What problem are you solving?:

Czech NGOs have been repeatedly blamed by the Czech state and also by the public for not being accountable and transparent. Yet, it is the Czech Ministry of Interior which has been blocking – for years – creation of a public registry of NGOs. Therefore it is not even clear who can legally act on behalf of 60000 Czech civic association. This situation is no longer sustainable yet the Czech government still does not take the steps needed to change the status quo.

That is why we believe there is a space for creating a web portal that enables for so called self-reported transparency as practiced in the UK and US (through Guidestar, Network for Good, Just Giving etc.)

Those Czech NGOs that are accountable will gain access to a credible web-based space through which to demonstrate their transparency.

To accomplish this, we have designed a portal which allows for self-reported transparency of Czech NGOs and which connects donors with charitable projects of accountable NGOs.

Describe your idea:

The portal will operate as an online marketplace that enables the public to double-check financial & other aspects of NGO transparency & connects donors with charity projects.
The portal promotes accountable behavior – only NGOs that disclose financial information and report back & update info about their activities will be present at the portal.

Benefits for the public/donors: Portal will 1) enable donors to research & donate on-line to accountable charities, 2) maintain a list of transparent NGOs with news stories, charitable projects in need of support & with information that makes it easy to see how NGO operate – annual reports, financial info.

Benefits for NGOs: Portal will provide space for making accountable and transparent behavior visible. It ensures processing donations for charity with modern on-line payments methods.

Platform used for the portal is an open-source solution Magento which is distributed under the open source OSL 3.0 license.

What country will this operate in?: Czech Republic

Who are you?:

The Via Foundation is one of the largest and most active independent foundations in the Czech Republic. In addition to having provided close to € 9 million in grants to more than 2,000 charitable projects in the Czech Republic over its 12-year history, Via has a great deal of experience managing national corporate philanthropy programs with companies such as T-Mobile, Ceska sporitelna/Erste Bank, Phillip Morris, Citibank..