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Category: Philanthropy

What do long-term business and civil sector partnerships in Serbia tell us?

For 16 years, Trag Foundation has been awarding the VIRTUS Philanthropy Award to the best long-term partnerships between the for-profit and non-profit sectors. In order to find out more about in which areas and according to which principles the business sector and civil society organizations cooperate to solve a fundamental problem in the community, we conducted targeted research. Based on the collected data and the conducted analysis, we prepared the publication “Who collaborates, wins”, with the financial support of the Balkan Network for the Development of Civil Society – BCSDN.

The publication provides an insight into the characteristics of 13 partnerships that stood out as the most successful in terms of quality and duration. When compiling the necessary information, we combined several methods: desk research, a conversation with long-term members of the VIRTUS award selection jury, and a survey of both partners; all in search of an ingredient that makes a successful and long-term partnership between these two sectors. During the analysis of 115 partnerships nominated over the years for the VIRTUS award, we took into account the criteria that were crucial for awarding the award itself: degree of involvement of the business entity in the partnership, results and effectiveness of support, quality of communication between partner parties, the perspective of that cooperation, innovation in the approach to solving a problem or need.

Among the most successful were the partnerships realized by the representative offices of foreign versus domestic companies, while foundations in Serbia were more often chosen as partners than citizens’ associations. Among the dominant areas in which cooperation was achieved were encouraging entrepreneurship and career development and improving the quality of life of socially vulnerable groups, while even half of all partnerships, regardless of the area of ​​cooperation, were aimed at children and young people. As important factors that influenced the longevity and quality of the partnership, responsible behavior towards external collaborators and the environment were singled out, as well as those collaborations that did not jeopardize the credibility of their partner on the way to creating a good society.

We have concluded that those partnerships that reflect an equal contribution to intersectoral cooperation, fostering a democratic approach and open communication in joint work, have proven to be successful. Successful partnerships between the business and civil sectors enable each of the parties to cooperate with the public sector as well, striving for systemic social changes. They survive thanks to even a symbolic exchange when there are no actual joint projects. Last but not least, in a successful partnership, both the civil society organization and the business entity understand that the bearers of the cooperation are actually enthusiastic individuals and the collaboration is marked as an overall positive experience for both sides.

Published research on “The impact of local foundations on social changes in local communities”

The research on “The impact of local foundations on social changes in local communities” was created within the program “Our local foundation – the community has a say!” that the Trag foundation launched to support the establishment of community foundations in the Western Balkans region. The research was conducted in cooperation with the Center for the Study of Social Development from Novi Sad, with the idea of assessing the effects of the work of the initiative groups that established the community foundations in three cities in Serbia. The research was done by evaluating the results of the projects of informal groups and associations that these initiative groups supported until June 2022.  

By the end of September 2022, the groups from Niš, Pančevo, and Stara Pazova have jointly raised over 50,000 US dollars which the Trag Foundation doubled and that were used to support 56 formal and informal citizens’ initiatives in these cities.

Trag Foundation has been contributing to the building and strengthening of community foundations in Serbia since their beginnings in 2011. From 2019 onwards, through the program “Our local foundation – community has a say!”, Trag has been providing systemic support to selected informal groups of at least three people from the same community who wish to build a community foundation in their surroundings. Selected groups of citizens receive support through mentorship and capacity building, and they aim to raise 15,000 Euros from individuals and businesses in their area, which Trag Foundation matches to provide the first grantmaking budget for support to local initiatives.

Trag first launched this program in Serbia. At the beginning of 2020, based on 28 applications from 17 communities, Trag staff selected four initiative groups to participate in the process – Niš, Pančevo, Stara Pazova, and Šabac. Three of these four groups from Niš, Pančevo, and Stara Pazova reached their goal and became registered community foundations in mid-2022. In the meantime, Trag announced another Call, and the groups selected in 2022 will launch their activities in early 2023. In 2021, the same program was launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where three initiative groups are on the way to becoming registered foundations.

We hope this study will help the practitioners, academics, and the general public gain insight into small changes that can make a big difference and that, individually and collectively, we can contribute to building a fairer and more responsible society for all of us. This is why the Trag Foundation has invested in developing local communities since 1999 and encourages citizens to get involved and initiate change for the betterment of their environments. We will also use the conclusions and recommendations from this research to shape further work with community foundations and initiative groups in Serbia and other countries in the region.

The publication was also presented at the National Conference on Philanthropy held on November 29, 2022, in Belgrade, within the panel “View from another angle: the impact of community foundations on encouraging civic activism.” The presentation was done by the researcher Valentina Sokolovska on behalf of the Center for the Study of Social Development, which conducted the research with support from the Trag Foundation.