Jana Kunická

photo of Jana Kunická

Board Member, Healthy City Community Foundation, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, E-mail: jana.kunicka@gmail.com, LinkedIn profile of Jana Kunická

What are your expectations from participating in this particular study trip to Germany?

Generally, the overall expectation in terms of experience – I hope to experience an exposure to different CF practice, different communities, different leadership, different ways of doing stuff….
In terms of learning about particular topics, I would like to point out two particular areas:

  • Role of volunteers in CF, their responsibilities, training, mutual benefits, motivation – the details of the experience of visited CFs
  • Process of fundraising – structure, strategy, system, responsibilities, who, when, how, supporting materials, role of board, volunteers, etc. – the details of the experience of visited CFs.

Other: cooperation among German CFs, its benefits and challenges, support structure.

What specific questions related to your work or to CF practice do you ask yourself?

  • Our role as a leader in community, influencing public opinion, especially around sensitive issues such as minorities, refugees, anti EU propaganda, etc.
  • Communication tools of the CF towards public – when we are overloaded with information, conspiracy, virtual anonymous discussions, etc., how to communicate clearly and well?“

How may your participation in the CF study trip help advance your organization’s development plans?:

We are currently in the process of starting a new fundraising system, therefore any information, best practice examples, experience in the area of systematic FR process is very valuable for our CF and can further be implemented into our planning.
Furthermore, because of the lack of personal capacity, we are exploring possibilities to delegate some work activities on volunteers. We understand that there is good experience among German CFs regarding working with volunteers and we would like to learn more. Our experience from this study trip will be shared with our colleagues within our CF at the Board meeting and other structures meeting. Also, we will share it with our Slovak CFs colleagues within Association of CFs in Slovakia at our regular meetings.
We can also share some relevant information with other local NGOs partners and grantees in our community at local meetings.

Where do you see european community foundations in 20 years?

Flourishing in small cities and regions as sustainable source of support for local projects and initiatives.

What are your favourite colour, your favourite meal or your favourite animal?

Colour: blue, meal: steak and veggies, animal: dog.

Last but not least, your favourite proverb. You can write it down in your mother tongue, but please try to translate the meaning into english:

I saw that. – Karma