Kosovo Gives to Civil Society Organizations 2022
Kosovo Gives to Civil Society Organizations 2022
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Since 2013, Catalyst Balkans has been tracking the state of philanthropy in Kosovo and the Western Balkans region. Kosovo Gives to Civil Society Organizations 2022 is published in partnership with the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation, as part of the Citizens Engagement Activity funded by the United States Agency for International Development. This report provides a specific and unique picture of philanthropic giving to civil society organizations1 (CSOs) in Kosovo. It represents an extract of the Giving Kosovo 2022: Report on the State of Philanthropy report and deep dives into data on how the civil society sector is supported.
1 The term Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) / nonprofit organizations in Western Balkans encompasses associations that can be domestic, diaspora, or branch offices of foreign associations, foundations (private and corporate), and informal groups.
TOTAL RECORDED GIVING TO THE CIVIL SOCIETY SECTOR
2,311,000 EUR
Recorded amount
493
# of instances
The volume and frequency of support to CSOs in Kosovo reached its highest level in 2022, when CSOs raised more than 2.3 million euros through 493 instances.
Since 2019, the number of philanthropic actions directed to CSOs has seen a positive trajectory, following the trend of overall philanthropic giving and reaching a peak in frequency in 2022. More than half of all donations in 2022 were channeled through the efforts of CSOs accumulating more than 65% of overall donations – approx. 2.3 million euros. These donations predominantly focused on the support of poverty relief, in response to the prevailing socio-economic conditions in the country. Although the global economic crises may have limited resources of donor support in general, citizens through mass-individual donations continued to be the biggest donors to CSOs, responding primarily to the urgent needs of the communities.
TRENDS OF GIVING
In 2022, the participation of CSOs in the overall number of philanthropic actions in Kosovo is higher than in the previous four years, as more than half of all donation instances were directed to CSOs. 493 recorded donation instances represent an increase of 67% compared to 2021, and this is the highest number of donation instances directed toward CSOs recorded ever since Catalyst Balkans started tracking philanthropy in Kosovo in 2013.
Compared to other recipient types in Kosovo in 2022, CSOs are also the highest in rank when looking at the donation values, and the biggest value of donations was directed to CSOs ever since 2019. During 2022 on the overall level, more than 3.4 million euros were donated in Kosovo. Around 2/3 of that amount (2.3 million euros) was directed to the CSOs. Compared to 2021, that represents a 26% increase.
Data show that this increase both in the number of donation instances and in the recorded value is a result of the higher number of campaigns organized by CSOs, Balkans’ Orphans Association and Humanitarian Association Bereqeti in the first place, for the support of people in economic need. Through these campaigns, these two organizations succeeded in fundraising significantly higher amounts compared to 2021.
2022 data shows that apart from CSOs, individuals and families, public institutions, and institutions of local/national governments, were recognized as key types of recipients of donations. In terms of donation frequency, individual and family recipients are in second place, while institutions of local/national governments were second on the list when it comes to the donated amount. More precisely, 362 donation instances were directed to individuals and families, 33 instances were directed to institutions of local/national governments, while 29 instances were directed to public institutions. In terms of the recorded value of donations, around 880,000 euros were directed to institutions of local/national governments, approximately 232,000 euros to individuals and families, and around 31,000 to public institutions.
CSOs mostly fundraised and received support through fundraising campaigns and appeals that they have initiated – around 85% of all instances and the donation value was raised in that way. It is also important to mention that most of the support was donated in the form of cash donations, with only a small percentage of money and an insignificant number of instances recorded as in-kind contributions.
CAUSES
As was the case for overall giving in Kosovo in 2022, the support to CSOs was primarily directed for the purpose of poverty relief in more than half of all instances, which is an increase compared to 2021 (43.7%). Seasonal giving is second supported with a slight increase in the number of instances, while support to marginalized groups saw a 10% drop compared to 2021. Healthcare and education remained at a similar level.
Looking at the donation values, through CSOs 65.5% of the recorded money was directed for poverty relief.
DONORS
While in 2021 the most active donors were individuals, this year CSOs have been receiving donations most frequently from citizens through mass individual giving2. The percentage of instances recorded for individual donors dropped by 24%. Citizens stood out even more with the donated value, with a share of 84.2% of the total recorded amount for CSOs.
The value of giving from the corporate sector significantly dropped from 60.6% in 2021 to 5.4% in 2022.
2 The donor category “Citizens (mass-individual giving)” refers to a group of citizens who cannot be identified by name, while the category “Individuals” represents donors that can be individually identified.
FINAL BENEFICIARIES
People in economic need continue to be the most supported beneficiary groups through the work of CSOs. In this year they are supported 20% more compared to 2021.
Both people with health issues and people with disabilities saw a minor decrease in the frequency of support.
It is important to note that from the donation value side, people in economic need generated over 65% of all giving recorded for CSOs.
INTENDED EFFECTS OF GIVING
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF GIVING
The majority of support given to various beneficiary groups in Kosovo is actually directed through the work of a few of the most active CSOs. The activities of these organizations are spread through branches in various municipalities across the country, enabling the diversification of assistance and wide support to numerous local communities.
The recorded data provided depicts the distribution of giving to CSOs based on the region in which the organizations and their branches are located.
In 2022, most of the donation instances were directed to the region of Prizren (46.4%), followed by Mitrovicë (31.6%), while the lowest percentage of donation instances was directed to Gjakovë and Gjilan.
The term civil society organizations / nonprofit organizations encompasses all forms of non-governmental organizations including domestic associations, foreign associations, diaspora associations, private foundations, and corporate foundations. Given this, in the previous five years recorded philanthropy to the civil society sector in Kosovo included only giving to domestic associations and private foundations, as giving to other types of nonprofit recipients was not recorded. It is most probably the case that some of the giving is not covered by the media and not reported in any other way, and because of that remains unavailable to be recorded. In 2022, support for domestic associations prevailed, with a significant share of both donation instances and donated value.
Download the infographic to see the data about giving to civil society organizations in Kosovo in 2022
Learn about our methodology here.
This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Catalyst Balkans and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
The Citizen Engagement Activity in Kosovo is a five-year initiative implemented by Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF) in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
