Senior Expert, Center for Philanthropy, Bratislava, Slovakia, E-mail: strecansky@changenet.sk, LinkedIn profile of Boris Strečanský

Your experience with the CFs and your professional relevance to the theme of CFs:

I have got acquainted with the CF concept in mid nineties through the Healthy City CF in Banska Bystrica and co-initiated a feasibility study on the community philanthropy in Slovakia. As an innovative solution to community and participation issues in the post-Communist Europe I promoted the concept both, in Slovakia in a role of a program director that supported the CF development and in the CEE where I shared our experience from Slovakia. I helped to establish the CF in Bratislava and recently I serve as advisor to various CF development initiatives in the region.

Key characteristics and information about the CFs and community philanthropy in your country:

The CFs have developed in Slovakia since mid 1990s – Healthy City Banska Bystrica CF being the first CF established in the region. Since then there is 8 CFs operational, mostly established in larger cities (in Slovakia larger cities are up to 80,000). CFs are organized in a CF association that advocates their interests and promotes the CF concept. Despite a great level effort, the challenge of the CF concept in Slovakia is to reach out to larger individual donors and to became more influential over local policy-making and giving a stronger voice to citizens.

Area of your particular interest in the CF development/ CF management/ practice:

• How does the CF work in a local context in promotion models of community self help and altruism.
• How does it promote the bridging social capital.
• How do CFs learn from their practice and do they learn? What is the learning process at the level of small CF and how can the learning be put in practice and what are the major barriers of it?