Reminder: TechCrunch Is Hitting The Balkans In Less Than A Month. Dobro jutro, zdravo, and pozdravi, friends!
In an effort to spread the good word about TC to the rest of Europe, I will be rolling through Sofia, Belgrade, Zagreb, and Ljubljana at the beginning of July for a series of informal meet-ups. If you’re in those cities, I want you to attend! Additionally, we want you guys to submit your startups to the TechCrunch Europe Battlefield or, if you’re feeling saucy, to Disrupt SF in September. While I had initially planned to make these meetups scouting trips for the event, it looks like the deadlines for both are fast approaching.
Instead, we can chat about your application when I come through your town. Philanthropyposts - Blog English - Why developing philanthropy is not a waste of time. Zoran Stojkovski’s article about local NGOs and local philanthropy definitely provoked me to share some of the thoughts on this issue.
To start with data, Zoran shared that in Macedonia, “less than 10% of donations and sponsorships from local business sector goes to NGOs”. Not that is much different in other countries: in Bosnia and Herzegovina only about 17% of CSO report community contributions and 12% business contributions; in Croatia only 6,2% of CSOs income comes from companies; in Serbia, in the most recent research, 35% of CSOs stated financial support from business and 11% support from citizens. Last weeks’ post from Turkey reports that over 87% of individuals prefers direct giving as opposed to giving to CSOs. Philanthropyposts - Blog English - Ten predictions for philanthropy in the Balkans in 2012 Last week, colleague from London sent an article titled Top 10 predictions for Global Philanthropy in 2012 ( Posted by John Harvey from The Council on Foundations, article gave an insight into The Council on Foundations leading members views on philanthropy developments in 2012.
Some frantic emailing to colleagues from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia followed; thanks to famous Balkan solidarity, my colleagues - amidst hectic end-of-the-year activities and on extremely short notice (another Balkan specialty) - found time and energy to think and write about philanthropy in 2012 and beyond in their countries and the region: Global philanthropic players (foreign donors) will continue to leave the Balkans and cause steady and continuous drop in foreign funding.
What are your predictions?