Funding for NGOs in Romania – how can you get support for your organization? Every founder of a foundation, association, or other NGO, no matter, where he lives or works have to get funds for his organization. In Romania, there are several sources of obtaining financial support for NGOs – starting from corporate sponsoring, through personal donations, and ending with regional, national and international development programs. How then one can apply for funding?
Non-governmental organizations in Romania can be supported financially both by Romanian companies and by international companies, which take place in the framework of a sponsorship agreement or donation. Such types of funds are transmitted from corporate marketing, educational, scientific, charity, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, as well as a part of the support for non-profit activity in certain areas (for example: medical, social, educational, sport, human rights protection, ecological). The financial support can be donated to general activities run by the beneficiary, organization of the event or project, and support the beneficiary in additional activities that are related to the run activity.
Very important is that in Romania there are several categories of donators and beneficiaries, that have a legal obligation to disclose the amount of given support, and in some of the fields of industry, they have to get authorization or previous approval for sponsoring the activity. Moreover, there are frequent controls performed by the authorized bodies, hence it is necessary thorough check of legislation in force.
Funding for NGOs in Romania can be obtained directly from the public budget both at a national level and at a self-government level.
In the case of the central level, the distribution of available funds is dealt with by the specific ministries (Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Family, Ministry of Welfare). Within the self-government level, municipalities have the opportunity to award subsidies from public funds for a non-profit activity that is oriented toward the general interest of the concerned community.
It should be mentioned that particular ministries and governmental agencies can announce programs of national significance within which it is possible to apply for funding and support.
Romania is a member of the European Union since 2007, which allows all operating on its territory non-governmental organization to apply for support from the EU funds (Structural and Investment Funds). The distribution of money from EU funds is done by the governmental entities (the right information can be found on the web pages of particular ministries), as well as the European Commission within the framework of pre-defined areas set in Multi-annual financial framework (currently for 2021-2027, all specified on the website of European Commission).
Multinational organizations and foundations, that grant subsidies to Romanian non-governmental organizations for health projects can be indicated. An example of such an entity is the Open Society Foundation, which in the field of health organizes open grant programs, under which it deals with support for a project that is related to, among others: rights of people with disabilities, Roma rights, palliative care, sexual service providers rights.
Each person that plans to start or that is running a non-governmental organization within the territory of Romania should regularly check the statistical records that are available on the Donatorilor platform. The data shown here are provided by the donors and grant holders and allow us to get an idea of:
This knowledge should undoubtedly facilitate the development of strategies for NGOs operating within the projects and the preparation of the application for support. This increases the probability of getting financial support for the activity. Writing applications for a grant is a huge challenge due to the necessity of adequate objectives setting and activities necessary for their attainment, as well as the description of a target group, and an indication of the benefit to the direct or indirect beneficiaries. Moreover, described activities should stay in agreement with the requirements of the donor and be presented coherently and interestingly. For this reason, it is so important to have as much as possible external data.
Corporate sponsorship, public financing, and EU funds are the main sources of funding for NGOs in Romania. The search and the selection can be a tedious task for the smaller and younger NGO as the more experienced ones. It can be stated that it is worth searching for a good source of funding and trying different solutions, as long as it provides the organization with the opportunity to organize a project that changes the situation of a certain social group.
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Author: Andy Nichols
A problem solver with 5 different degrees and endless reserves of motivation. This makes him a perfect Business Owner & Manager. When searching for employees and partners, openness and curiosity of the world are qualities he values the most.
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