The CEE Trust - Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe

The CEE Trust was launched in January 2001 as an independent public charity organization, incorporated under the laws of the United States of America.

The CEE Trust was created as a mechanism for helping the transition to independent, active and viable networks of organizations and citizens working for the public good. Its major goal is to promote the development of civil societies in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

The CEE Trust definition of civil society is based on a broader understanding, including organized and large non-governmental institutions (NGOs), but also other formal and informal organizations, groups, coalitions, movements, individuals, representatives of the media and academia.
The CEE Trust's task is to encourage them to expand their constituencies and consider the future of their work in times when European policies and local philanthropy define the environment.
To fulfill their mission The CEE Trust supports people and organizations in CEE countries to take strategic steps with long-term benefits, toward three mutually reinforcing and intersecting objectives:

• to create a supportive environment for civil society, which includes legal, fiscal and political environments favorable to a strong civic life;
• to strengthen the non-profit sector through capacity building, advocacy, intra sector and cross-sectoral cooperation and partnership;
• to enhance the financial sustainability of non-profit organizations by developing public and private sources of support for nonprofit sector and by supporting the operational and strategic development of nonprofit organizations.