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Community Foundations in Slovenia
Numerous voluntary associations engaging people from all walks of life managed by private individuals who dedicate their spare time to improving the quality of life of the community. This is not an excerpt from Alexis de Toqueville’s “Democracy in America” featuring American associational life in the 19th century. This is the present-day condition in Pomurje region, Slovenia’s most rural part, neighboring Hungary in the North and Croatia in the South. The community foundation of Pomurje working since 2006 plays an important role in preserving this remarkable local tradition that has been part of Slovenian civil society since the 19th century.
“We are aiming to fund innovative ideas, which do not receive annual contributions from local government” says the President of the Managing Board of the community foundation, Bojan Vogrinic. It turns out that grassroots organizations which support traditional activities, such as communal celebrations, sports events, some health-care and prevention activities, etc, are usually funded on competitive basis by local government. However, the funding from the municipal administration is insufficient to maintain the multitude of ideas oriented towards the community. At the same time, the leaders of the voluntary associations very often lack expertise to apply for external sources of funding. This is exactly where the community foundation comes into play. Its local focus serves the community need for better organized private philanthropy, which becomes a source of funding for good initiatives. “After receiving and distributing a matching grant from the CEE Trust,” continues Bojan, “we were noticed by a greater number of local donors. Today, more people are willing to donate to us compared to last year.”
Some of the projects funded by the community foundation of Pomurje this year included an entrepreneurship course for young people; a 3-day cultural fest “Greeting to Autumn” in which 10 voluntary associations from the region presented 10 different local cultural traditions; a filming of some rare folklore dances; a computer course for Roma people; some youth camps and other recreational voluntary activities. The grantees shared that they valued not only the financial support from the community foundation, but also the training which it delivered to them on proposal writing. For some of the funded associations, this was the first grant which they have ever received. It stimulated them to look for other sources of funding going beyond the traditional membership fees and contributions from members. All of the funded organizations wish to apply for grants at the community foundation again next year.
Similar is the story of the community foundation Vincenc Draksler based in Kranj and serving Gorenjska region. In addition to making grants to local beneficiaries, both community foundations work as regional cross-points for the third sector, creating web portals for NGOs, organizing trainings and regularly disseminating information to the citizens about the various activities of the NGOs.
There are 4 legally registered community foundations in Slovenia today: CF of Pomurje, CF Vincenc Draksler of Gorenjska, CF Planota of Goriska and CF of Posavje regions. They originated within a CEE Trust-funded civil society development program (2004-2007) managed by Umanotera Foundation. The mission of these community foundations is to become focal points for local giving and to allocate funds to worthy initiatives, helping community life to flourish. Two of them, CF of Pomurje, and CF Vincenc Draksler of Gorenjska, are already quite successful in doing so.
You can find some pictures of the CFs grantees and projects here.
