VolONG – Good to do good
Working together for a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.
www.activecitizensfund.ro www.eeagrants.org
We are a newly established organisation in the area, and we want to get involved in the life of local communities, to build cooperation between organisations in the region, to primarily invest knowledge and experience locally. Noting that many organizations in the area are inactive or unable to attract resources (volunteers and financial), we propose to revitalize these organizations. Volunteering is important in Romania, but in the absence of available information on volunteering opportunities, many are easily put off. Romania can be proud of having the first law in the European area that aims to recognize volunteering as a professional experience (Law 78/2014) but according to Eurostat data (2015), the volunteering rate in Romania was 3.2% and, in the EU this rate was-28 22.2%.
The project proposes solutions through the following specific objectives:
– Setting up an online platform in the Ciuc Basin (rural localities) in the first 5 months of the project, with the aim of creating partnerships between non-governmental organisations, to strengthen their role as catalysts of active citizenship and increase their capacity to attract resources (human and financial).
– Increasing the involvement of citizens in the Ciuc Basin (18 rural administrative territorial units) poorly reached in terms of volunteering opportunities, through an advocacy campaign and through educational/awareness raising/informational sessions for young people about the benefits of volunteering and involvement in community life and environmental issues, during months 3-12 of the project.
– The aim is to provide a learning curve to Partnership members through formal or informal courses (20 course participations) for organisational development between months 2-12 of the project. The courses will respond to the key challenges identified in the organisational matrix. The activities will contribute to a regular communication of information towards the public about activities and results achieved and about the development of organisational capacity.
Activities:
It is carried out between months 1-12 of the project, ensuring the monitorization of all activities according to the activity plan and related reports, the aim of the activity is to ensure the achievement of the objectives proposed. In month 1 will happen the internal detailing of the implementation of the activities.
The supervision of workflows will occur through the provision of project progress reports. This activity will monitor both direct results (outputs) and indirect results (outcomes).
Those involved will meet at least once a month in face-to-face or virtual sessions. In cases where shortcomings are identified, the necessary corrections will be made in good time so as not to affect the final results of the project.
Financial management of the project includes keeping close track of overall project expenditure periodically and breaking it down by cost center. Financial management will also monitor procurement. Purchases will be made in accordance with the standard procedures laid down in the legislation. Best practices in financial management include (1) using analytics proactively for monitoring (2) standardizing processes and data to ensure traceability; (3) providing real-time information through mobile budgeting and project management apps to facilitate decision making.
Media appearances
Press release
Communication materials
Press conference invitation
There is no official, accessible data on NGOs that are fiscally active. Thus we will determine the real number of active NGOs by manual screening (by querying the NAFA database).
This database will be the foundation of the VolONG platform and will become public. This database will serve as a source of inspiration for those who want to volunteer, providing them with a tool through which they can get in touch with NGOs they are interested in.
It could also be a useful resource for local business communities who want to get involved in their community through sponsorship as part of their social responsibility policy. With the help of the database we will be able to improve the situation of underserved areas in terms of the possibilities for citizens to volunteer. It will be possible to improve the participation of citizens in local community life, so that those people without the possibility to get involved in citizenship activities will have a tool to help them.
The database is available on the VolONG Platform. Access it with the button below:
A bilingual web-based VolONG platform will be developed and made available to the citizens and civil associations at the level of the Ciuc Basin (rural localities) in order to strengthen the role of NGOs to become catalysts of active citizenship and to increase their capacity to attract (human and financial) resources. The platform will use the database developed at A3 with the aim of increasing access to information, to volunteering opportunities and to participation in active citizenship in general. Also at the level of NGOs the bureaucratic pressure will be reduced by having access to a series of standard documents (detailed in the description of results). It will also be a possible source of attracting financial resources, from firms in the targeted area, and from the general population (through the option to transfer 3.5% of income tax).
VolONG will allow filtering based on existing data, and will allow selection bay areas of interest (social, environmental, educational, sports, etc.) or locations.
The platform will have a messaging function, through which users can send messages, requests for information about a volunteering opportunity or a specific NGO.
One section will centralize volunteer contracts in order to certify the volunteer’s experience to be recognized as experience in the respective field.
