In the last few days, Yana and Alex from our team were mentors at the NGO Academy organised by NGO Portal, The Convo Foundation and New Bulgarian University. Held under the theme “NGO is not a UFO”, the academy took us on an intense, inspiring and different adventure that managed to get us out of the matrix of everyday work.
Students from different majors at NBU had the opportunity to meet representatives of the civil sector, socially responsible companies and representatives of The Convo Foundation, an advertising agency that works to promote important causes for society. The challenge was clear – to develop a fundraising campaign on a theme set by the NGOS.
The students quickly realised that the NGO was not a UFO, but they showed us that they were real aliens themselves – with extraterrestrial creativity, out-of-the-box ideas and an incredible desire to do good.
With their fresh perspective and undying enthusiasm, the students on our team (the best 😉 ) helped us look at fundraising from a completely different angle and came up with a campaign that we are determined to implement.
Being some true “Myth Hunters” (although they may have never watched the show because they are too young 😄), they busted one of the biggest myths – that young people are not socially engaged and don’t care about anything. On the contrary! They impressed us repeatedly with their knowledge, curiosity and willingness to help.
We would like to thank Victoria, Kalina, Emily, Maria, Martin and Stefan, who, although did not win the first place in the academy, won our hearts, inspired us and reminded us how precious is the energy of young people, ready to change the world for the better.
A huge thank you also to our awesome mentor from The Convo Foundation, Ellie, who guided them with ease through the process of creating a successful fundraiser. She believed in them, encouraged them and gave them the space to reach their potential without pushing her ideas. Well, it was no coincidence that she was named the “coolest mentor”… 🙂
Thanks also to Carrie from The Convo team (and long-time Cedar ambassador), who was also by their side, inspiring them with ideas to visualise their concept.
Still excited, we emerge from this academy not only ready and willing to implement their campaign, but with an even stronger belief in the younger generation – the future leaders of change. Thank you for giving us another reason “why”! ❤️
About the NGO Academy
The NGO Academy is an initiative organised by NGO Portal, The Convo Foundation and New Bulgarian University. Over the course of four days, it brought together students from different majors at NBU, significant civil society organisations and business representatives behind some of the most impactful CSR campaigns.
Each team was tasked with developing an idea for a fundraising campaign for a civic organisation that was assigned as its client. In the process, they were supported by:
- Captain – a representative from The Convo, who moderated, guided and supported the team’s work;
- Mentor – a representative from the NGO, who answered questions and assisted in understanding the organisation’s work;
- The jury, made up of business representatives and colleagues from the NGO sphere, decided on a winner who won a cash prize to implement their idea.
In addition to the Cedar Foundation, colleagues from Sofia Platform Foundation, Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Institute for Market Economics and Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation took part in the academy.
