National Foundation of Civil Society (NFCS) is a state financed civil society fund in Estonia established in 2008 by The Estonian Government. The objective of the NFCS is to contribute to enhancing the capacity of non-profit organizations and foundations acting in the public interests of Estonia in the development of civil society and in the formation of an environment that favors civic initiative. NFCS is the most important support organization for NGOs and foundations in Estonia.

The support programme of NFCS for non-governmental organizations consists of different support measures.

Open calls

An NGO or social entrepreneur may apply for a support in open calls of National Foundation of Civil Society. Open calls are usually announced twice a year.

The calls enable the NGOs to state concrete operational capacities that they need to develop in order to become more efficient. There are been several types of calls –  focusing the calls on specific capacities (e.g. leadership and communication capacity building, developing social entrepreneurship and building donation strategies, involving volunteers, etc.) or letting NGOs define their necessities themselves regarding developing their team, work processes or focusing on achieving economic sustainability.

The Local Initiative Programme
NFCS operated the Local Initiative Programme together with county governments from 2013 to 2017. From 2018, regional development organizations operate the programme.

Through the Local Initiative Programme local level organizations compete for small grants (up to 2000 euros). The programme supports the development of local communities and active participation of community members. Grants also cover investments into preserving community heritage and developing community services.

Incubation and grants for Innovative Solutions (NULA incubator)
NFCS has created an incubation and funding programme for innovative solutions with great impact to critical problems in the society. First, there will be an open call holded to select best ideas and teams. The NGOs or teams with the best proposed ideas will go through an incubation programme designed to improve their ideas and build them into actually working solutions. Of those, TOP3 solutions are selected and given funding.
For future information please visit NFCS’s website: https://www.kysk.ee/about-us.