SNOWMAN can be seen as an EU project on the one hand. On the other hand, it functions as a funder by doing trans-national research funding. An umbrella can be used to picturise SNOWMAN's function as a funder:

Independant from the funding model itself (compare: ' common pot' and 'virtual common pot' entries in the glossary), the partners of the SNOWMAN project do form one funding structure in which different European countries are working together committing themselves to use the same set of procedures.

In case of SNOWMAN, the funding part of the umbrella is realised by the different partner countries giving funding money to national researchers each. The researchers do form a consortium and subscribe a Consortium Agreement. The research consortium is led by a coordinator communicating with the SNOWMAN Call Secretariat.

No matter which or which number of researchers from the different SNOWMAN partner countries participate a project, they have to deliver reports/deliverables as one copy to the SNOWMAN Call Secretariat for being approved by the SNOWMAN Call Steering Committee. Products from trans-national research projects, canalised in such way can then be easily disseminated by the SNOWMAN ERA-Net.