Young ChangeMakers (YCM) Grant

Who qualifies

• Organisation types: Natural person (worker, trainee, founder).
• Applicants must be Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident youths residing locally and aged 15 to 35 by birth year; individuals and informal youth groups may apply.
• The project team must comprise a majority of Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident youths, and the project must benefit the Singapore community.
• Projects should finish within 6 months and must not have started before Open Mic or grant approval.
• Projects under a registered company, with objectionable content or adverse social-cohesion effects, with religious or socio-political agendas, raising funds for the applicant, or diminishing trust in public institutions cannot be funded.
• Partner variants are limited to their stated themes: Singapore heritage, sport or physical activity, bilingualism, gracious and inclusive commuting, or the City in Nature themes of biodiversity and wildlife, community animals, and urban greenery.
• Applications must be sent at least 8 weeks ahead of the first Saturday of the project implementation month.

What it funds

• Community, arts, heritage, sports, social-good projects

Maximum support: up to 100%.

Recorded cap: S$8,000.

Standard YCM: $3,000 or $5,000 for exceeding merit; YCM-YHKF and Caring SG Commuters: $5,000 or $7,000; YouthCreates (Sport) and Bilingualism: $6,000 or $8,000; City in Nature Youth Stewardship: $3,000 or $5,000. Standard YCM, YouthCreates and Caring SG Commuters expressly state up to 100% support.

Payment: Paid after the company incurs the cost and files a claim.

How to apply

Prepare a Singpass account and submit the YCM application through the OurSG Grants Portal at least eight weeks ahead of the first Saturday of the implementation month.

1. Get a SingPass account ready.
2. Prepare the project application, budget, and any required content-project documents.
3. Submit through the OurSG Grants Portal at least 8 weeks ahead of the first Saturday of the project implementation month.
4. If shortlisted, attend the monthly Open Mic and pitch to Youth Curators; shortlisted teams are invited about 2 weeks before the session and learn the grant outcome within 2 weeks.
5. If approved, accept the Letter of Award and grant conditions in the portal within 2 weeks.

Before applying

• The project must not have started before Open Mic or grant approval.
• If the Team Leader is below 21, a Parent, Guardian or Teacher must sign the Endorsement Letter.

Documents

• Project Budget Template — Include other grants and sponsorships, itemised expenditure, descriptions and market-rate benchmarks for professional fees.
• Script (if applicable) — Compulsory for applicable content-based productions, films or plays; include English translations where needed.
• Content outline/Synopsis (if applicable) — Compulsory for applicable content-based publications, guides or campaigns.
• Copies of relevant permits & licenses (if applicable) — For content-based projects, if applicable.
• Declaration of all potential sponsorships and partnerships (if applicable) — Compulsory for content-based projects.
• Letter of endorsement or email confirmation from the teacher/lecturer-in-charge (if applicable) — For school-group content projects; state classification, school support and acknowledgement of self-classification.
• Endorsement Letter (if applicable) — Required when the Team Leader is below 21; a Parent, Guardian or Teacher must sign it.
• YCM Supplementary Questions (if applicable) — Content-project applicants use this to submit the compulsory self-classification.

Processing time: Grant outcome within 2 weeks of Open Mic.

Claiming support

Submit closure documents through the OurSG Grants Portal within 2 months after project completion. Reimbursement is generally disbursed about 8 weeks after satisfactory documents; up to 50% upfront may be approved case by case.

Within 2 months after project completion.

Contact: partnership_enquiries@nyc.gov.sg

Application window: NYC says applications are open via the OurSG Grants Portal.