Our Donors

In the year 2003 the funding for Stefan Batory Foundation’s activity came from several different sources. It was the first year in the 15 years history of the Foundation when the funding provided by the Open Society Institute, established by George Soros, amounted to half of our entire budget. The second half came from other sources, namely Polish and foreign donors.

A donation of USD 5 million from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe allowed us to design the Third Sector Program to be continued for another four years. Another four-year program launched in 2003 – the Citizens in Action – came to being thanks to the Ford Foundation, which donated USD 2,5 million to support social initiatives in the Ukraine and Belarus.

It was the second year of the Twin Cities Program of Polish-German cooperation, initiated and funded by the Bosch Foundation. Our activities in the area of international cooperation were co-funded by a variety of organisations, including: Poland-America-Ukraine Cooperation Initiative, (PAUCI), National Endowment for Democracy, Charities Aid Foundation, German Marshall Memorial Fund of the United States and the European Commission. The Anti-Corruption Program was financially supported by the World Bank and the US Embassy.

In 2003, our programs for children and teenagers: Equal Opportunities – Local Scholarship Funds for young people from lowincome families and the Rainbow Academy Program for disabled children and youth, were supported, among others, by Levi Strauss & Co., the Commercial Union Poland insurance company and individual donors – Mr and Mrs Miechowicz.

As in previous years, in 2003 the Foundation ran the Commercial Union Charity Fund, a donor-advised fund of an insurance company that had been cooperating with us since 1996. The Fund was used to support projects indicated by the donor in the area of health care and education. The income gained from investing the endowed M Fund, created in 2002 thanks to a donation by a private donor, was in line with the Founder’s will, used to help disabled and ill children, and support equal opportunities projects. In 2003 we began to administer another named fund: the Beata Pawlak Fund used, in line with the Founder’s last will, to finance an annual prize for the best article on different cultures, religions and civilizations.

In the year 2003 we continued our efforts to grow the endowment which will constitute a basis for our funding in the future. Our efforts to build the endowment and expand our funding base were supported by: the Ford Foundation, the Charles Stuart Mott Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The Ford Foundation contributed another USD 3 million to increase our endowment, the Charles Stuart Mott and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundations provided us with two-year grants for institutional development and fund-raising activities.

We thank all our donors from the bottom of our hearts!

With your help we can help others!