💡 International Conference | 5 June 2025 | Sofia Balkan Palace Hotel, Bulgaria
FUNDRAISING in challenging times
participants
speakers
Fundraising club members
Organizations and partners
The event is initiated by the Fundraising Club Bulgaria* and organized by the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law in partnership with the European Fundraising Association-EFA and with the financial support of the European Union for BIRDS in BG Project within the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme and the America for Bulgaria Foundation for the Advance CSO Sustainable Growth Project.

Reimagining Fundraising for Democracy
The International Conference will inspire and enrich the knowledge of all fundraising professionals and grassroot organizations from Bulgaria and the region on the modern European trends in fundraising for democratic values in challenging times.
For the first time in Bulgaria!
Experience the philanthropy and impact of giving of a new generation.
Join the event to discover contemporary practices, innovations and approaches for
- crowdfunding and public mobilization for difficult causes
- transformation of watchdog activities intо FUNDRAISABLE CAUSES
- Engagement of Major Donors in Protecting Democratic CAUSES
Become a part of the large community of fundraising professionals from across Europe
What to Expect.

Exclusive networking opportunities
The contemporary strategies of donor foundations to support the CSO community

Practical workshops and inspiring talks
Contemporary digital platforms, models and innovations supporting CSOs in crowdfunding, networking and capacity building

