February 2010 - Charity Lotteries in Poland?
On February 16th, the seminar "Gambling Pro Publico Bono" was held at the Dutch Embassy in Warsaw. The seminar was organised by the Institute of Public Affairs in collaboration with the Polish Donors Forum and ACLEU.
In Poland, as in many other EU Member States, charity lotteries are not able to operate on a national scale due to the monopoly of the state lottery. Needless to say, many Polish NGOs would like to see this change.
At the seminar Tatiana van Lier, executive director ACLEU, told the Polish participants about the model of a charity lottery as we know it in the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. Eric van Vondelen from the Dutch Gaming Control Board explained how state lotteries and charity lotteries can perfectly co-exist next to each other. The situation regarding (charity) lotteries in Slovakia and Poland was also discussed.
At the end of the seminar, the Polish under State secretary of Finance as well as an adviser to the Polish Prime Minister were quite supportive of the idea to introduce a special category for charity lotteries in current legislation. For more information, please visit the website of the Institute of Public Affairs.
January 2010 - ACLEU sponsors second edition "Routes"
For the second year in a row, ACLEU is sponsoring the annual award ceremony of the European Cultural Foundation.
The winners of this year’s two Routes Awards are Borka Pavićević, the cultural activist and founding Director of Belgrade’s Centre for Cultural Decontamination, and Stefan Kaegi, the internationally-acclaimed Swiss theatre-maker. They will each receive their prize of €25,000 during the Awards’ Ceremony on 26 January 2010 at the Royal Flemish Theatre (Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg) in Brussels.
Launched in 2008, the annual Routes Awards is a way for the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) to honour and support artists, thinkers and cultural players whose work triggers us to look beyond the static idea of “diversity” in a way that engages and inspires debate and reflection around the complexities of interaction that takes place between people and cultures.
For more information, please visit: www.eurocult.org
October 2009 - Supporting Democracy = Supporting Development
On October 22-24, the fourth edition of the European Development Days (EDD) took place in Stockholm. This annual event, hosted by the European Commission and the EU Presidency, aims to make development aid more effective, to build a global coalition against poverty and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The EDD brought together some 5,000 people and 1,500 organisations representing the development community.
ACLEU hosted a stand this year in the Development Village (a professional fair) together with the European Partnership for Democracy (beneficiary of ACLEU member Nationale Postcode Loterij). With this stand, called "Supporting Democracy = Supporting Development", we raised awareness among the participants (mainly NGOs and EU politicians and policymakers) for the charity lottery model as a fundraising mechanism for (development) NGOs.
For more information about the EDD, please visit: www.eudevdays.eu
June 2009 - European Heritage Awards
On June 5th, the Europa Nostra Awards ceremony, supported by ACLEU, will take place in Sicily. This European Prize for Cultural Heritage was launched in 2002 by the European Commission as part of the implementation of the “Culture 2000” Programme. This year, the Prizes will be awarded for the seventh time.
Europa Nostra, the pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, was selected as the organisation responsible for the running of this scheme on the basis of its long experience in publicly recognising – on a European level – individual or joint excellence in the heritage field.
The aims of this Awards Scheme are to promote high standards and quality skills of conservation practice and to stimulate the transfrontier exchanges in the heritage field. By furthering the “Power of Example”, the Prize also aims to encourage further efforts and projects related to heritage throughout Europe.
For more information, please visit: www.europanostra.org
May 2009 - Conference: "Europe of Engaged Citizens"
On the 4th and 5th of May 2009 ACLEU supported the conference "Europe of Engaged Citizens - Resources and Sustainability" held in Brno, Czech Republic, under the auspices of political leaders of the Czech Republic (EU Presidency). Several NGOs, European politicians and officials, Czech politicians and policy makers were invited to this conference where the most successful case studies for the sustainability of the non-profit sector were introduced and compared. Of course, the charity lottery model could not be absent here, and was therefore presented by ACLEU member the People's Postcode Lottery.
One of the aims of the conference was to formulate some recommendations for the European Commission to create and maintain a strong and sustainable civil society in Europe. The recommendations of ACLEU can be found here. For more information about the conference, please go to: www.ngosustainability.eu
December 2008 - "Routes" award for cultural diversity
On December 9th, the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) hosted Routes: the ECF Princess Margriet Award for Cultural Diversity in Brussels. This award is supported by ACLEU and is meant for European artists and thinkers who contribute to overcoming prejudices in Europe.
