The Technical Assistance for Civil Society Organisations (TACSO), a regional and European Union (EU) funded project organised a regional conference “Philanthropy in the Western Balkans and Turkey: Investment for the Future” on 25-27 November 2015 in Belgrade. The project’s overall objective is to strengthen the civil society in the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey. The project is supported by the EU by 10.5 million Euros.
The aim of the conference was to create an opportunity for dialogue between the stakeholders and support the increase of Civil Society Organisations’ (CSOs) capacities in using philanthropy for the benefit of citizens and societies in general, as well as in achieving their own greater organisational mission and consequently sustainability.
TACSO strives to continuously contribute to steering the processes along the desired changes across the countries in the region of the Western Balkan and Turkey (WBT) in order to increase CSOs’ capacities as well as to support the establishment of an environment that will enable greater opportunities for CSOs’ sustainability and contribution to our societies.
One possible area that is in line with this endeavour is individual and corporate philanthropy. While there has been great progress in local philanthropic development across the region, numerous challenges for its further advancement and an increased role for CSOs still exist. These challenges vary from the legislation in the WBT countries that motive or stimulate philanthropic giving; creating, maintaining and recognizing a philanthropic culture in the WBT; to ensuring and enabling CSOs that are truly mission driven and capable to persuade their communities.
“During TACSO’s previous work with CSOs and other relevant stakeholders and experts, we have identified what are the current challenges related to individual and corporate philanthropy from different aspects. Using this unique opportunity of having major stakeholders present we hoped we would be in the position to jointly identify what are the necessary changes and needed actions for improving the current status, legal and policy framework, and practices related to individual and corporate philanthropy,” – stated Jasenka Perovic, TACSO Team Leader.
The conference was the first of its kind in that it gathered CSOs, government representatives, individual and corporate philanthropists and media representatives who are active in this field from the Western Balkans and Turkey at the regional level.
The conference was organised in close cooperation with Catalyst Balkans that works to advance philanthropic development through collecting, analysing, and publishing data on philanthropic giving, piloting innovative tools for giving and promoting collaboration in the philanthropy sector
