Description
In order to create a functional democracy there is a need for citizens, NGOs and local companies which take responsibility for their community life and environment. There is a need for initiatives by which the inter-sectorial partnerships become real programs with active participation of each partner and by these programs the communities can increase their quality of life with local resources. By this project – Community Card: instrument and network for developing participative citizenship – the Coordinator’s and the 5 partner Community Foundations’ (from Bacău, Iași, Oradea, Ploiești and Ferencváros/Hunary) goal is to increase the responsibility and to enhance the citizen’s public participation in 6 municipalities by implementing the innovative instrument: Community Card (CC). This will make a more efficient collaboration between socially responsible businesses, local NGOs and citizens. Through this project we inform about 850,000 people, develop partnerships with local companies (min. 14), distribute 18,000 community cards, create local funds and support local initiatives (about 16 projects).
Summary of project results
One of the main problems of most Romanian NGOs is to provide financial resources to their projects in a continuous way. Companies, through their CSR policies, offer opportunities to implement specific projects but, on long term, there have been no solutions to ensure this collaborative relationship with enterprises more than for punctual collaborations. The Community Foundation of Odorheiu Secuiesc developed a proactive collaboration platform between NGOs, enterprises and persons - a so called Community Card Programme. A number of local NGOs, from different cities of Romania, are getting together to form a collaboration network to sustain a long term collaboration with the local enterprises willing to increase their presence in the local communities, by offering financial support for creative local development ideas. The financial support is provided through a mechanism of donations from local people, through acquisition of products and services: each “client” is donating at least 1% of the purchase value to a local NGO, the intermediating entity being the local entrepreneur from which the product / service is bought. The local company transfers the value of 1% from clients to the bank accounts of the NGOs. From the amounts donated, the NGOs implement projects designed according to the needs of the community. The main objective of the project was to multiply the Community Card Programme in other large cities in Romania where the local NGOs are facing the same difficulties of mobilising local people and increasing the interest of the local enterprises to cooperate with NGOs. The project has been implemented with a substantial support of Community Foundations from Iasi, Bacau, Ploiesti and Oradea. The project's planned results have been achieved and even exceeded, in terms of number of local people (clients) informed (more than 180,000) and in the number of local entrepreneurs (more than 29) engaged in this programme. More than that, 15 letters of agreement local enterprises have been signed, a feasibility study for the Hungarian partner has been issued, 18,000 new cards have been designed, issued, and distributed to local people, and 19 project ideas were provided with funds from the donations gathered through the Community Card system.
Summary of bilateral results