Best Practices
#1 - Institute of Public Affairs
Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) is a Polish think tank and an independent centre for policy research and analysis, established in 1995. Its mission is to contribute to informed public debate on key Polish, European and global policy issues. Its focuse on study include European policy, social policy, civil society, migration and development policy as well as law and democratic institutions.
The IPA has a team of in-house researchers/policy analysts and an extensive network of associate experts from academia and other paths of life. Publishes the results of projects in research reports, policy papers and books, which are broadly disseminated among members of parliament, government officials and civil servants, academics, journalists and civil society activists. Every year the iPA hosts dozens of conferences, seminars, round tables, workshops and other events with the participation of key policy and opinion makers. Our experts regularly comment on current policy issues in printed and electronic media.
The mission of iPA is to elevate the quality of Polish and European public debate, to make it merit-oriented and focused on problem-solving and knowledge-building. To initiate new topics of public debate and popularise innovative approaches to public issues. To develop mechanisms that aim to engage individual citizens and groups of citizens in public debate and other forms of active participation in public life. To enhance the quality of public policy in Poland through initiating legal and institutional changes. The vision of iPA is that well-educated citizens are aware of their rights and duties, have a sense of shared responsibility and are involved in public life. That Polish society should open (tolerant, inclusive), active, unifiable, affluent and European. The Polish state should be democratic, deliberative, law-abiding, modern, efficient, able to set short and long term objectives, citizen-oriented, partner-like, transparent, active, accountable before the international community
The Institute of Public Affairs its a greate example of institution who is establish to build Civil Society in Poland and also help other institution CSO to grov.
#2 - National Federation of Polish NGOs
National Federation of Polish NGOs (Ogólnopolska Federacja Organizacji Pozarządowych, OFOP) was established in 2003 by the initiative group of Polish organizations – as a result of a participatory process aimed at establishing a representation body for the third sector in Poland.
Politically independent and non-governmental organization guided by the principles of European Charter of the Fundamental Rights and the Charter for Principles of NGO Operation, adopted by a resolution of the OFOPs General Assembly in 2010.
Currently, OFOP has 136 member organizations. As many of the members are also federations of organizations, indirectly OFOP may claim over 400 member organizations.
The list of members includes organisations working at national, regional or community level, engaging with the public on local issues, active in domains of third sector advocacy, watchdogs, human rights, social inclusion, ecology, heritage and many others.
That makes OFOP not only one of the largest and the oldest umbrella networks representing Polish civil society but also one of the most diversified one.
According the European Charter of the Fundamental Rights OFOP are standing for Dignity, Freedoms, Equality, Solidarity, Citizen’s rights and Justice.
Promote the Charter for Principles of NGO Operation which includes values as Common good, Legalism, Independence, Publicity, Liability, Reliability, Accountability, Partnership, Separation of powers and Avoidance of conflicts of interest.
The purpose of the Association is to:
1. promote development of civil society and enhancement of active citizenship at the national and European levels,
2. develop cooperation and operating standards as well as strengthen the sense of identity of the NGO community,
3. advocate the interests of NGOs on matters common to all member organisations,
4. shape favourable social attitudes towards NGOs and create their fair image,
5. issue opinions on legislation, primarily at the national level,
6. promote partnership cooperation between NGOs and public administration at all levels,
7. support the activities of member organisations,
8. promote the economic sustainability of NGOs and seeking sources of new funding for NGOs,
9. represent NGOs being members of the Association in relations with the public sector and other communities,
10. establish cooperation and share experience with foreign partners,
11. conduct educational activities to enhance skills of NGO leaders and extend their knowledge on public policies,
12. support initiatives aimed at increasing access to culture and improve the cultural competence of citizens,
13. promote social activity related to culture,
14. promote innovative culture management solutions.
OFOP its an type of umbrella CSO organization who helps its members with all of the steps that its needed in area of civil society.
#3 - The Center for Citizenship Education (CCE)
Polish not-for-profit organization committed to supporting schools. Its mission is to inspire school communities to adopt innovative teaching methods and introduce significant social issues to their work with students. Every year, engaging with 40,000 teachers and school principals from 10,000 schools across the country.
Successfully help school communities teach better. Students become more engaged in their education, develop a deeper understanding of global issues, and learn how to take action.
Includes:
– educational programs for teachers and school principals, aimed at addressing timely challenges,
– workshops for school boards, principals, and student councils,
– an accredited center for teaching excellence,
– an educational publishing house.
