Academy for Educational Development

After a decade of AED support to Croatia’s civil society, a decade that saw the sector mature from nascent to sustainable, AED’s Support to Croatia’s NGOs (CroNGO) program ended in August 2007.

“CroNGO was a complex program that focused on grant making and advocacy, organizational capacity and support services, financial sustainability and a legislative framework for making NGOs more effective,” said Michael Kott, director of the AED Center for Civil Society and Governance.

An evaluation of the program found many successes: legal reform, revitalized NGO support centers, a self-administered NGO management tool developed by AED, and a grant application process that is being used by municipalities and corporations.

In June, 180 representatives of NGOs; government, corporate, and international donors; and other relevant stakeholders gathered for CroNGO’s final conference, “Civil Society: Work in Progress,” to discuss priorities surrounding three areas critical to the sector’s future sustainability: advocacy and legal framework, financial viability, and organizational development. In the past 10 years, CroNGO administered approximately 350 grants to NGOs working in these three areas.

“It isn’t often that you get the chance to stay with a project for 10 years,” said Kott, “and one of the key lessons is that it takes time to build the trust needed to form the kind of true partnerships necessary for sustainability.”

Jennifer Stuart, CroNGO’s chief of party, echoed that sentiment. “This program was truly implemented in partnership with the local NGOs it sought to help,” she said. 

Indeed, the evaluation of CroNGO cites the “extraordinarily high level of understanding and confidence between implementer and grantees,” noting that the project’s partnerships “should serve as a model for future NGO initiatives elsewhere.” 

For more information, contact Kristin Farthing at kfarthing@aed.org or visit http://www.aed.hr/en/.