Is Belarusan society prepared for charity?

What suppresses the development of the charity movement in our country? In what way non-governmental organizations can contribute to it and what kind of changes Belarusan legal system demands?

 The charity movement is growing in Belarus. If you want to donate money for a surgery, now it is enough to make a call. The appointment auctions engage both celebrities and ordinary people – and all the money acquired also go into charity. But experts presume that the society is prepared for even more active involvement. And the obstacles are imperfect legal system and management of non-governmental organizations.

Non-governmental organizations should be more active

The head of the “Grodno Children Hospice” Olga Shulga says that there were some cases in Belarus when it was possible to collect money for a difficult surgery inside the country: “Obviously there are far more donations during an active charity campaign than during a routine everyday work that people not involved in the process may not notice. That is why the accurate management of an organization is so important. I think that only looking for a funder or for help of big enterprises and businessmen is not enough. It is also necessary to cooperate with society, to spread information, to call for sympathy of ordinary people. And it is not always about money. Somebody can become a volunteer, somebody can help with things… It fosters mercy and solidarity in a society.”

By the way, something about enterprises and businessmen. There are no tax remissions for support of a non-governmental organization. That is why frequently such kind of support is only a private initiative of administration and workers of a factory or a plant.

“Not all the enterprises mention on their webpages that they are donators. In my opinion, you should not make a high-profile campaign out of it, but mentioning of this fact wouldn’t be out of place. First of all, it can serve as an example for other organizations,” – assumes Olga Shulga.

Charity Legislation in the Republic of Belarus  

Olga Smolyanko, the head of the Legal Transformation Center, points out that there is no single standard regulation which governs charity work in Belarus. Moreover, such notions as charity work, charity organization, aims of charity work are still not secured in legislation.

“There are standard regulations which somehow handle these questions – these are the Civil Code, the Decree of the President №300, and the Edict of the President №24. But there is no single and complex document which tackles the provision of charity assistance. So we presume that admission of at least several standard regulations is essential for system regulation of this sphere, -the expert explains. – In the first place we need “The Act about charity work and charity organizations”  where such important notions as charity work, charity organization, aims of charity work will be fixed.”

But according to the expert, the admission of only one act will not solve the problem: “Generally in all countries this act was passed to give to the non-governmental organizations different kinds of preferences, including tax preferences. Therefore if in Belarus only “The Act about charity work and charity organizations’ will be passed and the systematic work on changing all the other legislation norms will not be continued, the act may become ineffective. It is essential to give preferences both for those who make contributions and for those who receive it.”

Besides, abroad citizens can transfer up to 1% of their income tax to non-governmental organizations. There is a confirmed register of reliable and approved non-governmental organizations.

“Certainly if such changes would happen in Belarus, that would be great, - Olga Smolyanko considers. – The citizen himself can manage the earned income, in other words he can give the money to a non-governmental organization which often replaces the governmental one in its work. But meanwhile in Belarus there is no serious discussion about changing the very tax legislation”.

Standpoint of the officials

It has been a long time since the conversation about the necessity of passing the Act started. In 2002 the bill had been passed at two Houses of Parliament, but it was not signed by the President.

Lately the discussion about the proper ways of sponsor support has appeared in the society. For example, National Center of Legislation and Legal Research requested the advisory opinion of several public associations on this matter. This question was also raised on the state television.  However, the experts presume that merely a discussion is not enough. “Direct work on elaboration of standard regulations needs to be done,- Olga Smolianko considers. – And I think that it is essential that the organizations concerned should be involved in the process.” 

Legal Transformation Center was sending the materials on practicability of passing The Act to the different authorities for several times: National Center of Legislation and Legal Research, Ministry of Justice. “We also cooperate closely with The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law. This organization was helping to reform and to engrain new legislative norms in the post-Soviet space,- the interlocutor says. But the reaction was passive:  - All the answers of the authorities resolved into “we will think about it, we will scrutinize it.”

Not everyone is equal

But not all of the organizations have legislative troubles with charity support. For example, there are tax preferences for sports clubs and schools. “Generally, in our country there is a different stance on sports organizations. Both these and organizations helping them have preferences,- Olga Smolyanko points out.  - And this is also one of the problems of Belarusan legislative system. So there is a selective approach toward the non-governmental organizations, and notably that this approach depends on the nature of activity, not on the status of an organization. There is no systematic approach towards other organizations; but they also work for the public good...”

At the beginning of the year amendments and additions were included into the Tax Code, according to which remissions on tax assessment were increased from 5 till 10%. But they are valid only if the donation is given to state-funded organizations, religious organizations and one of the three public associations – Public Association Belarusan Society of the Handicapped, Belarusan association of the deaf and Belarusan Association of the Visually Handicapped.  All the other non-governmental organizations, as well as enterprises and businessmen who want to help, do not have any benefits.