General Purposes

About this grant

The program goal is to support the development of local communities and grassroots organizations in Bulgaria. To this end, AGORA Platform: Active Communities for Development Alternatives will support a network of Bulgarian chitalishte and increase chitalishte capacity to bring positive changes and development in local communities. A chitalishte is a specific, Bulgarian, community-based, nongovernmental institution with a200-year history of supporting literacy, education, and community development. During the grant period, the grantee will build chitalishte capacity by providing information, training, technical assistance, and seed funding; increase the support for chitalishte by establishing effective partnerships with relevant governmental and nongovernmental institutions; and develop its own organizational capacity by strengthening its human resources, diversifying its funding base, and developing new services. The grantee’s achievements in 2014-2016 included increasing the level of civic participation, volunteering, and giving in 24 localities; establishing strong partnerships with relevant governmental and nongovernmental organizations; and developing partnerships with peer organizations from Turkey. The grantee is based in Sofia, Bulgaria.