Current data about support for NGOs in the next three years show that available funds will increase, at least in the next two years. The same data indicate that, in spite of an increase in the planned size of support to NGOs, this funding will not cover all the areas mentioned by donors as being important in order to achieve a balance between types of support. Taking into consideration the distribution of support by fields, region and types, the following conclusions can be drawn:
o A number of donors have clear plans to provide grants to NGOs active in the child welfare field. Child welfare also seems to be the issue for which relatively long-term support is planned (of between three and five years). Some of this support will take the shape of small grants and a limited number of grants for organizational development and core costs will also be available, although full details with regards
to the size and regional distribution of these grants are not currently available. In addition to funds for NGOs, there are also programs which will continue to provide funds to public authorities active in the child protection field.
o Funding to the field of social services47 (aside from child welfare, which is covered above) is likely to be maintained at a similar level to previous years, although information is not yet available on how this support will be distributed in terms of regions, type of organization or size of grants.
o A number of donors also plan to continue their support in the field of minorities, with a focus on Roma related initiatives. Information so far does not show how much of this money will go to NGOs, although they will be able to access a number of such programs. A number of grants for institutional development and the capacity building of organizations active on Roma related initiatives also seem to be available. Support seems to be available nationwide, and some small grants48 may be available, although the biggest percentage of support is likely to take the form of relatively large grants.
o It seems as if the environmental field will receive a fairly constant level of funding over the next few years, although it may decrease slightly, and the total amount available could be quite small compared with other fields. Support will mainly take the form of small grants for small, local NGOs and a part of this support might cover some core costs and organizational development needs, but only for a limited time. Also, the planned support might not be able to cover all regions of the country. Extremely limited grants to well-established NGOs active in this field may also be available.
o A number of donors will still be active in the community and social development field and funding is likely to maintained at the current level or even increase. This support will be channelled through both NGOs and CBOs. As the community development model was considered successful, more donors – especially bi/multilateral - are providing resources to the Romanian Social Development Fund pool.
o In terms of civil society support, funding for the infrastructure and sustainability of the NGO sector is likely to be available at an increased level, at least in the next two years. Generally this support will take the form of large grants and is likely to provide funds for the consolidation of intermediary support organizations. A number of small grants programs are available, but there is no information yet about funding programs that would make support available for core and development costs of a relatively large number of NGOs. Also, support for small, local organizations or for new organizations seems to continue to be limited.
47 Services for marginalized or less favoured groups; they may include services for children, elderly, women, teenagers, people with special needs that for various reasons are in need of support. 48 For the purpose of this discussion, small grants are considered to be those of less than 10,000 US Dollars.
While the information available about future support is not complete, a series of gaps were highlighted by donors or discussed in the review, and these still seem to be only partially covered. Thus:
o The size of funding distributed is clearly inclined towards la rge grants.
o It appears that there is still a lack of “free money” on the market – i.e. funds to cover new initiatives outside the main focus of donor
programs. Some donors continue to operate with more responsive strategies, but the amount thus distributed is still very limited.
o The number of donors with a particular focus on the development of
the NGO sector continues to be low.
o Even if some donor programs continue to provide core support to a certain extent, the need identified by donors to increase support for this purpose does not seem to have been met as yet.
o In spite of new donor initiatives to provide development support for the sustainability of the NGO sector, grants for development support continue to be limited.
A number of donors share the concern that a sudden increase of funding without capacity building programs can create a turbulent environment for NGOs. Also, they point out that the need to provide core cost support and capacity building are long-term, constant needs.
In terms of the regional distribution of support, a number of donors have expressed interest in working in smaller communities, small and medium sized towns and rural areas.
7.2 TRENDS IN FUTURE DONOR SUPPORT
This section covers donors’ future strategies, based on the current level of information, as well as donors’ vision and expectations of how future support will evolve and will identify whether there are major differences with regard to past and current support.
a. Increased channeling of support through Romanian grant-making organizations and plans of foreign donors to support the
development of indigenous grant-making capacity.
b. Increased attention for sustainability – diversification of funding sources and promotion of links between NGOs and public authorities.
c. Increased concentration of support – larger grants and support for issues might increase concentration of funding on key areas and key organizations.