A workshop on setting up a socially-oriented not-for-profit, GRANI Centre, Perm. Source: Facebook. Amid mounting state pressures on foreign funding, civil activists in eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia are embracing new business models to generate alternative sources of income. For not-for-profit organisations, the transition to money and markets is full of challenges. However, as they explore strategies for marketing, fundraising and, yes, even profit, civil society groups are winning new freedoms and reshaping long-neglected relations with their domestic audiences.
The shift to paid services is part of a wider dynamic in the region as civil society pioneers new ways to push back against the closing space in which it can operate. Groups and individuals are redesigning strategies, re-registering operational models, embracing new technologies and devising new communication plans.
The transition to monetisation is proving a special challenge. So far, only a small vanguard have dipped their toes into this area, but those that have are enjoying surprising success.