Renowned international and local speakers
Inspiring approaches to raise funds for difficult causes and overcome the challenges
Program
The full-day event program will combine general panel presentations and parallel discussions focusing on:
Time slot
Session topic
Guest Speakers
Moderator
Hall
Time slot
8:30 – 9:30
Session topic
Registration – Serdika, Ground Floor
Hall
Panel 1: Opportunities and Threats for Fundraising Now
Time slot
9:30 – 9:50
Session topic
Welcome & Introduction
(English translated)
Philanthropy and the social and environmental impact of giving – The power of the personal motivation to donate
Guest speaker
Neli Kocheva
(Head of Development and Fundraising at Teach For Bulgaria Foundation, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Aleksander Aleksiev
(Actor and Producer, Philanthropist, Bulgaria)
Hall
Time slot
09:50 – 10:20
Session topic
Philanthropy and Civic Engagement
(English translated)
Public mobilization and crowdfunding for democracy in Germany – How it is currently evolving and how it’s being endangered
Guest speaker
Nadia Shabani
(Director of Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Rupert Graf Strachwitz
(Executive Director of Maecenata Foundation, Germany)
Moderator
Eduard Marček
(CEO of European Fundraising Association, Slovakia
Hall
Time slot
10:20 – 11:00
Session topic
How to raise funds for difficult causes – and other lessons from UK fundraising
(English translated)
5 key lessons from fundraising in the UK – from how to raise funds for difficult causes through to how to get the basics right – that will help recruit more supporters and maximize their value in CCE countries
Guest speaker
Richard Docwra
(Director of the ChangeStar, UK)
Moderator
Andrzej Pietrucha
(Fundraising Consultant at Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation, Poland)
Hall
Time slot
11:00 – 11:30
Coffee break – Serdika, Ground floor
Panel 2: Crowdfunding for Democracy
Time slot
11:30 – 12:30
Session topic
Digital Mobilization for Democracy
(English translated)
Digital platforms, models and innovations supporting CSOs in crowdfunding, networking and capacity building
Creating and running successful crowdfunding campaigns
Guest speaker
Bjorn Lampe
(Executive Director of betterplace.org, Germany)
Zuzana Suchová
(Fund manager at Donio, Slovakia)
Moderator
Eduard Marček
(CEO of European Fundraising Association, Slovakia)
Hall
Time slot
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch – Serdika, Ground floor
Panel 3: Parallel sessions
Time slot
13:30 – 14:30
Session topic
Session 1: Fundraising Starts with People
(English translated)
Building your fundraising team
The importance of personal examples for philanthropy
Guest speaker
Giedrė Šopaitė-Šilinskienė
(Founder and CEO of the Baltic Fundraising Hub, Lithuania)
Dilyana Maneva
(Deputy Executive Director at For Our Children Foundation, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Latinka Ducheva
(Head of Marketing and Engagement at WWF Bulgaria)
Moderator: TBC
Hall
Time slot
13:30 – 14:30
Session topic
Session 2: Individual Fundraising for Difficult Causes in CEE
(English only)
Making a watchdog organization fundraisable
Fundraising for minority rights amid political tensions
Attracting donors to a data-driven watchdog organization
Guest speaker
Katarzyna Batko
(Co-founder of the Civic Network Watchdog Poland)
Andrzej Pietrucha
(Fundraising Consultant at Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation, Poland)
Eduard Marček
(Chair of the Slovak Fundraising Centre, fundraiser at Transparency International, Slovakia)
Moderator
Luben Panov
(Program Director “Business Enabling Environment” at America for Bulgaria Foundation, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Hall
Time slot
13:30 – 14:30
Session topic
Session 3: What does corporate giving in Bulgaria look like today?
(Bulgarian translated)
Transition to more strategic and long-term forms of corporate engagement in civic causes
Measuring the impact of corporate giving
The role of partnerships with CSOs
Guest speaker
Petar Torneff
(Managing Director ATC Accenture Bulgaria)
Diana Dimova-Yordanova
(Corporate Communications and Public Relations Manager at Fantastico Group, Bulgaria)
Svetoslav Dragiev
(Manager of Lead by Example Foundation of SiteGround, Bulgaria)
Adelina Peeva
Sponsorships and Еvents Мanager, UniCredit Bulbank, Bulgaria
Moderator
Gabriela Marinova
(Deputy Director of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum, Bulgaria)
Hall
Royal 1
First floor
Time slot
14:30 – 15:00
Coffee break – Serdika, Ground floor
Time slot
15:00 – 16:00
Session topic
Session 4: Strategic Campaigning and Storytelling for Difficult Causes
(English translated)
How to run inspiring communication campaigns for difficult causes in support of vulnerable groups
Retention of the donor network
Guest speaker
Simeon Vasilev
(Chairman of GLAS Foundation, Equality Campaigner, Bulgaria)
Catalin Dinu
(Co-founder of 2doGood, President of Centre for Communication Resources, Romania)
Moderator
Andrzej Pietrucha
(Fundraising Consultant at Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation, Poland)
Hall
Time slot
15:00 – 16:00
Session topic
Session 5: Engaging Major Donors in Protecting Democracy
(English only)
How to run a winning major donor campaign
Guest speaker
Jan Kroupa
(Founder of the Czech Fundraising Center, Czech Republic)
Hall
Time slot
15:00 – 16:00
Session topic
Session 6: Inspiring examples from Bulgaria about the power of philanthropy and fundraising
(Bulgarian translated)
Transformation of individual giving to social, educational, and health causes
The power of philanthropy to solve socially significant problems
Inspiration for regular giving
Guest speaker
Milena Ivanova
(Fundraiser for INSEAD, Fundraising Strategist and Philanthropy Leader, Bulgaria)
Neli Kocheva
(Head of Development and Fundraising at Teach For Bulgaria Foundation, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Svetla Parmakova
(Co-founder of One Percent Change, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Nadezhda Rangelova-Boyadzhieva
(Co-founder and Chair For the Good Foundation, Bulgaria)
Moderator
Aylin Yumerova-Petrova
(Program Director at Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Hall
Time slot
16:00 – 16:15
Short break and gathering all groups – Royal 3, First floor
Panel 4: Donors ` perspective
Time slot
16:15 – 17:00
Session topic
The contemporary role of donor foundations
(English translated)
A conversation with donor foundations about their contemporary strategies to support the CSO community in Bulgaria through grant funding together with developing fundraising capacity in challenging times
Moderator
Nadia Shabani
(Director of Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Fundraising Club Bulgaria member)
Hall
Time slot
17:00 – 17:15
Closing the conference
Hall
Royal 3, First Floor
* If necessary, the organizers may change the schedule of the sessions without affecting the content of the agenda. The final version of the agenda will be sent to registered participants together with the information package by June 4, 2025.
Meet the International speakers
Explore our handsome international speakers

Dr. Rupert Graf Strachwitz
Senior Strategic Advisor of Maecenata Foundation, Germany

