Our project is an answer to the needs of two groups of non-governmental organizations in Poland, which are dealing with the lack of skills and tools to build their financial stability, independence, and community among their activities. The first group encompasses organizations acting directly in local communities, which build a good place for living for people who live there. The other group encompasses infrastructural organizations, operating both in several districts and in one commune or even a town. The activities of both these types of organizations are strongly interconnected as regional organizations play the role of support for those smaller local ones in communities.
The need for such activities is confirmed in i.a. the study entitled “Conditions of non-governmental organizations” (Klon/Jawor). It indicates that organizations still encounter the problem of lack of predictability of financing and lack of funds for current activities. Similar results were shown in the study conducted among the Act Locally Centers. As many as 93% of them confirm that their main problem is lack of tools and skills with regard to building non-grant sources of financing and building communities around their activities.
Thanks to the project, we will create and test a replicable model based on the communication platform focusing on local activities and a fundraising strategy which aims at supporting such infrastructural organizations. We will also educate inhabitants on a voluntary basis.
The model will be created and tested on local organizations operating in the subregion of Radom in Masovian Province and the southern subregion in Silesian Province. Subsequently, it will be made available to a wider audience, predominantly to 70 Act Locally Centers.
The project is conducted in partnership with the Żywiec Development Foundation. Thanks to this cooperation, the model will be tested in two regions in Poland, which should translate into its universality and broader application.