The study limits itself to public benefit organizations of the 6 countries of Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) which ensure generally enabling laws on the civil society. Thanks to the generally supportive environment the countries are moving towards having a flourishing civil society.
The study points out that financial sustainability is still a challenge for the foundations of the region, the grant making capacities and possibilities have to be further improved.
The study concludes with specific recommendations and conclusions for the development of the framework – specifically creation of better mechanisms for endowment building, harmonization of public benefit status with the associated tax benefits, reform of tax benefits for individual donors and introducing instruments for cross border philanthropy.
The analysis is authored by ECNL’s Executive Director Katerina Hadzi-Miceva Evans and Hanna Surmatz from European Foundations Centre. The study was published by the European Foundation Centre, EFC and was supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.