Established in 1994, its the largest educational non-for-profit organization in Poland, operating independently as a public benefit organization under Polish law.
Its support all students in gaining valuable school experiences. In this endavor teams up with teachers, school princiapls and young people because we believe that education needs an authentic change.
Aspires for mutual respect and partnership to serve as schools’ foundational principles, and for adults to design teaching process in recognition and appreciation of young people’s natural desire to learn.
Through the programs helps schools become a place of shared learning, illustrating the power of civic participation and solidarity. Supports schools in adopting practices that help young people find their life purpose, develop their passions, openness, and a sense of responsibility for the world we live in.
The organization offers, among others, programs that encourage students to take up activities in the field of volunteering, self-government and entrepreneurship at school and in the local environment. Teachings first steps in active civil society.
#4 - the Batory Foundation
The mission of the Batory Foundation is to build an open, democratic society – a society of people aware of their rights and responsibilities, who are actively involved in the life of their local community, country and international society. Piorities includes:
• improving the quality of Polish democracy
Support sinitiatives aimed at increasing civic participation and strengthening citizens’ sense of responsibility for the common good. Committed to transparency in public life and to promoting social oversight over the functioning of public institutions. Seeks to raise the level of public debate and to “socialize” the process of making and implementing public policies.
• strengthening the role of civic institutions in public life
Supports the development of non-governmental organizations and coalitions working to improve the quality of Polish democracy and expand international cooperation. Seeks to professionalize and legitimize their activities, build up their credibility, and increase their influence on the public sphere.
• developing international cooperation and solidarity
Committed to closer ties between European Union states and the EU’s eastern neighbors, especially Ukraine and Belarus. Supports activities that encourage the exchange of experiences connected with the processes of political transition, building civil society, and solving social problems among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We seek to enhance the role of Polish NGOs in the international arena.
Foundation undertakes also activities aimed at equalizing opportunities of young people from poor communities.
The basic method of the Foundation’s operation involves making grants to non-governmental organizations engaged in public benefit activity in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe. The Foundation also serves as a forum for activity, hosts public debates and conferences, organizes seminars and workshops, issues publications, runs social campaigns, engages in monitoring of public institutions and advocacy efforts. It encourages solidarity and generosity by offering administration of named funds and corporate funds to support initiatives that serve the public interest.
#5 - Forum „Razem”
Forum „Razem” — social organizations for Poland and Ukraine — was established to build understanding, enable cooperation and create solutions for people with refugee and migration experience in Poland and for the Polish society.
The aim of the Forum is to create space for multilateral cooperation, with particular emphasis on local and international non-profit organizations responding to various challenges that can be observed in Poland in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Forum “Razem” is an initiative co-created by the Polish Humanitarian Action and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Both organizations are supported by an advisory team composed of representatives of the Stefan Batory Foundation, the Grupa Zagranica, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia and the Leaders of Change Foundation. Invites all non-governmental organizations and grassroots initiatives working for refugees.
Wants to respond to the challenges of the refugee crisis hand in hand with international organizations. It is possible only if Polish organizations have a joint representation and receive support in cooperation with international structures. Want to share knowledge and tools; build partnerships to implement sustainable solutions that will be independent of international interest and funding in the long term. Wants to build social capital through the combined effort of the civil society and migrants.
Forum vision: Polish society addresses the challenges related to the war in Ukraine and migration to Poland in an inclusive and fair manner, providing the basis for further development of both countries and the region.
Long-term goal:Polish social organizations implement various systemic changes for the public good in partnerships with other stakeholders, using the potential of migrants, supporting them and their host communities.
The Forum is a wide-ranging cooperation initiative for social organizations in Poland. It creates a democratic space for local organizations and initiatives to inform, share knowledge, look for partnerships and synergies, and mutually strengthen their actions in response to the challenges related to the migration of refugees from Ukraine to Poland.
#6 - The Polish-American Freedom Foundation
The Polish-American Freedom Foundation was established by the Polish-American Enterprise Fund to advance the purposes of the Support for East European Democracy Act of 1989, organized in 1990 to support the market economy in Poland
The Freedom Foundation builds on the Polish people’s historic achievements in establishing free market democracy since 1989, a success that the United States has strongly supported.
The Foundation was made possible by the extraordinary accomplishments the Polish-American Enterprise Fund, a pioneering U.S. initiative that promoted entrepreneurial development in a free Poland, working from the principle that the people, given an opportunity, some know-how assistance and initial capital, could succeed.
