1,074,608.73 EUR will be distributed by the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW) to 25 civil society organizations under the “Mission: Possible” Program, part of the BIRDS in BG project, to strengthen the strategic development and increase the sustainability of civil society in the country.

138 organizations (out of 150 invited) participated in the second and final stage of the open call. Within it, they had the opportunity to develop a detailed long-term strategy for organizational development, including а Theory of Change, an estimated budget and fundraising plans, capacity building, risk self-assessment, etc.

The organizations approved under Phase II of the “Mission: Possible” Program for providing administrative and organizational funding (core funding) are:

Seven of the approved organizations are newly established (registered less than three years ago). Eighteen are based in Sofia and some of them work throughout the country, and seven are registered outside the capital: in Kyustendil, Veliko Tarnovo, Shumen, Karlovo, Plovdiv, Novi Pazar, Drugan village.

Learn more about each one of them HERE.

Evaluation Process:

After verification of the administrative compliance, each application was assigned to an evaluation committee consisting of two experts working independently of each other. The arithmetic value of the sum of the two evaluation protocols of the members of the committee, evaluating a proposal, formed the final score of an application. In case of a discrepancy of more than 30% between the scores of the two experts, the application concerned was examined by a third evaluator, and the average of the two closest scores was used to rank it. 21 of the applications went through this arbitration procedure in Phase II of the competition to form their final score.

Future Funding Opportunities:

Our team is grateful for all the applications submitted to the “Mission: Possible” Program and congratulates those who were approved!

We hope you will apply to some of BFW’s upcoming funding mechanisms for 2024 – the “Open Opportunities” Program and the “Values” Program. You can keep track of the timing of program openings on the project website: BIRDS in BG – BGFundForWomen.

We would like to remind you that a series of thematic organizational development training courses are coming up, with free-of-charge access, which you can find out about on the BIRDS in BG project page, under the Capacity Building section. The program of trainings is prepared after an analysis of the needs of the applicants in the “Mission: Possible” Program.

“Mission: Possible” Program aims to contribute to the building of an inclusive, sustainable and pro-democratic civil society in Bulgaria by providing financial support to civil society organizations whose main mission and activities are to protect, promote and raise awareness about fundamental rights, EU values, the rule of law and democracy and who work on contested and often neglected topics such as the rights of women, the LGBTIQ+ community and other vulnerable groups, including issues related to the systemic root causes of poverty and inequality in our country.

“Mission: Possible” is part of the BIRDS in BG project providing 360-degree support to the civil society sector in Bulgaria, which BFW is implementing alongside its partners from the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) and Impact Drive Foundation.

BIRDS in BG project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are only those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.