A section will present the advantages of crowdfunding sites.
The platform can be accessed by the button below:
The information and awareness campaign is an activity that will be implemented during the entire duration of the project. The activity will highlight the importance of using the VolONG volunteering platform, and its catalytic role to strengthen civic engagement in local public interest decision making and environmental education in the context of climate change and environmental issues.
In parallel with the development of VolONG and the Facebook page, an Online Communication and Awareness Strategy will be developed. This strategy will provide for the number and content of posts, will take into account the Communication and Design Manual and will set target values for promotion and awareness.
The strategy will contain the approximate number and content of media appearances. Emphasis will be put on the diversity of the target audience, so information will be published in Romanian, Hungarian.
Throughout the whole campaign, the implementation of the Strategy will be monitored and improved whenever its necessary to achieve the target values.
Photos taken at the event called “You are not alone in the world”.
The advocacy campaign proposes to visit 18 administrative territorial units. These meetings will take place offline or online – depending on the pandemic situation. In each territorial administrative units there will be a meeting focused on presenting “professional” volunteering and the relevance of including young people in civic life. It will also present the benefits of using VolONG, from matchmaking between volunteers and NGOs to the draft documents produced. There will be a debate on the importance of volunteering and civic involvement especially in the context of these rural areas of the Ciuc Basin which are poorly served in terms of opportunities for citizens to volunteer, resulting low citizen participation in local community life. The agenda of the meetings will focus on the real need of the local society to create the framework for “professional” volunteering, and on increasing the possibilities of involvement in active citizenship practices. The end result of these advocacy meetings should be an increase in the presence of NGOs registered on VolONG, an increase in access for NGOs to documents necessary for their work and to documents related to volunteering and sponsorship. Eventually these activities are going to become the basis for increased volunteering and active citizenship.
We will regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the meetings and improve their structure in order to achieve a real increase in the involvement of NGOs in the administrative territorial units.
Education and awareness-raising activities for young people (focusing on the 14-19 age group) in rural localities in the Ciuc Basin will focus on familiarizing them with environmental problems such as effects of climate change and their role in finding solutions on how to adapt to these changes. The activities will consist of delivering interactive presentations (indoor activity) in (approx. 20) secondary and high schools in the target area, detailing the following topics: 1. environmental issues- climate change, 2. the role of volunteering in the community and on a personal level, 3. civic activism and youth involvement in social-political life, 4. interactive platform-VolONG Volunteering-Matchmaking, 5. the role of NGOs in the life of local communities, in the inclusion of young people to their specific activities. At the same time, participants will fill in a questionnaire with a list of various civic issues/concerns that interest them and in which they intend/want to get more involved in the future. If indoor activities cannot be implemented due to Sars-COV2, they will be implemented outdoors, if this option is not allowed either the activity will be adapted to the online space.
The objective is to provide a learning curve for Partnership members in areas that respond to one of the key challenges identified in the organisational matrix. The activities will contribute to organisational capacity development, formal and informal courses will be run for individual member development between months 2-12 of the project.
By developing members’ skills, the Partners involved will build resilience in attracting and retaining competent human resources.
Based on the feedback received from the template (Applicant level only), key areas were identified where members of the organisation feel the need for professional development. The activity proposes to take formal/informal courses in the areas of: Marketing, Social Media, Project Writing, Project Management, Financial Management, GDPR, Fundraising, Trainer, Personal Development, Coaching. Members will select a maximum of 2 courses to attend from the areas listed.
The work will start in the first months, so as to provide the premises for the implementation of what has been learned including in the project.
The applicant also has a project submitted under Call#3 with similar proposed activity. In case of approval of both projects the Applicant will ensure that the courses taken by the members of the Association are different in the two projects.
Project implemented by:
The project is implemented by Association Project Bag in partnership with Association Ținutul Secuiesc Verde and Association VOX IUVENTUTIS and benefits from a 49.549 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants Grants 2014 -2021. he content of this website does not necessarily represent the official position of the EEA and Norwegian grants for 2014-2021; visit www.eeagrants.org for more information. More information about Active Citizens Fund Romania at www.activecitizensfund.ro.