Collaboration or establishing partnerships with other civil actors assist CSOs to achieve their goals, increase their influence and further strengthen their capacities by a mutual learning process.
Cooperation and partnership can be developed with civil actors such as networks/platforms at the regional, national and international level in the similar thematic area. Moreover, collaborative works can also be established with an organization which works in the same field.
For more information, please check out to the following resources;
- Partnership Resource Centre. University of Erasmus, Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands
- A Practical Guide to Partnership: How to Make It Work. Floriana Nappini. Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN), 2016.
- Review of EU Networks for Civil Society Organizations. TACSO, 2011. The book provides brief information about more than two hundred networks and platforms in the EU member states.
- Networking and Relationship Building for CSOs Course Toolkit. Prepared by Indrani Sigamany. INTRAC, 2007
You may refer to the section titled "How to Benefit from STGM" located on our website.
When designing call and selection procedures of FSTP mechanism as a component of an EU supported intervention/projects, it’s advised to reflect on;
| Targeted beneficiaries | The type of beneficiaries to be targeted through FSTP (which should always be in line with the initial Guidelines for Applicants, the Description of the Action (DoA) agreed with the EU or any other relevant framework agreed with other donors). |
| Procedure to be used | Consider the objective of the FSTP, the targeted beneficiaries and the procedure to be used (open call, closed call, direct awards or a mix of approaches). Sub-grant implementing organizations should have a strong justification for their proposed approach and its compliance with the FSTP guiding principles. |
| Application forms and required documentation | The application forms and required documentation, taking into account FSTP beneficiaries’ capacities and any donor/contracting authority requirements that may need to be passed on to their beneficiaries. |
| Сommunication approach | The communication approach to be used, which will reflect the chosen type of procedure. Different approaches will be required for an open call aiming to reach out to as many organisations as possible versus a restricted call dedicated to supporting organisations in sensitive political contexts or the members of a network. |
| Language of the calls | The language of the calls. Language barriers can reduce the outreach of FSTP/sub-grant calls and making calls and application documents/procedures available in local languages may increase the outreach to local organisations. |
| Channels to submit proposals | Channels to submit proposals: Online submissions are generally easier to manage. In more restrictive and difficult environments they can be supplemented by offline submissions (including by phone). |
| Calls may constitute capacity development tools | Calls may constitute capacity development tools: As a minimum, feedback to non-selected applicants can help those organisations or individuals improve their future proposals. |
| Selection processes and criteria | Selection processes and criteria constitute a starting point for building trust in communities |
It’s recommended to use a plain language in a policy document and following information should be provided;
- What the problem is
- Why the problem matters
- What the solution is
- What type of significant change is required in law, regulation, and government practices
In other words, a policy document consists of 4 main parts;
- The part where the problem is stated
- The part where the importance of the problem is explained-emphasized
- The part where the proposal for solution is presented
- The part where the solution is linked to the legislation
While preparing a policy document, a proper screening, analysis and in-depth research should be conducted for the problem and solution. Moreover, references should be cited so that it’s clear that the effort have been made. And the most important point is the use of headings that can briefly summarize the issue and describe the problem at once.
It is recommended to use a document which covers main information regarding participants, including their signatures. You can find a sample template here.
- To defend communities from adverse changes,
- To achieve widespread, long-term and sustainable changes for the benefit of communities, especially for the benefit of the disadvantaged groups,
- To ensure the responsibilities of governments and decision makers at the level of local, regional, national and international to citizens are met and rights are fully respected
- To strengthen democracy by encouraging the engagement of citizens and civil society organizations in the policy-making process
As good at working together, partnerships and collaborations can succeed and they develop meaningful relationships that create effective results. Partnerships are formed by some essentials such as collaborative mindsets, principled attitudes and relevant knowledge. In order to develop solutions and add value, some features should also be adopted such as bridging different contexts, language, working cultures to build a fit for joint.
Moreover, it should be taken into consideration that collaborations amongst CSOs often occur in an uncertain environment such as a fragile context in an unpredictable political or economic atmosphere. So, they require a high degree of flexibility, adaptability and resilience.
Therefore, development of effective partnerships and collaborations comprise of following steps;
- Work on shared ambitions,
- Respect each other’s interests,
- Pay attention to personal relationships and group dynamics,
- Organize/set up the partnership in a professional way,
- Focus on a meaningful/effective process,
- Support mutual learning,
- Sustain partnership outcomes.
