Civil society
This topic explains what civil society means, how does it work and how we can valorise it
Fundraising
Fundraising is a way by which non-profit organisations may obtain money for their operations. In simple words, it is all about finding and getting the money for pursuing their mission. You can, for example, ask for donations on the street or at people's doors, but new forms of fundraising such as online fundraising have emerged in recent years, though these are often based on older methods such as grassroots fundraising. Only to mention few fundraising ways the NGOs can use:
Grant schemes
Grants are non-repayable funds disbursed by one party (grant makers), often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal or an application is usually required.
Donations
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash offering, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles. It also may consist of emergency, relief or humanitarian aid items, development aid support, and can also relate to medical care needs as i.e. blood or organs for transplant.
Resources from foundations
A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a legal categorisation of nonprofit organisations that will typically either donate funds and support other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes. This type of non-profit organisation differs from a private foundation which is typically endowed by an individual or family.
Selling products or service suppliers
If an organisation is non-profit it does not really mean that it cannot generate profit. It just means that all its revenues should be given back to “the system”. Therefore the sale of goods and services is also quite usual source of funding. It can be, for example, providing educational services or selling the products made by marginalised or handicapped.
Crowdsourcing
Crowd-sourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. This process is often used to subdivide tedious work or to fund-raise startup companies and charities, and can also occur offline. It combines the efforts of numerous self-identified volunteers or part-time workers, where each contributor of their own initiative adds a small portion to the greater result. The term "crowd-sourcing" means "crowd" and "outsourcing"; it is distinguished from outsourcing in that the work comes from an undefined public rather than being commissioned from a specific, named group.
Membership fees
Major sources of many NGO funding are membership dues.
There are also other different ways how state supports the non-governmental sector. For example in Slovakia, there is a 2% assignation of taxes – as a tool of support of non-profit organisations.
Find the list of links of some fundraising opportunities in the library.
Questions to reflect on
- Have you ever donated any money for any purpose? What motivated you?
- What would you never donate money for?