The Freedom Foundation works from the same premise – that people provided with the opportunity, can successfully control their own destinies and build their own democratic structures. It provides grants and otherwise assist NGOs and local initiatives. It supports young leaders who will soon face the challenges of the new century. It promotes equal opportunity and also reforms in education, public administration, and health care. It supports systemic changes and development of Poland’s still troubled areas, such as the countryside.
The Foundation implements its statutory goals in a flexible and open manner. It developes partnerships with non-governmental organizations, both those that have proven themselves and new ones that show initiative and promise.
Poland’s success in carrying out its free market, democratic transformation is already providing key experience for other nations emerging from communism. The Foundation will develop programs in order to share with Central and Eastern European people the experience and lessons learned from more than ten years of reforms.
Under the joint Polish and American leadership, the Foundation aims to promote the core values shared by both peoples: democracy, freedom, and respect for each individual. These values have linked us for centuries and bring us together in solidarity as allies.
By the end of December 2019, the Foundation had disbursed $216 million for its activities and attracted approximately $200 million to these programs from other sources, making it possible to:
• finance 30,300 university scholarships for youngsters from disadvantaged families,
• train 110,000 teachers in modern teaching methods,
• carry out 16,300 local projects in small communities addressed to hundreds of thousands of individuals,
• implement 38,000 extracurricular educational projects at schools in villages and small cities involving more than 14,000 university student-volunteers who reached 380,000 children and teenagers,
• train 30,500 leaders and employees of NGOs to develop their skills and competencies,
• transform, in cooperation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, almost 4,000 libraries in small communities into modern informational, educational, cultural, and civic activity centers, that involved training efforts for 10,000 librarians,
• host almost 14,000 people from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other countries from the East, who came to Poland to be acquainted with Polish experiences in transformation and integration with the West; the largest number of visitors being from Ukraine.
The Polish-American Freedom Foundation aims to promote the core values shared by both peoples: democracy, freedom, and respect for each individual by various projects and activities like scholarships, training of NGO employees and so one to develop Civil Society in Poland from 1990 till this day
#7 - The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
The name The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity was coined by Jerzy Owsiak in 1991. The GOCC has been officially founded in 1993 by Jerzy Owsiak and 3 other members. The main objective, at that time, was “Protecting Health and Saving Children’s Lives by Providing Medical Equipment to Public Hospitals”.
During the first Finale (which was organized for the benefit of pediatric cardiac-surgery) in the same year, the Foundation collected a total of 1.535.440,68 USD. Subsequently, what was intended to be one-time fundraiser to aid Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw became an annual public fundraiser held across the country.
Since April 2016 the GOCC ranks on the top of the list as the most trusted public entity according to Brand Asset Valuator and is the second strongest brand in Poland in the ranking compiled by Millward Brown and Young & Rubicam agency.
Nowadays GOCC is the is the biggest, non-governmental, non-profit, charity organization in Poland. It aims to support health care in Poland by purchase of state of the art medical equipment for Polish hospitals and clinics and by establishing and running six medical programmes and one educational programme.
The Grand Finale fundraiser takes place each year in January. The day-long public fundraiser is held in Poland and everywhere where there is an active Polish community. The public fundraiser is organised locally, by volunteer-run Collection Centres, and is accompanied by various events such as concerts, sporting competitions, and firework displays. A telethon, broadcast nationally, is held on the day as well. Volunteers, carrying branded collection boxes collect money across the country, and people donating money receive distinct red-heart stickers ️in return. The funds are being raised during a public money collection, in online auctions, and personal and corporate donations.
The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity creates the biggest Civil Society auction in the country that involves the majority of Polish citizens. Helping to save lives by raising money for medical equipment and also teaching about power in the hands of citizens.
#8 - All-Poland Women's Strike
The All-Poland Women’s Strike or Polish Women’s Strike (Polish: Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet, OSK) is a women’s rights social movement in Poland established in September 2016.
It was set up in protest against the rejection by the Sejm of the Polish Parliament of the bill “Save Women”, which was considered by the Sejm in parallel to the project “Stop Abortion”. The movement was responsible for the organization of Black Monday, a protest action, involving various forms of strike, that took place simultaneously in 147 Polish cities, towns and villages. A countrywide network of independent local groups that formed spontaneously after the call for a strike was issued on the internet –managed to transcend the evanescence of a one-off action and has by now become one of the most active protests groups in Poland, focusing not just on gender issues. This sudden broad mobilization and the emergence of a new political subject that included actors not known publicly as women rights activists took not only the government, but also the feminist movement and even social movement researchers by surprise.