For more information, please check out PrC Insight Series: Partnership Skills
Works and activities of STGM are announced on its website, social media channels and e-newsletter. Please remember to check our website and social media channels on a regular basis. You may also join our e-newsletter by just typing your e-mail address. You can find the registration part at the bottom of each page on our website.
If the donation section of a CSO's own website is not running for a specific purpose with predetermined fixed amounts, it’s not considered as an act of "aid collection”, so it is not subject to get permission.
However, if a CSO collects revenue on its own website for a specific purpose under the name of "donation" or if amounts of revenue are determined by a CSO and the system does not allow the visitor to determine the amount of the donation, it’s considered as an act of "aid collection" and it will be subject to permission.
Article 6 of the General Conditions of contracts indicates requirements and procedures regarding communication and visibility activities in EU supported interventions/projects. As specified in article 6.1 of the General Conditions, "Communication and Visibility Guidelines in EU Financed External Actions 2018" explains procedures to be followed for EU supported interventions/projects.
There are several types of evaluation form formats. But, you can find a sample here (in Turkish) and revise it in accordance with your needs, if you want.
Outcome Mapping (OM) focuses on changes in the behaviour of the people, groups and organizations influenced by a project or a programme. Like the logical framework, it is a planning methodology that has implications for how monitoring and evaluation is conducted. In other words, OM supports a project or a program to learn about its influence on the progression of change in their direct partners, and therefore helps those in the assessment process think more systematically and pragmatically about what they are doing and to adaptively manage variations in strategies to bring about desired outcomes.
OM is designed to be used at the beginning of a programme/project, after the main focus of that intervention has been decided. There are three key stages to plan an outcome map. They are;
- Intentional Design: The planning stage, where a programme/project reaches consensus on the macro-level changes it wants to influence and the strategies to be used.
- Outcome and Performance Monitoring: Provides a framework for the ongoing monitoring of the programme/project's actions and the boundary partners' progress towards the achievement of outcomes. It is based largely on systematized self-assessment.
- Evaluation Planning: Helps the teams set priorities so they can target evaluation resources and activities where they will be most useful. At this stage, evaluation planning outlines the main elements of the evaluations to be conducted.
The process for identifying the macro-level changes and designing the monitoring framework and evaluation plan is intended to be participatory and, wherever feasible, can involve the full range of stakeholders, including boundary partners. Outcome Mapping is based on principles of participation and purposefully includes those implementing the program in the design and data collection so as to encourage ownership and use of findings.
For more information, please check out the resources below;
You can reach the list of associations in Turkey through the database of Directorate General for Relations with Civil Society, Ministry of Interior of Turkey or dernekara.com website.
Agreements are considered as a key mechanism of partnerships or collaborations, because their role is to govern interactions. They help partnerships to become more effective by allowing partners to cope with relational, performance and situational risks that characterize inter-organisational relationships. The Partnerships Resource Centre and The Partnering Initiative have developed a “Partnering Agreement Scorecard” based on insights from practice and grounded on theory. The tool will be beneficial for any organizations that contemplate setting up a new or reviewing an existing partnership. The tool can be reachable here. Also, “Partnership Agreements Insight Series” document on partnerships/collaborations agreements is available here.
STGM does not have any branch offices or representation offices outside of Ankara. However, STGM organizes various trainings and activities in all regions of Turkey. You may always reach us over the e-mail address at [email protected]
The Copy of the charter (statute) of the association is used for registration to the tax office, opening a bank account or establishing an economic enterprise. It is not necessary to submit the original copy of the charter (statute).
Guidelines on Developing a Communication Strategy, TACSO, 2016 will assist to for developing communication strategies and plans within the scope of EU supported projects.
There are several types of “Pre-Event Information Note” samples or templates which can be prepared in line with your needs and the context of the event. But you can find a sample here (in Turkish) and revise it in accordance with your requirements, if you want.
Detailed information of all associations in Turkey can be found in the database of the Directorate General for Relations with Civil Society, searching by city, district and field of activity in Turkish. Additionally, information of associations in Turkey can also be reached at "Dernekara”, searching by location and field of activity.
We, as STGM, admit interns from the official internship programs of universities. If you are a student in a university, you may have the opportunity to do an internship at STGM by having your school contact us in the scope of their official internship program.