Keeping track of the needs of non-governmental organisations on a daily basis, we are able to form new support services and contents immediately. Being in touch with and supporting more than 26,000 organisations, we assist the non-governmental sector by providing knowledge, experience and understanding, and enable its development.

Our main fields of activity include: to form the support environment for the operation of non-governmental organisations and project development, and assistance in the latter. Our counselling and training activities compose a large part of our operations; we also train and guide other organisations to help them obtain the renowned NGO quality standard. We are also the major Slovenian non-governmental information provider regarding new tender opportunities, current developments as well as important local, national and international news that is of interest to NGOs.

  • advocacy and policies

Keeping track of national and foreign legislation, we help form a suitable working environment for NGOs in Slovenia. In cooperation with our members who are affected by regulations and policies directly, and in dialogue with various political representatives, we seek to ensure an optimum legislative and political framework for the non-governmental sector.

  • transparency and quality

Based on training courses, counselling and executed quality audits, we are authorised together with SIQ to grant quality certificates to NGOs. The quality standard encourages non-governmental organisations to an objective and systematic assessment of operations and definition of objectives, which leads to a long-term improvement of services and thus fosters the organisation’s development.

  • organisational development

We can help you with your internal reorganisation and implementation of processes required for better operation and increased efficiency of your organisation. Our efforts are based on an assessment of the current situation and joint development of an improvement plan which you can carry out with the help of our experts.

  • counselling NGOs

The main objective of our counselling is to provide you with precise, top quality information required for your development. Our counsellors will turn to you attentively to listen to your problems and challenges, and help you seek and develop the best solutions. We can help you with legal and fiscal issues, projects, accounting or communication, either in person or via e-mail or phone.

  • training for NGOs

We have devised a diverse, yet conceptually coherent range of training courses that are run by in-house and external experts in order to help you improve your working process and increase your success. However, sometimes training packages, no matter how carefully devised, fail to grasp the range of an organisation’s needs. We therefore also offer custom training devised in cooperation with you to meet the needs of your organisation.

  • informing NGOs

We keep you informed of opportunities based on open calls for tender, provide you with an extensive review of the current activity in various areas of the non-governmental sector in Slovenia and internationally, and regularly tell you what’s new in the area of the sector’s systemic development.

  • promoting the sector

We develop platforms, organise events and make deals to present the non-governmental sector to as many people as possible. On top of the annual Lupa festival of non-governmental organisations and the national non-governmental conference, we have been developing various projects to link the non-governmental sector with the economy and media.

  • technical support

Within technical support, we provide you with (free) rental of our premises to be used for workshops, discussions, meetings or training courses. We can also rent a sound system or digital projectors for your events free of charge.

 

Key achievements of CNVOS in 2024: 

Our efforts contributed to shaping six key pieces of legislation affecting the NGO sector in Slovenia. In addition, we played an important role in the development of the NGO Development Strategy 2024–2029.

In 2024, our website cnvos.si recorded over 480,000 page views, including more than 83,000 unique visitors. We updated the cnvos.si portal and its related applications on a daily basis, ensuring that NGOs had constant access to up-to-date and relevant information.

Over the year, we published:

  • 920 national and international calls for proposals for NGOs,
  • 1,637 news updates covering current developments in the sector across national, EU, and international levels,
  • 224 articles related to CNVOS activities and/or systemic developments in the sector, including 47 legal updates such as weekly summaries of newly adopted legislation, and key decisions by the National Assembly, National Council, and Government.

We continued activities to regularly inform NGOs about the work of their representatives and decisions made within government working bodies. In this context, we published 2 sets of reports, comprising a total of 72 individual reports.

We also updated the legislative violation tracker weekly, keeping a close eye on normative developments.

Throughout the year, we issued 51 weekly e-newsletters, summarising all updates published on cnvos.si and its associated apps. Additionally, we sent out 5 targeted newsletters to highlight specific CNVOS activities.

To improve web accessibility, we launched activities aimed at making all content and services accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

We also strengthened our social media presence, publishing 448 posts to share timely and relevant information on the NGO sector.

We currently have 8,868 followers on Facebook and Instagram. Our posts reached over 127,000 people, and videos were viewed more than 4,000 times. We also launched a YouTube channel, where we published five videos, gathered over 1,500 views, and gained 193 subscribers.

We empowered 687 NGO representatives through training in the most current and relevant knowledge, contributing significantly to their professional development. We organised 21 workshops and two academies.

