Building a Community Foundation is a marathon, not a sprint (interviu ECFI cu Ciprian Ciocan)

În luna iunie a.c., Ciprian Ciocan, Directorul Executiv al Fundației Comunitare Sibiu a povestit cu European Community Foundation Initiative despre cum a evoluat FCS, dar și comuitatea sibiană, din 2012 încoace. Redăm mai jos o parte din interviu, materialul complet putând fi urmărit aici.

ECFI – Tell us about the origin of the Sibiu Community Foundation?

CC – The Sibiu Community Foundation started in the beginning of 2012 with a group of about 10 community members coming from different sectors: small business, local government NGOs. Even though it was not at all clear to us what a community foundation was, we were united by the aspiration to do good for our community, and most of all to create a new kind of culture where we would not wait for the local authorities to solve all our problems or transform our dreams for a stronger community into reality. We had little experience in fundraising but a good understanding of management and marketing principles. I believe that because our group did not build upon previous NGO experience, but rather on business sector practices helped us create a stronger, better adapted organization. We managed to organize our first marathon, with no money and our closest friends as volunteers, and raised the money we needed to register the foundation and give our first grants. Six years later, the Sibiu International Marathon has become the largest fundraising event in the country.

ECFI – What were the key points / stages in its development over the last six years?

CC – Certainly the Marathon is at the center of our business model and its evolution from a small 200-runner competition to 5000 runners, has been one of the most important processes of sustainable and profitable fundraising. We are also looking back to a 5-year experience with the YouthBank program which represented a very good grant-making school for us in the first years of our existence. In 2015, we managed to build our first grant-making fund (Știnteșcu, STEAM education) which was an important stepping stone. Earlier this year we launched our first named fund, CitySense which we built from scratch together with a IT company in Sibiu, and in a way it represents the embodiment of our experience as an organization.

ECFI – Can you give a flavour of the main activities of the community foundation today?

Răspunsul și restul interviului poate fi urmărit aici.