Local community development as a gift - Balkan Community Initiatives Fund sets up first endowment fund in Serbia

Source: eKapija Wednesday, 02.01.2013. 17:08
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Businessmen are not the only ones thinking at the time of a crisis how to find additional sources of finance. Non-profitable organizations, such as Balkan Community Initiatives Fund (BCIF), have the same concerns. This Fund collects money from other foundations, foreign governments, companies and individuals.

In order to ensure continuous investment in local communities and position itself as a leader in grantmaking, BCIF established the first endowment fund in Serbia in 2012. This fund should "earn" financial assistance from donors who are ready to make long-term investments in the work of this foundation and, thus, secure the sustainability of programs supporting the development of local communities in Serbia.

- The VIA foundation from Czech Republic, a long-time partner of BCIF, has been developing a similar endowment fund for several years now. We asked them to advise us on the best way to raise money for the fund - Ksenija Graovac, communications and fundraising manager at BCIF, told eKapija.

The fundraising strategy for this endowment fund is such that BCIF will focus more on individuals for the first time in its history. For that purpose, BCIF has launched a new platform for online donations on the Internet and its Facebook page, as part of its "Kindness as a Gift!" campaign, which aims to stimulate citizens to invest in the endowment fund. Potential donors are companies, the state of Serbia and institutional donors.

- Every target group needs to get interested in investing in the endowment fund. We are currently focused on individual donors, and the biggest donation that has come from such source to date is RSD 50,000 - Graovac added.

The endowment fund still has no program in the pipeline because the fund is still under development, and the aim is to raise USD 25,000 by end-January 2013. It should also be mentioned that the Charles Stewart Mott foundation will double each donation made to that fund.

- We have an agreement with the Charles Stewart Mott foundation, which will double all the money we raise over the next five years, and the amount of so-called matching donation from Mott is USD 500,000 - Ms. Graovac explained.

The Charles Stewart Mott foundation is a long-time institutional donor to BCIF because one of its priorities is the development of local communities in our region.

- Mott also helps large national foundations build an endowment fund, and a very good way to develop an endowment fund is to have the donations doubled because fundraising is one of the biggest and most difficult tasks of non-profitable organizations - Graovac explained.

The primary goal is that the endowment fund grows big enough to allow for BCIF to finance its programs from its own sources.

All those interested can make donations to the endowment fund through the account number 340 - 1100 2728 - 70 at Erste Bank. More information on this project can be found at the BCIF website and on its Facebook page.

I.M.

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