OSK was also one of the coordinators of the October 2020 Polish protes that followed the 22 October 2020 Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling banning the most commonly used of the three cases allowing a small number of legal abortions in Poland. On 27 October, on behalf of OSK and proposals from citizens, stated that the aims of the protests included a return to the rule of law:
• full women’s rights legal elective abortion care, sex education and contraception that is free of charge at the point of use ,
• interpreting the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling, as stated by the president of the tribunal, Julia Przyłębska, as Przyłębska’s personal testimony instead of a legal ruling
• the return of a “real” (independent) Constitutional Tribunal
• the return to a neutral (independent) Supreme Court of Poland that is not controlled by the Law and Justice party (PiS)
• the appointment of a “real” (independent, not someone from ruling party) Polish Ombudsman, to replace Adam Bodnar, who reached the end of his term.
All-Poland Women’s Strike was a grass-roots initiative of Polish citizens expressing opposition to the deprivation of their human rights. There are interpretations that the “black marches” were the beginning of a decline in support for the former ruling party in Poland.
#9 - The Committee for the Defence of Democracy (Komitet Obrony Demokracji – KOD)
The Committee for the Defence of Democracy (Komitet Obrony Demokracji – KOD) is a grassroots civic movement and international NGO founded in 2015 in Warsaw.
Its goal is to protect the rule of law, democracy and human rights, defend European values and strengthen civil society. KOD is the movement which organised the biggest mass protests in Poland since the fall of communism, gathering hundreds of thousands of people on the streets of all major cities in the country and numerous capitals worldwide.
KOD is registered in the Polish and Belgian Associations Registers as well as in the EU Transparency Register as a not-for-profit non-governmental organization under the name of Committee for the Defence of Democracy (short: Democracy Committee).
The aims of KOD include:
- Developing and promoting attitudes and actions which foster the preservation and development of a democratic legal state.
- Promoting and developing the idea of a neutral world view.
- Promoting and developing the idea of civic society, promoting good citizenship and good behaviour.
- To promote and protect human rights, freedoms and civil liberties.
- Activities promoting European integration and developing contacts and cooperation between societies.
- Taking action against the breaking of the principles of democracy and the rule of law (including state and local authority fraud and when they exceed their rights and competence).
- Activities aimed at disseminating knowledge about the democratic political state system, promoting social justice, ensuring the freedom and human rights of citizens and the safety of citizens.
In 2016, KOD’s efforts were recognized by the European Parliament which awarded it the European Citizen’s Prize.
Its grassroots civic society movement and international NGO founded in 2015 in Warsaw as an acti of opposition to breaking the contitional law in Poland
#10 - The Republican Foundation
Foundation was established in 2009 in the formula of a foundation, a non-governmental organization that conducts think tank activities, as well as educational and publishing activities. Associated with the Foundation was the Association “Republicans” established in 2013 (affiliated in 2017-2021 with the Accord party, and from 2021 forming the Republican Party). The political representation of the Russian Federation was also the Republican Party, founded in 2017 (as a result of its establishment, the Foundation’s ties with the Association loosened, as the S “R” dissociated itself from the decision), deregistered in 2019.
The Foundation is co-created by people who are committed in their daily lives to building the common good of all citizens primarily through personal responsibility for upbringing in their families and through conscientiousness in their professional work, at the same time convinced that engaging in the public life of our country to the greatest extent possible is a natural attitude and a challenge for every citizen of the Republic. Those involved in the work of the Foundation are united by both an attitude of civic commitment to public affairs and common goals: shaping Polish and European legal institutions in the spirit of the primacy of the common good over private interests, increasing the subjectivity of the Polish state, both internally and externally, shaping Polish and European institutions of public life in a spirit consistent with the Christian conception of man, especially in the protection of human life from natural conception to natural death.
The priority task of the Foundation is to carry out formative work among high school and college students in order to dynamically develop the human potential, crucial for carrying out the planned projects. The second key task in the Foundation’s activities is to bring people associated with the Foundation, who identify with its goals, into the public debate through “think tank” type activities.
The third priority of the Foundation is to build an intellectual base for public activity in the form of a scientific and research institute dedicated to monitoring the activities of public authorities and preparing proposals for institutional change.
Complementing these three priorities is the conduct of cultural and publishing activities. The primary project in this area is the publication of the Republican quarterly “Common Things.”
An example of a conservative and right-wing civil society organization focusing on social analyzes and education regarding responsibility for individual actions as the basis of patriotism