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Running your first Erasmus+ project is significantly more time-consuming than most people expect. The timeline from "we want to do an exchange" to "participants are on a plane" is typically 12–18 months. Understanding this timeline in advance — and where the critical decision points are — is one of the most valuable things a new organisation can do.
Phase 1: Preparation and Partnership (Months 1–4)
Before you write a single word of an application, you need partners. And before you approach partners, you need a clear sense of what you want to do and why. This is the phase that new organisations most frequently rush — and the one that most determines the quality of the project that follows.
Start by defining your project's thematic focus and the specific need it addresses in your community. Then identify organisations in other countries whose work is complementary to yours. This should happen through relationships, not cold emails to organisations you have found in a database. Attend a European training course, go to a SALTO event, or use existing contacts from the youth sector in your country.
Once you have identified potential partners, have video calls. Discuss the project concept in depth. Make sure you have genuine complementarity — not just a geographic spread, but different perspectives and capacities that will strengthen the project design. Agree on roles and responsibilities in writing before the application stage.
Phase 2: Application Writing (Months 4–6)
Most National Agencies have two application deadlines per year — typically in February and October, with projects starting 3–6 months later. Check your specific National Agency's calendar early, as this determines your entire timeline.
Budget 4–6 weeks for writing and refining the application. This is not a document you write in a weekend. The needs assessment alone — if done properly — requires research and data collection. The programme design requires iteration with your partners. The budget requires careful calculation against the National Agency's unit cost tables.
The application is a contract. Every commitment you make in it — about methodology, evaluation, participant profile, dissemination — you are committing to deliver. Write only what you can actually do.
Phase 3: Decision and Preparation (Months 6–10)
National Agencies typically communicate decisions within 4–6 months of the application deadline. If successful, you will receive a grant agreement that specifies the conditions of your funding. Read it carefully — it contains requirements about participant selection, reporting timelines, and financial management that you must comply with.
During this phase: confirm participants, arrange accommodation and catering, finalise the detailed programme, prepare participant information packs, and run preparation activities for your group. Preparation activities are required by Erasmus+ and often under-resourced. They should develop participants' understanding of the theme and their intercultural readiness.
Phase 4: The Exchange (Typically 6–10 Days)
The exchange itself is the most visible part of the project but often not the most complex to manage — if the preparation has been thorough. The main management tasks during the exchange are: facilitating the programme effectively, supporting participants' wellbeing, managing the practical logistics, and documenting activities for reporting purposes.
Phase 5: Follow-Up and Reporting (Months 10–18)
The project does not end when participants go home. Follow-up activities — sharing outcomes, sustaining connections, disseminating results — are a formal requirement and a genuine opportunity. The final report, due to the National Agency within 60 days of the project end date, requires careful documentation of activities, participants, expenditure, and outcomes. Keep records throughout — do not try to reconstruct them at the end.