Liepāja NGO Growth Incubator to continue its activities

The Liepāja City Council on Thursday, 19 October, adopted a decision to continue the implementation of the NGO Growth Incubator programme in Liepāja by providing 10 000 euros of funding for the programme in order to promote the activities of non-governmental organisations, civic participation, dialogue and exchange of information between the NGO sector and the municipality.

The programme will continue with the involvement of up to 15 organisations to mentor them in fundraising and other capacity-building aspects. Information on the next cycle of the programme will be provided to organisations in the upcoming weeks. In addition to the NGO Growth Incubator programme, the municipality also has plans to implement other regular capacity-building activities for the NGO sector.

Within the incubation cycle, each NGO will be provided with a detailed operational analysis, mentoring, assistance in preparing project applications, evaluation of potential sources of funding and identification of individual needs.

The first pilot project of the NGO Growth Incubator, focused on strengthening the funding capacity of NGOs, was carried out from March to June 2023. It involved 11 NGOs – “House of Hope”, “Keep The Change”, “Green and Smart Technology Cluster”, “Liepāja Technology Cluster”, “kulturBĀKA”, “Fotast”, “Centre MARTA Liepāja Branch”, “Social Support and Education Foundation”, “Shelter for Family”, “Liepāja Restoration Society” and “Radi Vidi Pats”.

The three member organisations raised just over 100 000 euros in funding during the incubation period of the pilot project. Another three project applications are submitted and applicants are waiting for the results, while seven more are ready to be submitted as soon as the selected programmes open in early 2024. The total budget for these projects exceeds 500 000 euros, whereas one member organisation’s project idea is expected to attract more than 1 million euros in funding. The first NGO incubation cycle covered project applications in the social, cultural, urban, NGO empowerment and networking sectors, among others.

According to Lursoft data, 1174 NGOs were active in Liepāja in 2022, 41% or 478 NGOs are doing the property management, and another 59% or 696 NGOs are operating in other sectors.

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