During the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on May 24, 2018, the session «Baikal. Central Point for Environmental Initiative» was held in the Laboratory of NPOs.
Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO at the Lake Baikal Foundation, Stepan Solzhenitsyn, a member of the Lake Baikal Foundation Board of Trustees, Maxim Tokarev, director of the autonomous NPO Center for the Development of Environmental and Social Projects, Pavel Morozov, managing director for production security and interaction with the control and supervisory authorities of LokoTeh.
The round table was devoted to the Lake Baikal Foundation’s activities in the field of supporting scientific research projects in the Baikal region, as well as experience in organizing voluntary environmental initiatives of the autonomous NPO Center for the Development of Environmental and Social Projects. Heads of non-profit organizations explained their approaches to project planning, and business representatives told why they trust environmental NPOs and what they consider to be the goal of cooperation.
In particular, the CEO of the Lake Baikal Foundation Anastasia Tsvetkova noted that the trust from private donors was achieved at the beginning of the Foundation’s development by focusing on supporting scientific projects that have a concrete result and contribute to the Lake Baikal protection and its exploration for breakthrough discoveries. Anastasia Tsvetkova also noted that as a private independent organization, a pioneer in environmental philanthropy in Russia, the Lake Baikal Foundation has a special place in its strategy for systematic cooperation with intellectual volunteers, including pro bono partners. As a result, the Foundation accumulated funds for grant programs, and the expertise of partners was strengthened by the Foundation in the field of jurisprudence, sociology and strategic consulting.
Stepan Solzhenitsyn, a member of the Lake Baikal Foundation Board of Trustees, answering the question of how to look for donors for funds, stressed that we should not seek, but involve like-minded people who share the mission of the organization and have an intention to contribute to socially-oriented projects.
A video of the discussion will be available on the website in the near future.