The Civil Society Development Foundation (CSDF) Hungary, in collaboration with ECNL and the Hungarian Donors Forum is organizing a two-day conference on Successful Fundraising and Advocacy Techniques for Survival of NGOs. The event will take place on December 10-11, 2008 in Budapest.
From CSDF web site:
It is essential for an NGO in the 21st century to have two tools to be able to maintain solid financial bases for its effective work. One of these tools is advocacy, the activity to influence decision makers, the raising of the stakeholder's and the general public's awareness and their mobilization. Many consider that lobbying is the main form and possibility of advocacy while there are several other ways too of influencing the decision makers effectively. Examples for these means are provided by the participants of CSDF and ECNL's project titled "We have our say!" - Human Rights Advocacy, which was launched by the support of the European Commission.
There are countries for instance where the aspects of the nonprofit sector receive more attention at the time of assigning the EU funds than in Hungary. We find out the reasons and follow up on what else can be done in the field. We have already proven that fundraising is an activity that is indispensable for the survival of an NGO. This year we provide examples, experience and good practices from Central and Eastern Europe with the help of presenters of the region. Renowned economists will share their opinion about how the system of state and private funding can change in Hungary in the future. Besides the plenary sessions, the participants will get practical guidelines concerning the current topics of fundraising in the workshops which are held in English (simultaneous translation is provided) and Hungarian.