Alliance Online - December 2006

What role for donors in promoting participation?

Ilyana Nikolova

EVENT 11th Grantmakers East Group Annual Meeting
Date 11-13 October
Venue Belgrade, Serbia
Organizer European Foundation Centre and Grantmakers’ East Group Steering Committee
Theme Philanthropy and Participation: From Expectation to Practice

Some 180 representatives of public and private donors active in Central and Eastern Europe, Newly Independent States and Western Balkans gathered in Belgrade in October for the 11th Annual Meeting of the Grantmakers’ East Group (GEG). In addition, the three-day event brought participants from as far away as North America, Asia and Africa, representing international foundations, bilateral agencies and government departments, donors’ forums and think-tanks.

The title of the meeting, Philanthropy and Participation: From Expectation to Practice, arose out of the concerns and conclusions of both the 10th GEG Annual Meeting, held last year in Kiev, and this year’s European Foundation Centre Conference. The issues discussed were clustered under four major heads: EU Integration, Indigenous Philanthropy, Cross-Sectoral Integration, and Grantmaking Practice. The conference also provided the participants with plenty of opportunities for additional discussions – at breakfast sessions, lunchtime regional and country discussion tables, and happy hour sessions on specific issues.

The keynote addresses were given at the National Assembly House by Boris Tadic, President of the Republic of Serbia, and Predrag Markovic, Speaker of the National Assembly. The message conveyed by these two, and reinforced in the session devoted to the host country, was that Serbia is now ‘moving in the fast lane’ towards membership of the European Union and Euro-Atlantic integration thanks to its accelerated process of political and social reforms, economic growth, and an increasingly active civil society, which is still supported by the international donor community. Development on all these fronts is providing opportunities for the country to make up the time lost in the communist era and post-communist strife.

Participation the new watchword

Participation, the new watchword of philanthropy, was the main topic of discussion during the meeting. Many questions were raised relating to the participation of citizens: should countries prefer professional civil society organizations – which have their virtues but which are self-appointed, and often not concerned with the involvement of people – or organizations that seek to involve the community as a means of overcoming ‘civic disengagement?’ Should everybody participate in societies where participatory democracy exists and all necessary laws are in place? Another challenge for citizen participation in transitional societies arises from the fact that they are re-conquering their freedom after more than 50 years of forced volunteering in the totalitarian era. The general view was that the role of donors should be to follow the civic energy of the citizens in their desire ‘to do something for themselves’.

Special attention was paid to recent developments in Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland – referred to as ‘post-accession backlash’ – that have raised questions about the state of democracy in the new member states. The discussion stressed three elements of the problems – voters, party systems, and the behaviour of the political elite. Most people agreed that the economic ‘losers’ who don’t feel part of civil society should be the prime concern of donors and civil society organizations alike. The discussion also raised the issue of reconsidering donors’ assistance strategies in preparedness for such situations, as well as the re-engagement of civil society in politics.

Future of philanthropy in the region

‘The world of philanthropy is far from being flat’, noted one of the speakers, and this was illustrated by the examples the conference afforded of the richness and variety of forms of philanthropy in the region.

As to its future development, special attention was paid to the practices and expectations of indigenous grantmakers. Discussion focused on trends in funding, self-sustainability, challenges in terms of management, governance, and the expectations of international donors.

The issue of local philanthropy development was also explored. Participants agreed that foreign funding needs to be replaced by local philanthropy through private giving, both corporate and individual. Regarding the latter, it was noted that there was some uncertainty about the role of foundations in the process of resource mobilization and about the readiness of the wider public to contribute.

Revisiting a discussion of previous GEG meetings, there was also debate about the issue of fostering the development of leadership skills as a key factor in civil society development. Linked to this was another discussion about whether grantmakers and grantseekers are aligned around common interests, language and understanding of social change and development and how such leaders see themselves – as patient gardeners or social entrepreneurs, or both.

Another area of exploration was donor coordination, both in regard to European integration and its impact on the region, and in democracy promotion.

This year’s GEG meeting again provided the opportunity for exchange of experience, for developing synergy among donors’ interventions, and for reconsidering important issues for the democratization process in the region. GEG, meanwhile, has entered a new decade. Next year’s meeting moves north and will be held in Tallinn, Estonia, where the Baltic states will be the focus of attention.

Ilyana Nikolova is Executive Director, Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation, Bulgaria. Email inikolova@wcif-bg.org

For more information
www.efc.be/projects/GEG/

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