Anastasia Tsvetkova, Director for Development and International Cooperation at Baikal Communications Group took part in the conference section on a dialogue with the authorities for nonprofit organizations.

This section was held as a part of the North Caucasus Civil Forum “Arkhyz XXI”. In her talk, Anastasia Tsvetkova noted that the tools for building relations with public authorities that have been employed in the West are only just taking shape in Russia, especially in the case of nonprofit organizations. The changes should start not so much with finding effective tools as with a paradigm shift: a ‘begging’ nonprofit organization should become an expert organization. Nonprofit organizations can serve as an informational, methodical, expertise resource for the state. Acting in public interest and the willingness to be a center of excellence for relevant federal executive authorities is the foundation for a dialogue on GR tools for the third sector.

Anastasia Tsvetkova highlighted that similarly to PR, GR needs its own strategy, a strategy of interaction with the state authorities, maps of stakeholders, understanding of federal and regional budget policy trends. The importance of working with the media cannot be underestimated: it is necessary to gradually shape the image of nonprofit organizations and to promote them as expertise links in their relevant professional fields. The panelists have also reviewed the examples of events with the participation of officials, engaging representatives of nonprofit organizations in various councils and state advisory bodies, as well as the mechanisms for joining the forces of several nonprofit organizations to achieve their goals. Finally, great attention was paid to personal contacts of organization employees and their capitalization, “packing up” ideas of nonprofit organizations as a product that makes sense for the authorities.

The Forum was held on July 12-14 2017 in Arkhyz resort and gathered the leaders of the North Caucasus federal area, mass media and the expert community.

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