Putting ineligible costs in the budget. Land purchase, repayment of existing debt and second hand machinery are outside scope in most programmes.
4. Leaving the co financing plan until later.
5. Missing document validity periods.
6. Filing on the closing day.

Where to start

If you have an investment plan, run the eligibility screen first. It fits on a page and shows which programme offers the better return for your case. At Devana that first assessment is free.