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Our new interview about the experience of organizations in crowdfunding provides an opportunity to, in addition to the Donacije.rs campaign, look at other achievements of the Organization of Serbian Students Abroad (OSSI).

The primary goal of this association is developing young people, which they achieve through education, support, and friendship, connecting students from Serbia who are studying abroad. Their team, with whom we cooperated in April 2021, marked the 25th anniversary of the organization's existence, which has been improving the position of young students for two and a half decades, with the "Summer OSSIlation 2022" event on July 9.

By winning the blue badge, OSSI members also showed their responsibility toward the community. Those interested in their work can find information on Neprofitne.rs, where there is information about their programs and results.

However, this time we asked them for an interview to learn more about their experience with crowdfunding on the Donacije.rs platform. Last year, it resulted in a successful campaign and the realization of a digital platform that supports high school and university students to study abroad and connect with current students. The campaign also facilitated the networking of students abroad and the incentive to return to their native country after professional training.

Below, please find out how OSSI members see the process of preparing and launching a crowdfunding campaign and what value it brought to their work in a conversation with the president of the organization's board, Anđela Janković.

Whether you belong to a group of young people or you are someone who supports them - it is very likely that you have already heard of "Oblakoder" magazine. On their Facebook page, they describe their work as "the values ​​of traditional journalism with an innovative approach in the digital framework." However, that is not quite enough to present the texts that their audience has been enjoying for four years.

This online magazine first empowers young people and promotes their creativity, and the topics they deal with are dedicated to art, culture and social issues. "Oblakoder" often reveals young non-established artists and deals with youth issues, while at the same time shedding light on the problems of marginalized groups.

In 2022, the team behind this independent media decided to turn its annual publication into a printed issue - and in order to raise the necessary funds, they turned to the community in March and found great support through the Donacije.rs platform.

To present their experience with crowdfunding and learn the benefits of this form of funding from their point of view, we discussed the success of "Oblakoder's" campaign with longtime members of that team. In the first interview for the Donacije.rs platform, find out from the author and editor of the Lift section Snežana Pajkić and art director and designer Olga Đelošević how "Oblakoder" launched its second print edition through crowdfunding and how the community supported them more than they expected.

On Thursday, January 27, at the How NGOs Can Show Transparency and Gain Trust event, we talked about three tools that make it easier to show responsibility to the community more effectively. We presented information on the importance of transparent work through available resources with which organizations can gain greater trust and proactively exercise their influence in society.

The nonprofit organization Civic Initiative was founded in 1996, when a group of prominent activists recognized the need to create a social, civic base that supports democratic change by teaching citizens about their rights, democracy and civil society.

Today, Civic Initiatives are guided by fairness, responsibility and activism in their work, and conduct their activities through two programs: the Civil Society Capacity Building Program and the Public Policy Program.

This organization based in Belgrade recently won a blue badge that confirms their complete transparency on Neprofitne.rs, which is why we talked to Dragoslav Barzut, manager of the Public Policy Program of Civic Initiatives. In a new interview, Dragoslava told us more about transparency in the nonprofit sector, their connection to the community and the benefits of the Neprofitne.rs platform.