Fundraising has always been a demanding task for civil society organisations in Central and Eastern Europe. Recent developments in the funding ecosystem like the USAID funding cut, reallocation of philanthropic funds due to global crises, as well as rising operational expenses only increased these challenges. This makes the exchange of knowledge, skills and best-practices even more important.
Against this background, we have recently (mid-March 2025) checked in with NGO Academy members and associated organisations, to learn more about their best practices for navigating the funding landscape. Our survey received 139 responses from 14 countries in CEE [1] and describes heterogeneous experiences across our member organisations. Respondents in organisations engaged in health and international activities expected a healthy growth in funds over the course of the year: while variance between organisations is high, median expected growth of funding in 2025 exceed 10% for both fields of activities.
At the same time, representatives of culture and arts organisations, as well as law, advocacy and politics organisations reported a pessimistic financial outlook, expecting a median decrease of 5% and 12.5 % in budgets in 2025 respectively.
Challenges were reported across all funding sources, but unsurprisingly, the halt of USAID funding sources provided a particular challenge. (Former) US-funded organisations are significantly more likely to experience funding difficulties than those with any other type of funding source.
Multiple ways to tackle the situation
In spite of these challenges, many NGO Academy member organisations are finding proactive approaches to address this situation and increase financial resilience. More than 40% of respondents are intensifying their fundraising efforts in 2025. One out of three applies to new international funding sources and one out of four to new philanthropic funding sources. In addition, one out of five organisations develops new products or services to be sold on the market – aiming to become more independent of donations and grants.
We try to diversify the funding sources as well as prioritize strong financial planning by regularly forecasting budgets and monitoring expenditures.
Many organisations reported to now engage strongly in trying to further diversify their funding source, aiming for a mix of public funds, corporate and individual donations, market income, and others, to avoid over-reliance on a single source. This also includes the identification of and experimentation with new funding sources. One respondent introduced their organisation’s novel approach with a hybrid income model – both non-profit and for profit, allowing to balance out funding difficulties in either. Others started to organize new types of fundraising events, like concerts or charity evenings, or emphasize individual donations.
Apart from diversification, measures also include a stronger focus on detailed budgeting, more careful monitoring and establishing of reserve funds. Some respondents emphasized the need for reduction of non-essential expenses or tried to increase efficiency with limited resources by using AI tools.
Finally, communication plays an important role. Multiple respondents highlighted the need for honest communication with funding sources and peers. Financial transparency ensures that stakeholders can see the impact of their contributions, encouraging future support. However, also sharing (financial) struggles with other organisations’ leaders and funders can support in creating an atmosphere of trust and allowing for appropriate responses.
Along these lines, some organisations also identified potential in building new collaboration during tough times. Sharing resources, building partnerships and engaging in skill development for staff on fundraising techniques are seen as effective in continuously securing funds, while keeping costs low.
Our approach has been mostly ad-hoc, responding to challenges as they arise. However, we recognize the need for a more strategic and sustainable financial management approach, and we aim to improve this by learning from best practices, engaging financial experts, and implementing better fundraising and budgeting strategies in the future.
Everything is not lost, though. NGO Academy member organisations stated that drawing on learnings from previous financial crises, like 2008 or 2020, helps in steering through the current situation. Theys also identified reasons for optimism regarding the funding ecosystem, especially in the longer term. Apart from expected new opportunities in combination with Norwegian, Swiss or EU funds, which some respondents expect to become more accessible in future, this also includes the EU candidacy status for some CEE countries, like Moldova.
It becomes evident that building up fundraising competences becomes crucial in these times. NGO Academy tries to cater to that need by providing workshops, webinars and opportunities for exchange on the topic. We are highly grateful for everyone who contributed to the survey and hope that our work will make a small difference at least.
[1] Respondents’ organizations are located in: Romania (23 responses), Croatia (23 responses), Hungary (14 responses), Slovakia (11 responses), Austria (9 responses, Kosovo (9 responses), Albania (8 responses), Bosnia and Herzegovina (8 responses), Republic of Moldova (8 responses), Serbia (8 responses), Ukraine (7 responses), Czechia (6 responses), Montenegro ( 4 responses), Slovenia (1 response)