Innovation and Development Centre

Who We Are
What We Do
Development of Philanthropy Potential Program
Reference Shelf
Research
Publications
Magazine

Who We Are

The Innovation and Development Centre (IDC) is a registered Ukrainian non-governmental, not-for-profit organization based in Kyiv. The initial work of the IDC has been dedicated to the design and delivery of training courses in public relations, to providing project management and project evaluation services for Ukrainian clients in the public sector, for non-governmental organizations, particularly newly-established foundations, private firms, and for international agencies operating in Ukraine. The Ukrainian founders of the IDC are mainly the alumni of the Institute of Public Administration and Local Government who received a Western-style of training.

What we do

The Centre emphasizes the following main areas of activity:

• training for public sector and non-governmental organization personnel in the areas of communication, public relations, leadership and strategic planning;

• project design and project management, including case method and case writing;

• project evaluation, including the evaluation of project execution, skills transfer, and the assessment of long-term project impacts;

• the development of an appropriate, high-quality environment for philanthropic and charitable activities in Ukraine, including the formation of philanthropy standards for Ukraine drawing on international best practice.

Development of Philanthropy Potential Program

The mission of the IDC is to create an appropriate environment for philanthropic activities in Ukraine.

Our specific objectives are:

• to encourage an open and mutually beneficial environment for donor organizations and non-profit organizations working in the field of charitable activities;

• to facilitate the application of internationally-accepted standards of organizational governance, transparency and professional practice which will assist Ukrainian non-profit organizations broaden their support base, increase their managerial competence, and enhance the level of volunteer activity in their respective communities;

• to assist the business community in its efforts to understand the needs of the social sector and to help members of the business community develop the socially-responsible roles which are currently weak and undervalued in Ukraine;

• to monitor philanthropic activity and provide consistent and objective information to all the relevant actors in the field of charity so that donors, non-profit organizations, and government officials can enhance their mutual understanding as well as the effectiveness of their interaction;

• to assist government officials to more deeply understand the purposes and benefit of charitable activities and to be better prepared to facilitate the social investment which charitable activities represent.

Reference Shelf

The IDC has initiated work to collect references and information concerning international charitable organizations and practices. The object is to create a reference library which will be available to charitable organizations and donors and which can help frame the discussion concerning appropriate standards, practices and institutional forms for Ukraine. The Centre has received support from:

Support Center for Nonprofit Management (San Francisco, USA),

National Center for Nonprofit Boards (Washington, USA),

The Peter F. Ducker Foundation for Nonprofit Management (New York, USA),

Case Study Center, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (Cambridge),

Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Washington, USA),

Association of Charitable Foundations (London, USA),

Voluntary Action Program, Canadian Heritage (Ottawa, Canada),

United Way of Canada (Ottawa, Canada),

Community Foundation (Ottawa, Canada),

Canadian Cente for Philanthropy (Toronto, Canada),

IEG, Inc. (Chicago, USA),

International Fund Raising Group (London, United Kingdom),

Charities Aid Foundation, Russian office (Moscow, Russia), among others.

Research

The IDC carries out basic descriptive research concerning the characteristics and activities of Ukrainian civic and charitable organizations and their relations with international donors and the mass public. International donors and the Government of Ukraine have a large impact on the development of the nonprofit sector and current information concerning nonprofits is imprecise or simply not available. This research is intended to generate descriptive profiles of the nonprofit sector, to provide a basis for needs assessment and to enhance the development of philanthropy in Ukraine. It is also intended to provide the information necessary for the publication of accurate articles, monographs and commentaries on the Third Sector in Ukraine, including the dimensions for which international "best practice" would be most appropriate.

Publications

The Innovation and Development Centre, in collaboration with various funders and groups of authors, has already undertaken a number of publication activities concerning the Third Sector.

• Stability and Integration in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea: The Role of the Internarional Community (ISBN 966-7345-01-7, in English) produced as a summary of research funded by the International Renaissance Foundation

• Ukrainian NGO Directory (ISBN 966-7345-00-9, in Ukrainian) produced by the NGO Resource Centers "GURT"

• Non-Governmental Organizations of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Handbook (ISBN 966-7345-04-1, in Ukrainian), produced by the Migration Problems Resource Centre and funded by the Eurasia Foundation.

• Descriptive Overview of Civic and Charitable Organizations in Ukraine (ISBN 966-7345-06-8, in English).

Forthcoming (in Ukrainian)

• The Law on Civic Organizations, produced by the International Centre for Nonprofit Law and funded by the Open Society Institute (OSI-NY);

• Media Relations Handbook for NGOs, produced by the Independent Journalism Network and recommended by the OSI-Budapest Public Relations department for translation and distribution in different national languages for local NGOs;

• The Known - Unknown Sector, produced by the Polish NGO Support Office for the Movement of Self-Help Initiative BORIS.

Magazine

The IDC shortly will begin publication of a magazine, Crossroads, devoted to exchanges of views and activities concerning philanthropic and charitable activities and to issues confronting NGOs in general. Information collected for each of the objectives identified above will be reported in this magazine which will be distributed free of charge to donors, charitable organizations, government officials and to the public.

Last updated:    July 2000

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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