EJA GUIDELINES FOR PROJECT LOANS [ Okt-1999 ]

To provide interim financing for juggling events, in particular the annual
European Juggling Conventions (EJCs), the European Juggling Association 
(EJA) offers interest-free loans to the organisers of such events. 
This document outlines the conditions and procedures for such loans.


1. Conditions
-------------

The following conditions must be met for an EJA project loan:

1.1 The project's main field must be juggling.

    RATIONALE:
    The statutory goal of the EJA is to promote juggling. 
    Therefore and because of the limited funds of the EJA, 
    loans are only offered for juggling projects. 
    END OF RATIONALE
    
1.2 The organiser must be a non-profit organisation.

    RATIONALE:
    The EJA is a voluntary, non-profit organisation and wants to ensure
    that the supported projects are also non-profit events. 
    Therefore, the organiser of a supported project must also be a 
    non-profit organisation, both statutory and by its actual business.

    Note that "non-profit" does not preclude a surplus. It only implies 
    that the organisation commits to re-invest surplusses according to 
    its (non-profit) goals, rather than making individual people richer.
    END OF RATIONALE

1.3 The organiser must be a legal entity with limited liabliliy.

    RATIONALE:
    Organising large juggling events like the EJC is connected with higher 
    risks than organising small local events. Having a proper legal structure
    which protects individual people from liability issues is therefore a 
    necessity (supplemented by appropriate insurances, of course). 
    The EJA would like to see these structures put into place well in advance
    of the event, and therefore makes this a loan condition. See also (3).
    END OF RATIONALE


2. Application
--------------

2.1 Form

Applications must be made in writing, and must be signed by the official 
representative(s) of the organiser. Electronic submission with digital
signatures is acceptable.

The application may be addressed to any member of the EJA daily board.

    RATIONALE
    A written document should exist to document the application, and it 
    should be signed because it will include commitments of the organiser.
    Electronic communication greatly simplifies the EJA's day-to-day work,
    and so it is included as an alternative.
    END OF RATIONALE

2.2 Contents

The application must include the following information:

  - the date of the application;
  - the amount of money requested as a loan, in Euro (EUR);
  - the complete name, address and phone number of a contact person,
    preferable also an email address;
  - a copy of the statutes of the legal entity acting as the organizer;
  - a copy of the legal documents which indicate where this legal entity
    is registered, where it is based, and who its current directors are;
  - a short description of the project for which the loan is intended;
  - the planned budget  of the project for which the loan is intended;
  - a statement that the rules laid down in this document are accepted,
    including a date when the loan will be paid back to the EJA;
  - sufficient bank account details to do the money transfer.

    RATIONALE
    Most of this is obvious. Copies of the appropriate legal documents are
    requested to be able to check if the statutory conditions in (1) are met.
    END OF RATIONALE


3. Decision
-----------

The EJA daily board will decide on the application, based on availability
of funds, information in the application, and other pending applications.
Within two weeks after receiving all required informations, it will notify 
the contact person of the organiser as well as the EJA main board of the 
acceptance or rejection of the application. This notification will be done
in writing, and signed by two members of the EJA daily board.
Electronic communication with digital signatures is acceptable.

    RATIONALE
    EJA loans have always been dealt with as "daily business". 
    The EJA daily board (rather than the EJA president alone) decides on
    the loan application, so more than two eyes can check the procedure. 
    Double signatures reflect this, and follow the EJA's rules for 
    representation as specified in Article 9 of the EJA statutes.

    Note that in case of a rejection, the EJA main board may (or may not) 
    take up the case and may decide differently on the application. 
    The EJA statutes specify how such decisions are initiated and voted on. 
    END OF RATIONALE


4. Repayment
------------

The loan must be paid back to the EJA three months after the end of the 
supported project.

If the organiser envisions that it cannot fulfil its financial obligations
(whether or not related to the supported project), and repayment of the EJA 
is not possible in due time, it must immediately notify the EJA daily board.

    RATIONALE
    Without any additional agreements between the EJA and the organiser,
    if the organiser goes bancrupt this leaves the EJA as one of (potentially)
    many creditors, and the usual legal means can be taken to satisfy the
    creditors (e.g. creditors' petition).
    
    Limited liability of the organiser (which is a condition for the EJA loan)
    will ensure that people in the organising team do not have to fulfil these
    claims personally, which makes legal means a workable option without
    causing damage to individual jugglers.
    END OF RATIONALE


5. Special regulations
----------------------

If one or more of the rules in this document are not met, a loan can still 
be provided by the EJA. However, this requires an individual loan agreement 
and a vote of the EJA main board. Since the EJA main board convenes only 
once or twice a year, applicants are encouraged to check early if any 
special agreements are necessary to avoid delays.