Enabling organizations and communities in achiving sustainable change
CIRa is one of the first organizations in Macedonia that has incorporated philanthropy and social responsibility in its strategic priorities thus making strong commitment to invest substantial knowledge and expertise in creating opportunities for every individual, CSO or company that wishes to make contribution in money, ideas, time, expertise- in shaping the present and the tomorrow of our country.
It is our commitment to:
CIRa is also striving to build better conditions for fostering social responsibility, to increase the knowledge, strengthen skills of different stakeholders and to promote the best social responsibility practices in Macedonia and the region.
In recent years, our society was faced with great changes mostly common to all countries in development especially those that have decided to leave the socialism and centralized governance and to make the commitment towards the democracy. After succession of Yugoslavia and Macedonian independency in 1991, we have accepted the challenge to pioneer our history and to start building community in which people’s voice can be heard, respected and taken into account in decision making processes.
It was “a call” for many International State Agencies, CSOs and charitable foundations willing to give support for overcoming the barriers on our road to maturity. Investing their knowledge and money, they have helped many citizens’ initiatives to get started, to develop and even to grow into significant institutions and expand their work. But in the same time, they have made the domestic organizations dependable on their aid. In our recent research it might be seen that 71% of the funds in civil society sector comes from international development programs and only 5% are donated by individuals and 7% from business sector. Since 2002, many International Donors have left our country becoming more interested to transfer their limited resources in other “hot spots” on the planet. Moreover, for years we were “nourishing” good relations with the foreign donors and forgot to restore confidence and encourage domestic giving.
As the society is moving towards higher stages of development, communities and people demand increased results and a more diverse range of services. If we want to meet them, we should build a strong social capital. State budget is limited and Macedonian Government as well as local self-governments are not in position to do everything and can’t afford to fund 100% of healthcare, education, arts, youth initiatives etc. Businesses, run by interest for more profit, are growing, large number of enterprises has been established and more and more international companies are investing their capital in Macedonia. But their prosperity can make more wealthy society, not a great society. All this puts a lot of pressure on us, the non-profit sector, as a third leg of the society stool and as the one that should play a key role in feeding the democratic processes. More than ever CSOs motivated to develop strategies to mobilize creative citizens that are willing to take control over the issues that they feel passionate about, drive the innovation to tackle the worst problems and bring about the change for themselves, for their children, for others and for the world itself.
Never before have we seen a time so promising or so demanding for developing the philanthropy in Macedonia.
According to the Philanthropy research that CIRa conducted in September 2006 there is a culture of giving in the Republic of Macedonia. Seventy-six percent of the surveyed population supports the idea of individual giving and 70 percent reported that they have actually donated to support community needs. The majority of people give to others but relatively few give to CSOs. Over 53 % of the donations have been given to individuals, only 7 percent of those that have already donated gave their donations to NGOs. Seventy-six percent of individuals surveyed had never been asked for a donation by an CSO, yet 49 percent report they are prepared to make donations to CSOs. There is a widespread absence of strategy among CSOs when it comes to requesting donations, and a reluctance to approach the public as a source of funding.
In order to increase interest and individual donations, CSOs must achieve higher standards in reporting their results, and should actively ask for financial support from the local community. Businesses are more concerned with seeing results from their donations rather than knowing how the donations are used.
Nearly all surveyed companies report having donated to CSOs, and almost two-thirds of CSOs report past collaboration with businesses. Seventy percent of the surveyed companies reported a lack of tax exemptions as the primary obstacle to donating. Other impediments included limited financial resources, and insufficient knowledge of NGOs and their activities. The purpose of the donation, how the donation will be used, and the reputation of the solicitor are more important than reporting of expenditures.
Both individuals and businesses remain a largely untapped resource, and have indicated a desire to help if provided with the right opportunities and approached with a well-developed strategy.
The study has shown that volunteering is also a vastly untapped resource. The true definition of volunteering and its potential for solving community problems must be promoted. Because material resources remain limited, CSOs and local communities will need to promote the donation of time and services by volunteers of all ages, genders, and ethnic groups in order to address community needs.
CSOs must develop systematic strategies to include community members, business leaders, local institutions, and the local government in their efforts to meet community needs and create a strong and sustainable civil society in the Republic of Macedonia.
Best way to support the resolving of problem which concern the people in your community. 
The goal of this project is to contribute to the improvement of local management of education.
To stimulate and diversify domestic resources, and establish a base for domestic philanthropy.
Particular form of entrepreneurship that is part of a wider idea of Social Economy.
Program's main goal is to support the participatory development of communities on local level.