LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK OF PHILANTHROPY IN BULGARIA
This resource looks at the general rules for charitable giving (donations) as described in the following laws:
- Obligations and Contracts Act (OCA)
- Corporate Income Tax Act (CITA)
- Personal Income Tax Act (PITA)
- Law on Local Taxes and Fees (LFT)
- Value Added Tax Act (VAT Act)
PLANNING A FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
It is important to allow sufficient time for the preparation and planning of fundraising campaigns, whatever their scale. Developing a campaign is much like developing a project and should follow the same principles. A number of important things need to be discussed in advance – what is the purpose of the campaign, who is the target group, what are the specific activities to be carried out and who is responsible for them, what results are expected.
FUNDRAISING TECHNIQUES
Practice shows that the number of representatives of the business sector as well as individual donors who are willing to donate is increasing. It is assumed that not only the number of donors is increasing, but also the number of people and civil society organisations seeking donations. This competition puts organisations in a situation where they have to convince potential donors to donate specifically to their cause. What are the factors that can help attract resources?
CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY
The philanthropy environment in Bulgaria has its peculiarities, which are good to know when we are looking for support for our ideas. In recent years, more and more companies have started to donate, but they do not have donation budgets, they do not have a developed procedure, they do not have a person or a department that deals specifically with this. In a lot of cases, different departments are involved – PR, HR or Marketing, but they have their own separate budgets, as well as separate priorities. There is no company policy to support causes, campaigns. For this reason, most companies support sporadically, have no strategy and do not strive to give sustainably.
LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS WITH DONORS
Creating and maintaining long-term relationships between a CSO and its donors is an ongoing process that does not end with the act of giving. One of the main mistakes that has a negative impact is remembering our donors only when we are in the process of actively raising resources. We need to be aware that the goal of a campaign is not only to raise a certain amount of funds, but also to gain new supporters and sympathizers for the organization’s activities, whose support we can rely on in the future.