The laureates of this first edition were the British Professor Stuart Hall for his groundbreaking work as an academic and researcher in the field of cultural diversity, and choreographers Jérôme Bel (France) en Pichet Klunchun (Thailand) for their captivating dance performance 'Pichet Klunchun & Myself' which shows in a natural and enthralling way, how cultural differences are determined.
The ceremony was held in the presence of HRH Princess Margriet and HRH Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium, and Dutch Minister of European Affairs Frans Timmermans.
Princess Laurentien, President of the ECF emphasized the importance of cultural diversity in her welcome speech:
"With a strong belief that culture is a fundamental human need; that it is not diversity that is threatening us, but the fear to embrace it. Where some use culture to build fences and point out differences, at the ECF, we see culture as an instrument to build bridges and to give purpose to our societies and communities and their coexistence on this continent and within the wider context of its neighbouring countries. "
Contributing to the "Routes" Award is typical for the philosophies and traditions of ACLEU's members who support a broad range of civil society organisations, including culture and human rights.
For more information about the Award ceremony and other activities of the European Cultural Foundation, please visit: www.eurocult.org
October 2008 - Financing Future: the workshop
At the World Conservation Congress of IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) in Barcelona in October 2008, ACLEU hosted a workshop together with GEXSI (The Global Exchange for Social Investment). The workshop introduced two high potential options in fundraising for conservation organisations: the charity lottery and the Round it Up.
Already, charity lotteries in the Netherlands raise 66 million Euro every year for the protection of the environment and nature conservation all over the world. Imagine what could be achieved if this model was to be implemented in more countries?
Round it Up has proven potential for scale: all around the world people already practice rounding up one way or another - while getting out of a taxi or leaving a restaurant. Imagine you would do likewise - making it your small, social solidarity routine to round up 'social' bills just by the few cents - on supermarket, department store, utility or telephone bills to contribute your share to a more sustainable world.
The workshop introduced the participants in 'hands-on' fashion to routine considerations and steps involved in setting up these two systems. The participants left with a small toolkit and access to a network of people who can help develop and implement the new ideas arising from this workshop.
October 2008 - Financing Future: the book
All participants of the abovementioned workshop received a copy of the second edition of the book Financing Future: innovative funding models at work. The book is a small compendium of funding models of which the charity lotteries and the Round it Up are just two examples.
To order a copy of the book, please send a message to: info@acleu.eu
March 2008 - Launch ACLEU at the European Parliament
Mrs. Ieke van den Burg, Mrs. Corien Wortmann-Kool (members of the European Parliament), and the Association of Charity Lotteries in the European Union (ACLEU) hosted a lunch meeting on the 4th of March 2008, called: 'Building a healthy civil society with private initiatives'.
The Association of Charity Lotteries in the European Union was officially launched during a lunch meeting Tuesday in the European Parliament. In a keynote speech Mr. Ján Figel' (EU-Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth) underlined the importance of a strong civil society in Europe and gave his support to the concept of a charity lottery. He considered sustainable funding for civil society as 'crucial' and the right form of funding as 'important'. 'Funds coming from the charity lotteries are fundamental...Charity lotteries can be one of these long term funding tools for civil society ', Figel' stated.
Mr. Tony Long, director of the European policy office of the WWF, expressed his appreciation of the charity lotteries for their long-term, non-earmarked support. As a beneficiary of charity lotteries in the Netherlands and in Sweden, WWF has received over 200 million euros over the past decade to continue its mission to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. 'Charity lotteries make a real mark, have a real and long-lasting impact', Mr. Long said.
Mr. Ernst Veen, director of the Hermitage Amsterdam, spoke passionate about his dream to build a branch of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in his hometown Amsterdam. A dream that could be fulfilled thanks to the BankGiro Lottery, one of the members of ACLEU. This charity lottery was the first to offer a long-term commitment which was crucial in attracting other sponsors for the construction of the museum.
EU Commissioner Figel' addresses the importance of civil society
print