CSOs in Kosovo provide support or advocate for the interests of a range of beneficiaries, mainly depending on the specific mission or focus area of the organization. Based on the Giving Balkans data, in the years before the pandemic, domestic giving to CSOs was primarily intended for the support of people with disabilities as well as other generally less supported beneficiaries, such as children without parental care, survivors of violence, people living in other countries (people living outside of Kosovo). However, from 2020, people in economic need were the primary beneficiaries of CSOs in Kosovo.

Trends in Key Final Beneficiary Groups Impacted by Giving in Kosovo – 2018 - 2022 (% of instances)
Giving to CSOs: Key Final Beneficiary Groups 2018 - 2022 - download the infographic in PDF

Beneficiary Groups Receiving Support from Domestic Giving in 2022

In 2022, 71.8% of all donation instances and 65.3% of the recorded amount directed to CSOs in Kosovo were intended for people in economic need. This high percentage corresponds with the overall trend of giving in Kosovo, which may be attributed to the socio-economic trends in the past several years.

Other key beneficiary groups supported through CSOs for which significantly fewer instances were recorded included people with health issues, people with disabilities, and the population of local communities. Amongst other, generally less supported beneficiaries, children without parental care and people living in other countries had the largest share of instances, while for other beneficiary groups, less than 1% of instances were recorded. 

Breakdown of Final Beneficiary Groups Impacted by Giving in Kosovo in 2022
Giving to CSOs: Beneficiaries 2022 - download the infographic in PDF

How Beneficiary Groups are Supported through CSOs by Various Types of Donors

When examining data on giving to the CSOs in Kosovo in 2022, we can identify the main donor type for each of the beneficiary groups. Citizens through mass individual giving were donating most frequently to people in economic need (almost 50% of instances), people with health issues (93.5% of instances), and local communities (90.9% of instances). People with disabilities benefited the most from the support of other CSOs. A similar division is in place when it comes to the value of the total share.

The ways of giving (either through campaigns, direct donations, events, or calls for applications) through which different types of donors reach out to certain beneficiary groups may play a significant role. In this sense, different donor types tend to be more active in different ways of giving. Although the overall citizens were the most active donors to CSOs, fundraising campaigns were the main way of giving from private entities (mass-individual and known individuals), while direct donations came in more frequently from the corporate sector.

Flow of Giving from Type of Donor to Type of Key Final Beneficiary Groups – 2022 (# of instances)
Giving to CSOs: Flow of Giving Donors > Beneficiaries - download the infographic in PDF

Share of CSOs in Giving for Key Final Beneficiary Groups

Compared to all other recipients, the final beneficiary groups that were more frequently supported through CSOs were people with disabilities, people in economic need, and people with health issues. People with disabilities mostly benefitted from the services of several organizations dedicated to helping people with disabilities, like Down Syndrome Kosova and Handikos; people with health issues (mostly for medical treatments) and in economic need were supported to a big extent through fundraising campaigns initiated by the Balkan’s Orphans Association. Finally, as for the population of local communities in 2022, support was provided mainly directly to individuals and families in need.

Graph: Share of CSOs in relation to Final Beneficiary Groups – 2022 (% of instances)
Giving to CSOs: Share of CSOs in relation to Final Beneficiary Groups in 2022 - download the infographic in PDF

Examples of Giving

Crowdfunding actions for the support of various causes

Crowdfunding platforms can help CSOs gain visibility and reach a broader audience of donors for their initiatives. In this sense, in 2022, campaigns through the crowdfunding platforms KOSOVA Ideas and the platform of the Global Albanians Foundation were recorded. An example of such a campaign was the project initiated by the Sakuntala NGO for providing a five-month vocational training to women and girls from the Roma community, intended to increase their handicraft skills and socio-economic development. The training was organized by the Yunus Emre Institute in Prizren, and the funds for the campaign were raised through the KOSOVA ideas platform.

Similarly, the Global Albanians Foundation posted several campaigns on their platform, and most raised the targeted amount with the help of diaspora and local donors. In cooperation with the GERMIN organization, the Global Albanians Foundation implemented the OriginAL program, a project with the aim to connect the Albanian diaspora youth with their homeland peers through educational and cultural experience. Citizen donors supported the implementation of the program through the crowdfunding platform, and around EUR 80,000 was raised.

Through the cooperation with the Global Albanians Foundation, more than EUR 16,000 was raised by citizens for the support of the association Art Polis Kosova for the implementation of their projects. Through the platform, citizens also supported Action for Mothers and Children (AMC) and helped raise around EUR 1,500 needed for their activities.  

Companies and organizations help raise funds for children without parental care

In June 2022, SOS Fshatrat e Fëmijëve (“SOS Children’s Villages”) Kosovo concluded the regional campaign #IT4SOS in cooperation with the Association for Information and Communication Technology of Kosovo and aimed at raising funds for children without parental care and at risk of abandonment as well as preserving the environment. Several companies joined the initiative, such as Raiffeisen Bank, NLB Banka, ProCredit Bank, 3CIS JSC, Appstellar, Global CT Digital Kosovo. The total amount raised during the action was EUR 12,500.

Humanitarian auction for the support of children with disabilities

On the occasion of International Autism Awareness Day, the Association “Autizmi” in Suharekë, in collaboration with the Golden Eagle Foundation, organized the humanitarian auction of paintings created by the students at the school "Destan Bajraktari." All of the paintings were purchased for EUR 100 each by the Golden Eagle Foundation, and the funds collected were intended to be donated to children with autism.

More on Kosovo’s support to nonprofits in 2022:

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).