Yes, you are correct… many obstacles to be overcome here. But I am a believer that things can start from smaller, community-oriented initiatives where the issues of sketchy financial management and tax incentives may not be as prominent due to the small size of these projects…

I am not sure what the right way to proceed is in this situation. Should NGOs start advocating for a larger legal framework to be built that would regulate corporate charity, or should they and businesses build the “critical mass” of experience of working together first, and then proceed to formalizing the arrangements and ironing out the kinks? The second approach kind of makes more sense because you cannot know what challenges you may come across in the procees until you actually go though it.

I also realize the new skills NGOs and larger businesses would need to bring on board to make these things happen. For instance, corporations would have to find and hire people to oversee the grant activity and the public relations part of the process to make sure businesses are perceived from a positive standpoint in the communities as a result of their charitable activities. Bur before that happens, businesses have to realize why pursuing these projects may be beneficial for them (better image in the community is one reason, for instance.)

It would be interesting to talk to people at NGOs in Central Asia and the rest of the FSU who have actually got funding from local businesses to see how the whole process has worked and what the “lessons learned” from this experience are. I am sure there are some examples out there. Anyone you know about? I am myself from Azerbaijan, by the way, but now live in the US.

for me personally you raised kind of interesting topic, even though the corporate philanthropy conception per se and its applicability would unlikely seem much topical nowadays, especially in Central Asian region, bearing in mind the context of today’s political agenda (I’m from Kyrgyzstan by the way).

But from the perspective of finding new alternative recourses to support civil society institutions in the region, this is very important. On the other hand, I would argue that it is still a less known and discovered issue on the table. And unfortunately so far this issue has not received a proper consideration among experts and scholars.

Instead of providing commentary let me just throw out some points which might be considered (at your discretion):

1. Corporate philanthropy is still kind of novelty phenomenon for Central Asian countries (even though we see the charity sector is gradually rooted especially in social sphere). And it will really take some time to adjust this conception in the region since it requires efforts from each side: from the Government as a major regulator to ensure creation of favorable and efficient legal and political environment, from business – to be motivated and socially oriented (at least to realize that the philanthropy is not only a form of social investment through the way of corporate giving but also an effective market instrument of successful business management), and for NGOs themselves to offer a topical and feasible agenda which meets beneficiaries’ needs and satisfies business interests in community. Another aspect here is how to deserve a credit in business society opinion. Unfortunately, there is a stereotype still circulated that business sector doesn’t trust non-profit alleging fear of non appropriate transferring/allocation of assets and absence of cost effectiveness. This mainly leads to the problems in the NGOs’ sector, since there is still a shortage of critical mass of qualified NGOs capable to professionally provide their services, or offer long-term projects of cooperation to business (instead of just soliciting nonrecurring funds/donation) and meet certain management, administrative, financial and other criteria.

2. from my perspective a modern corporate philanthropy represents a complex issues where many parts should be synchronized, and it’s not only about tax incentives which are supposed to encourage the corporative giving. Moreover the corporative giving itself is a contentious issue and represents subject matter of concern even among contemporary scholars and experts in terms legal rational and approaches to that. Suffice it say that even in US this is still subject of discussion and the society not always treat it positively (well, at least judging by certain number of articles I read)

3. among the obstacles might be considered within this context are: shortage of big corporations (willing to pay), even among those paying, they usually in many instances make it without “public advertisement” and there are certain reasons for that which again referred to regional peculiarities.

4. apart from the need to improve tax legislation, we don’t have well formed and developed nonmembership type of NGOs, namely foundations, whose mission is to make professional fundraising, allocate assets for specific purpose, conduct grant activity. This is also well-known western conception, but barely cultivated in our region. We’re at the embryonic stage in terms of that. Based upon such reflecting there is certain number of legislative initiatives should be induced (which is another big area of consideration and deserve a separate article:)

Thanks for the great link. I have to say, it really strikes the chord with some of the issues I raised in my post so, in that sense, coming across the Freedolina website was very timely. Specifically, many NGO staffers interviewed by the Freedolina.com program mentioned the need to diversify NGO funds and not to rely on foreign funds only (which is something I tried to make a point about in my post). Then another interesting thought was about the lucrative (by Central Asian standards) labor market created by foreign funding that brought many local NGOs to existence. The downside of that is that many NGOs workers in Central Asia view their projects as simply a way to earn a living whereas in developed nations people often (not always, of course) join NGOs to pursue a case/promote an issue they strongly believe in. I would think this is a phenomenon that is characteristic of many developing economies. Perhaps, there is nothing wrong with that as long as the “core” of the organization is composed of/sustained by the people who want to stay focused on the cause.

Another thing is the cut-throat competition some interviewees mentioned that is caused by the need to obtain limited funding as well as the need to survive in a government-controlled environment.

It would be interesting to get a transcribed version of the recording (In Russian or English)–do you happen to have such a file?

At neweurasia, Marianna writes about NGO funding in the former Soviet Union. She points out that legislation and rhetoric in many of the newly independent states is directed against foreign funding of NGOs. Outside funding makes it easy for political e…

Philanthropy cannot be imposed, it still a voluntary action, but it can be definitely encouraged by the state through tax benefits. I know that in Kazakhstan some companies (foreign, mostly) provide support for NGOs. Coca-Cola, Proctor&Gamble, Philip Morris, Mobil, all do charity and public benefit activities.

I think local NGOs should be more proactive in letting the businesses know about themselves. What if an NGO that combats AIDS approaches a pharmaceutical/medical company to donate money for treating the 87 kids who were infected in Kazakhstan? It would be beneficial for all.

I agree that oil-rich countries have more potential for corporate philanthropy. Currently, when foreign NGOs have less opportunities for work in the region, they should probably concentrate on training the local NGOs on how to partner with local businesses, and individuals. Ideally, they would also cooperate with the state, but for this, we need to see major re-thinking of NGO-state relations, from both sides… Kazakhstan already allows the state to contract the NGOs for certain services. The NGOs, however, are still suspicious of this scheme, as there is a room for corruption (kickbacks for the government, and NGOs quickly created by local authorities to win the funds). Besides, which government would ever finance election monitoring NGOs, for instance?..