Richard Docwra
Director of the ChangeStar, UK

Eduard Marček
CEO of EFA, fundraiser at Transparency Internationa, Slovakia

Andrzej Pietrucha
Fundraising Consultant at Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation, Poland

Jan Kroupa
Founder of the Czech Fundraising Center, Czech Republic

Björn Lampe
Executie Director of betterplace.org. Germany

Giedrė Šopaitė-Šilinskienė
Foudnder and CEO of the Baltic Fundraising Hub, Lithuania

Cătălin Dinu
Co-founder of 2doGood, Romania

Katarzyna Batko-Toluc
Co-founder of the Civic Citizens Network Watchdog Poland

Zuzana Suchova
Fund manager at Donio

Petar Torneff
Managin Director of ATC Accenture Bulgaria

Svetoslav Dragiev
manager of Lead by Example Foundation established by SiteGround, Bulgaria

Adelina Peeva
Sponsorships and Еvents Мanager, UniCredit Bulbank, Bulgaria

Milena Ivanova
Fundraising Strategist and Philanthropy Leader, Bulgaria

Nadia Shabani
Director of the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law

Dilyana Maneva
Deputy Executive Director at For Our Children Foundation

Neli Kocheva
Head of Development and Fundraising at the Teach For Bulgaria Foundation

Latinka Ducheva
Engagement and Resource Mobilisation Director at WWF

Svetla Parmakova
Co-founder of One Percent Change,Bulgaria

Nadejda Rangelova
Co-founder and Chair of the "For Good" Foundation, Bulgaria

Simeon Vasilev
Equality Campaigner

Luben Panov
America for Bulgaria Foundation

Gabriela Marinova
Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum

Aylin Yumerova-Petrova
Program Director at the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law
Summit Tickets.
Single ticket
Last day for registration – June 2, 2025.
 
Double attend ticket
Last day for registration – June 2, 2025.
Fundraising Club
Last day for registration – June 2, 2025.
 
Fundraising Club double
Last day for registration – June 2, 2025.
The organization of the conference of this magnitude costs us a lot of effort and resources. Your participation fee will cover 0.2% of the cost of the entire forum and will be used for the administration of the event.
The rest, which covers the costs of speakers, venue, catering, coffee breaks, translation, materials and coordination, is provided by projects of the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law with the financial support of the European Union within the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme within the BIRDS in BG Project and the America for Bulgaria Foundation
We’d love to have you—grab your ticket now and let’s make it awesome together!
If you are part of a grassroot organization which is registered in Registry Agency in Bulgaria as a Bulgarian non-profit legal entity carrying out activities in public benefit and fulfills at least 3 of the following criteria:
Many reasons to join but the most essential …
The event is an ideal opportunity for networking between
Fundraising professionals and charity CSOs from Bulgaria, Central and Eastern Europe
CSR and ESG managers and team members
Experts involved in fundraising for civic causes in Bulgarian grassroots CSOs
Representatives of donor organizations supporting socially engaged causes
Sofia, Bulgaria
Location: Sofia Balkan Palace Hotel – Royal Halls
Conference Venue
Monday – Friday
6 am to 8 pm EST (toll free)
Fundraising club Bulgaria
The Fundraising Club Bulgaria is an informal network of experts committed to raising donations for civic causes. The Club’s mission is to unite the community of fundraising professionals in Bulgaria, to positively influence the philanthropic environment by sharing best practices in philanthropy and volunteerism, and to promote high ethical behavior.

You have questions? Write us
If ou have questions about the event space, tickets or free access, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to be of service.
The event is initiated by the Fundraising Club Bulgaria* and organized by the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law in partnership with the European Fundraising Association-EFA and with the financial support of the European Union for BIRDS in BG Project within the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme and the America for Bulgaria Foundation for the Advance CSO Sustainable Growth Project.
*The Fundraising Club Bulgaria is an informal network of experts committed to raising donations for civic causes. The Club’s mission is to unite the community of fundraising professionals in Bulgaria, to positively influence the philanthropic environment by sharing best practices in philanthropy and volunteerism, and to promote high ethical behavior.
The views and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the author(s) and the partners implementing the BIRDS in BG Project and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the providing body can be held responsible for them. The statements and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the America for Bulgaria Foundation.
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