Annual Reports
Looking Back and Moving Forward: BFW’s 20-Year Legacy and 2024 Highlights
2024: Femisim is for All!
20 Years BFW: Feminism is for All
In 2024 we marked a special occasion – BFW 20th anniversary. Two decades of mobilizing feminist movements, supporting civil society, and standing up for human rights in Bulgaria were celebrated with pride and even further determination.
Over the past 20 years, BFW has supported more than 750 projects, experienced an impressive 75-fold financial growth since its founding in 2004, and established itself as a strategic partner to civil society in Bulgaria. These numbers represent far more than outputs — they are stories of courage, persistence, and solidarity among people and communities fighting for change.
Introducing our Largest Program Yet
A major milestone in 2024 was the launch of FORCE – the largest grantmaking initiative in BFW’s history – distributing over € 1.8 million to combat gender-based violence in Bulgaria. FORCE is the result of our ongoing efforts to channel European funding directly to CSOs across the country.
As part of this commitment, we applied for and were awarded a second grant under the CERV program. The new BIRDS in BG 2 project will continue to strengthen democratic and pro-European civil society actors through financial support and capacity-building opportunities.
Record Fundraising and Grantmaking Achievements
2024 was successful in terms of resource mobilization. We raised over € 4.2 million, thanks to the trust of 22 institutional and corporate donors and 118 individual donors — marking a 32% increase from the previous year and bringing our annual operating budget to more than € 2.3 million.
Of this, 69% (over € 1.5 million) was directed to 66 civil society organizations (CSOs) through 82 direct grants under seven funding programs and a series of capacity-building opportunities. Because for BFW grantmaking and capacity building are two inextricably linked processes, where we are guided by the belief that the right kind of comprehensive support will bring about systemic and profound social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental changes.
Advocacy in Action
In 2024, we deepened our advocacy efforts amid growing threats to democracy and civil society. We stood firmly against the discriminatory ‘Hate Law’, backed the My Voice, My Choice initiative for safe and accessible abortion across the EU, and continued to raise awareness about gender-based violence through protests and policy engagement.