We provided 480 free legal consultations, primarily covering the establishment and functioning of NGOs, liquidation procedures, data protection, and employment law.

Our expertise was recognised beyond national borders:

  • We regularly collaborated with the European Civic Forum, contributing to EU-level advocacy. Through the Forum, we provided input on the state of rule of law in Slovenia, which the European Commission referenced in its Rule of Law Report, often citing CNVOS as a source of data and insights.
  • We contributed to developing the methodology for integrating NGOs into Serbia’s Civil Society Ethical Code, which included transparency criteria and verification procedures.

The Director of CNVOS served as the lead peer reviewer in OECD’s public administration reviews for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, co-authoring reports on strategic reform frameworks and policy coordination. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, from January to December, he led the preparation of the Council of Ministers' Strategy for Civil Society Development (2025–2029), coordinating expert consultations and drafting the strategic framework.

We managed the Active Citizens Fund (ACF) Programme in Slovenia and carried out all activities related to the closure of the fund. All available funds were fully allocated, with over €3.7 million disbursed in total.

Throughout the programme, we supported 96 projects and more than 110 organisations.

To showcase the impact of the fund, we developed a dedicated application highlighting the concrete achievements of the supported projects.

Throughout the implementation period, we supported 30 projects and 31 organisations with more than €800,000 in funding. Since March, we have been providing mentoring support to grantees from the call for medium and small projects, involving 26 mentors and 19 organisations.

By the end of May, we completed the selection and contracting process for the call Public Call for Actions to Defend European Values, supporting 11 projects. At the end of August, we launched a cross-border call for partnership projects between Slovenian and Croatian organisations, under which 2 projects were selected for support.

We organised three multi-day training sessions (Masterclass) in May, September, and November, which were held in Croatia and brought together over 100 participants. By the end of June, we also published a series of webinars in our online classroom, providing additional capacity-building sup

Together with our Croatian partners, Slagalica and Solidarna, we obtained a new European Commission-funded project—Impact4Values 2.0, worth €6 million over a period of four years.

The project includes four public calls for NGOs in Slovenia and Croatia, as well as a comprehensive programme of workshops and mentoring support for organisations working in the fields of human rights and democracy.

CNVOS was featured in all major national media outlets, ensuring strong visibility for civil society. In our weekly column Faces of the NGO Sector on Dnevnik.si, we showcased 46 inspiring individuals working in NGOs.

At the end of the year, we transformed the column into a podcast, and the first episode was viewed over 1,100 times.

Our NGO Santa Claus brought joy to 124 children, spreading the spirit of giving and solidarity.

We organised a national NGO conference focused on social media, which was very well attended—all 90 spots were filled within the first two days. The event featured expert speakers, experienced NGO professionals, advertisers, and representatives of bold and innovative NGO projects.

We also hosted two “Fail Nights” (on 16 June and 3 December), where we put the spotlight on stories of NGO missteps. These events offered laughter, reflection, and valuable lessons for everyone involved.

 

Current projects:

Project value: €6,263,582.05
Implementation period: 2025 - 2028
Financier: European Commission – CERV Program (EACEA)
Countries: Slovenia, Croatia
Partners: Slagalica – Foundation for the Development of Local Communities, Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity – SOLIDARNA
Role of CNVOS: Project leader

Project value: €4,246,120.59
Implementation period: 2023 - 2025
Financier: European Commission – CERV Program (EACEA)
Countries: Slovenia, Croatia
Partners: Slagalica – Foundation for the Development of Local Communities, Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity – SOLIDARNA
Role of CNVOS: Project leader

Project value: €1,099,108.50
Implementation period: October 2023 – December 2027
Financier: Ministry of Public Administration
Countries: Slovenia
Partners: /
Role of CNVOS: Project leader

Project value: €212,051.53
Implementation period: 2024 - 2025
Financier: European Commission – Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO)
Countries: Slovenia
Partners: Radio Študent
Role of CNVOS: Project partner

Project value: €3,800,000
Implementation period: 2019 - 2024
Financier: Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein through the Financial Mechanism Office in Brussels
Countries: Slovenia
Partners: Pip Institute - Legal and Information Center Maribor, DRPD NM – Society for the Development of Voluntary Work Novo Mesto
Role of CNVOS: Project leader

Project value: €8,500,000
Implementation period: 2019 - 2024
Financier: Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein through the Financial Mechanism Office in Brussels
Countries: Croatia
Partners: Slagalica – Foundation for the Development of Local Communities, Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity – SOLIDARNA, Civil Society Development Association SMART
Role of CNVOS: Partner