Bringing NGOs and Donors Closer Together
The Civilitas Foundation has initiated a program called A Guide to Non-Governmental Organizations. The program has several objectives, including creating a mechanism for potential donors to identify possible CSO partners.
According to different sources, there are 3,000 to 5,000 CSOs operating in Armenia. Yet, it is possible to find accurate and updated information for only a fraction.
With the objective of closing this gap, Civilitas has sent a questionnaire to several hundred active Armenian CSOs. Approximately 100 have responded and will be included in a website devoted specifically to CSO activity. Those CSOs who wish to be included in can submit their information.
The website will offer general information about CSOs: the name of the CSO and its director; the organization’s contact information; the type of work they do; the main areas of operation and descriptions of specific projects. The CSO guide will be updated by participant CSOs themselves.
This guide will make it easier to introduce potential donors and CSOs to each other, it can also serve to reduce duplication of effort, and instead serve to make existing, operational CSOs more effective and sustainable. Finally, with access to varied sources of funding, CSOs will also be more independent.
Aside from this, the website will provide the international community the opportunity to have a general overview about CSOs in Armenia, their programs, current activities, and future plans. In other words, it will become a website where complete information about the most active CSOs in Armenia will be amassed and stored.
The Guide to Civil Society Organizations is a Civilitas Foundation program, implemented with support from the Matra Programme of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.