Social Change Accelerator

The Social Change Accelerator is an initiative dedicated to helping civil society organizations in Romania become more efficient, more sustainable, and better equipped to generate positive change in the communities where they operate.

Through this program, NGOs in Romania, regardless of size, cause, field of activity or location, have access to capacity building programs and grants, relevant tools and resources, and up-to-date research that supports their strategic decisions on operations, fundraising, communication and advocacy.

The Social Change Accelerator is a collaborative effort of the Civil Society Development Foundation and the Association for Community Relations (ARC), and is supported by OMV Petrom and Iulian Stanciu.

Objectives:

Supporting NGOs engaged in an organizational capacity building process through analysis, planning and implementation of transformational measures;
Increasing the fundraising capacity of the organizations participating in the program;
Developing communication skills for engaging with donors, authorities and the general public;
Strengthening civil society by helping organizations become more resilient and sustainable;
Reducing the gap between fundraising potential and funds accessed, and creating a shared framework for measuring impact.

The program is structured according to the development level of participating organizations and offers tailored support and activities for organizations at three different stages:

Emerging NGOs;
Growing NGOs;
Mature NGOs.

The Civil Society Development Foundation (CSDF) coordinates the support provided to emerging NGOs, offering them access to capacity building processes, hackathons, training, resources and tools, thematic consultancy and development grants.

Edition I (December 2024 – March 2026)

Main activities

Involving emerging NGOs in a capacity building process that includes:
- Organizational analysis – identifying needs and areas for growth that are worth developing.
- Hackathons for development – offline events for connecting organizations and identifying solutions.
- Online courses and workshops – online sessions on relevant topics such as fundraising, project writing, financial management, volunteer management, constituency building, communication and storytelling.
- Tailored consultancy – individualized support for improving various processes within the team.
- Development grants – funding to implement the measures identified during the process.
Developing the crestem.ong platform and providing access to learning resources and tools that can contribute to better resource management and to optimizing how NGOs operate.
Research on key issues relevant to the non-governmental sector.

Key achievements

151 emerging organizations went through a capacity building program.
6 regional organizational development hackathons facilitated networking among organizations, exchange of experience and co-creation of solutions tailored to needs on the ground.
6 online courses and thematic workshops on essential topics gave NGOs practical tools that are easy to apply in their day-to-day work.
17 mentors and experts supported organizations through one-on-one consultancy sessions, helping improve internal processes, define roles and streamline ways of working.
20 organizations received development grants to implement the changes identified through the analysis and mentoring process.
We developed LegiXplore ONG – a free legal guidance tool that translates the provisions of Government Ordinance no. 26/2000 into plain language accessible to people without legal training.
We turned the most common legal situations encountered by NGOs into a series of short, accessible videos to help organizations avoid common legal mistakes.
8 organizations shared concrete lessons from their experience on topics such as communication, financial management, fundraising and governance through the “Behind the Scenes of NGOs”
We improved and updated the crestem.ong platform, which hosts the organizational assessment tool and provides access to a wide range of organizational development resources (see the Resource Library).
We launched the “From Inside the Change” campaign, in which 5 organizations from the program told the story of what the organizational development process looked like for them.
We produced the Civil Society Opinion Barometer (BOSC 2025).

Wrap-up: Social Change Accelerator, Edition I

Edition II (July 2026 – July 2027)

Main activities

The capacity building program for emerging NGOs is structured in two stages that combine organizational analysis, skills development, strategic planning and the implementation of concrete organizational strengthening measures.

The capacity building program for emerging NGOs is structured in two stages that combine organizational analysis, skills development, strategic planning and the implementation of concrete organizational strengthening measures.
- Stage 1 – First steps in organizational development:
  - Organizational analysis – identifying strengths, development needs and priority areas for improvement, using an organizational development matrix.
  - Organizational development hackathons – regional events where organizations can engage with experts and find practical answers to questions and challenges in key areas of their development.
  - Online courses on topics relevant to organizational development, such as fundraising, project writing and volunteer management, as well as other subjects tailored to the needs identified along the way.
- Stage 2 – From strategy to action. Organizations that complete the first stage will be able to benefit, following a selection process, from financial support, consultancy and mentoring for planning and implementing organizational development measures.
  - Strategic planning grants – financial support and consultancy for conducting a participatory strategic planning process and defining the organization’s direction, priorities and objectives.
  - Strategy implementation grants – funding for testing and putting into practice the priorities and measures set out in the strategy, accompanied by thematic consultancy and mentoring adapted to the organization’s needs.
  - Community engagement – integrating into the implementation process activities that strengthen relationships with beneficiaries, supporters and other relevant stakeholders, and that make use of community feedback in the organization’s work.
Developing the crestem.ong platform and facilitating access to learning resources and tools that can contribute to better resource management and to optimizing how NGOs operate.

The Association for Community Relations (ARC) coordinates interventions dedicated to growing and mature NGOs, through strategic planning programs, fundraising, grants and support in defining and measuring the change they bring.