Suspension or termination at the request of a Grantee

UPDATE: 1 February 2025

In some cases, unforeseen factors may temporarily prevent a Grantee from implementing their project.

If a Grantee has completed at least one previous project within Project Catalyst and wishes to request a suspension of their current project, they may apply to the Fund Operator for a suspension of up to 6 months. Each project may only submit one (1) suspension request per funding round. The Grantee must submit Zendesk ticket using the guidance written in the Requesting a change to funded project on Milestone Module page.

A request for suspension should NOT be used to justify delays caused by a Grantee’s negligence or events that could reasonably have been anticipated.

The Fund Operator will review the request and notify the Grantee in writing of its decision. If approved, the Grantee may pause project delivery for the suspension period. Monthly milestone payments will also be suspended during this time.

Upon resumption, Grantees delivering a project based on a Statement of Milestones must submit a revised Statement of Milestones in the Milestone Module for the Fund Operator’s approval within 14 calendar days. Grantees which have non-SoM projects are requested to submit Zendesk ticket within 14 calendar days from the last day of suspension period, to confirm project resumption. Failure to meet these requirements may result in project termination. Projects in Fund2 to Fund9 cannot suspend a project, but only terminate it.

Not all timeline changes require project suspension. Some modifications may be accommodated through an amendment of the project scope or delivery plan. Before requesting a suspension, Grantees are encouraged to consult informally with the Fund Operator.

A Grantee seeking to terminate a project must submit a Project Cancellation Statement to the Fund Operator including the following details:

1. Project name and URL on Website;

2. Repository where project outputs are stored;

3. Progress report detailing completed and ongoing work;

4. Comparison of expected vs actual project outcomes;

5. Summary of how grant funds were spent up to the termination date;

6. A short 2-5 mins publicly accessible video explaining the circumstances which lead to the Grantee requesting a termination. Video must be in a high quality (720p or 1080p). Only YouTube or Vimeo videos will be accepted. Private drive links will not be accepted;

7. A plan for making project closure visible to the Catalyst Community for review.

The Project Cancellation Statement will be published on the Catalyst website and labelled as “Did Not Finish” as part of each project’s public profile..

Grantees whose funding is terminated may be required to return some or all of the funds received in the course of the project.