Dear SCI friends around the world,

I would like to write you a short note to share a challenge we have in SCI and see if you can help us with that.

As International Executive Committee, we had to lead an organization that was suddenly deprived of its biggest financial support from the EU. In 2022, due to changed internal EU policies, SCI along with virtually most voluntary service networks, did not receive either the Erasmus+ grant nor the CERV operational grant on which we have counted on for several years. This led to work without an international coordinator, almost no meetings in person, no investment for the movement, etc. We did our best to contain costs, apply for new funding and diversify. We have been successful to secure funding for next year. However, for this year we are witnessing a substantial deficit.

Thus, we decided to run an end-of-the-year fundraiser and a donation from you, or anybody you know, could help us reduce that and complete the year in December with a better financial outlook.

Donations are used to run our projects and activities, specifically to support the empowerment of young people and create a better future for us all. We held a training course for activists so they could learn how to get funding for their projects, we supported them in running local activities, and we are now launching an online learning course that is free for everyone to use and gain new knowledge. We are also supporting the movement in the promotion of volunteer exchanges, so that young people can participate in workcamps and long-term volunteering all over the world and become active citizens in their communities.

Your donation will contribute to all these activities and much more!

If you are willing or in a position to support (and no amount is too small), please use one of the following:

1. Become a SCItizen! An easy way to send us a one-off or regular (monthly or annual) donation and at the same time become part of a family of supporters to whom we will send regular updates through newsletters and the annual report. 20% of your donations will go to branches in need, while the rest to support the international level  
2. Simply use the donation form choosing between a general donation or one of the three funds you would like to support. Again, regular newsletters along with our annual report  will be sent as well for all to see where and how your money has been spent.

I became a SCItizen since end of last year as I think it is very important for SCI to rely less on grants and more on individual donations. We should enable SCI to use its resources to follow more the agenda defined by its members and be less subject to conditions set by big donors.

I thank you in advance on behalf of the whole team in the IEC.

Silvio Martinelli, SCI’s International Executive Committee Member

Simple donation