Bankalar Caddesi Minerva Han No:2/5 Karakoy Istanbul TURKEY Tel: +90 212 243 8309 Fax +90 212
243 8305
Web: www.tusev.org.tr/indexeng.php
TÜSEV Overview
TÜSEV was formed in 1993 by 23 of Turkey’s leading foundations, which has now grown to a
supporting network of over 100 foundations and associations in Turkey. TÜSEV’s mission is
to strengthen the legal, fiscal and operational infrastructure of the third sector in
Turkey. As an operating foundation,
TÜSEV manages programs and projects with a
combination of funding from endowment returns, annual funding from local network partners
(Turkish foundations and associations), and international partners.
Over the past ten years, the third sector has taken on a heightened momentum of growth and
expansion. ‘Civil society organizations’ have taken on a new role as a critical element in an
emerging democracy. The number of NGOs (foundations and associations) being formed
continues to grow at an incredible pace and operate at increasing sophistication- while also
having been influenced in part by Turkey’s history and tradition of philanthropy. With this
growth comes a need for more support- more funding, better management skills, and most
importantly, a more enabling environment. Increasingly TUSEV is also functioning as an agent
of change in trying to transform a rich tradition of charity into contemporary philanthropy.
Some of TÜSEV’s main programme areas aim to promote and support:
 Research on the sector (currently completing a wide scale research project on
philanthropy in Turkey and recently started a second major project to assess civil
society in Turkey)
 International partnerships and networks (to promote links between Turkish and
international organizations in the non profit sector)
 Cross-sectoral communication (to facilitate NGO-government and NGO-private sector
partnerships).
Organizational Profile
TÜSEV has a board of 11 members who are themselves key representatives of leading
foundations in Turkey such as the Sabanci Foundation, Eczacibasi Foundation and Dogan
Foundation. In total there are 118 founders and partership organizations. There are currently
5 staff members: General Secretary, Executive Director, Project Coordinators (2), Accountant
and Secretary.
TÜSEV has a core endowment of about 400.000USD. Our funding strategy is to secure at
least half of our operating costs from Turkish sources. Foreseen expenditure for 2005 is
approximately 380.000 USD, about half of which will be funded by foreign partners (Charities
Aid Foundation, Chrest Foundation, others to be determined) and the other half from our
endowment income and other Turkish donors. Other past foreign donors have included the
Ford Foundation and US Emabssy in Turkey.
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TÜSEV Programme Areas
NGO Law Reform Initiative. This programme has been TÜSEV’s core competency for
over ten years since its establishment in 1993. However over the years, the programme has
expanded significantly in line with the increased mandate for this focus in the sector. The key
objective is to promote an enabling environment for NGOs (foundations and associations) in
Turkey by:
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Acting as the key source for information and updates on non profit law issues for the
Turkish non profit sector,
Promoting mechanisms to increase NGOs participation in the policy making process,
and promote increase NGO-government cooperation,
Conducting independent policy analysis and, preparing reports and advocating for
reform,
Analyzing and monitoring of reform implementation, and
Supporting implementation/capacity building for NGOs and governments in adapting to
new legislation and processes.
TÜSEV’s strategic approach in promoting reforms is consultative rather than adversarial,
preserving a safe distance while providing independent analysis, viewpoints, useful criticism
and proposals for specific corrective action. Key government departments responsible for NGO
oversight consider TÜSEV a credible source for consultative input and specifically requests
information on practices, principles and benchmarks in developing new legislation and
regulations. TÜSEV has a core team of local experts in all fields of non profit law, and a
rapidly expanding network of experts in the region and internationally. TÜSEV works in
partnership with ICNL (International Center for Not for Profit Law) to increase scope and
impact of law reform initiatives.
In 2001, EU pre-accession negotiations were heightened by Turkey’s acceptance as a
‘candidate country’. Thus began the process of reforms related to Copenhagen Criteria, which
included a significant number of items related to civil society. This has been very useful in
creating increased leverage and momentum to introduce significant changes in NGO laws as
well as creating a new ‘dynamic’ between NGO and government actors.
In addition to ongoing activities which include consultation support, information sharing,
policy analysis, reporting and monitoring, 2003 activities included:
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Awareness building study visit for Foundation Directorate representative.
Hosting mission of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law to Turkey.
Co-sponsoring a conference on EU accession and impact on NGOs.
Sponsoring a comparative study on tax frameworks for NGOs and donations.
Co-organizing a workshop for NGOs to discuss challenges in legal frameworks
with the new Head of Department of Associations.
In 2004, the tempo and mandate for reform increased two-fold. Some of TÜSEV’s key
projects and activities included:
 Translation and publication of reports (from English to Turkish) on best practices and
standards in non profit law sent directly to several hundred 500 NGOs and
government officials in the Ministry of Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs, EU General
Secretariat and other key actors (financed by the US Embassy in Turkey).
 Organized and sponsored a study visit for Turkish government officials form the
Department of Associations (Ministry of Interior) to English Charity Commission and
other key organizations in UK.
 Comparative reports project: Developed reports on Association, Foundation and
Public Benefit Law analyzing specific issues and problems, providing an international
and European comparative perspective and presenting key recommendations to policy
makers.
 Prepared detailed comments on draft laws (association, foundation, tax) for policy
makers, which resulted in successful reform of several provisions and laws.
In 2005, TÜSEV will continue to develop and implement initiatives focused on: law reform
(public benefit and tax), monitoring of new reforms implementation, training on new laws and
regulation, and creating mechanisms to promote increased government-NGO cooperation and
promote policy dialogue.
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Research Programme. This program was launched in 2003 and aims to:
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Implement critical research initiatives on issues regarding the third sector
Produce useful data and reports that will help to inform practitioners and promote
dialogue among all stakeholders.
 In 2003, Ford Foundation “Philanthropy for Social Justice in Muslim Societies”
project was launched aimed to understand the historical and current context of the
foundation sector in Turkey, as well as the patters of individual giving and foundation
trends. TÜSEV was part of a team consisting of 5 other partner organizations in other
countries (Indonesia, India, Tanzania, India, Egypt and UK), which gathered for a
conference in September of 2004 to share initial research outcomes. The final
publication on Turkey will be published and launched at a national conference in May
2005. This report will serve as critical input for the sector, as well as for the design of
TÜSEV’s emerging ‘Promoting Philanthropy’ (see below) programme.
 In 2004, TÜSEV was selected to be the National Coordinating Organization for
CIVICUS (World Alliance on Civic Participation) Civil Society Index Project which is
a consultative action-research project which aims to map the impact, structure,
environment and values of civil society in Turkey as well as in 60 other countries. This
project will be launched in January 2005 and be completed by December 2005.
Networking, Partnerships and Training.
variety of activities which aim to:
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This programme provides a framework for a
Facilitate cooperation between Turkish foundations
European/International counterparts and donors;
Promote private sector-non profit sector cooperation;
Develop capacity of third sector organizations.
and
associations
and
TÜSEV has organized a number of activities over the years to achieve these objectives in
2003 and 2004. Some highlights:
 In partnership with the Corporate Volunteer Council of Turkey to organized a
conference in which 90 participants (from 43 companies and 15 NGOs) discussed
Corporate Community Investment (supported by the Charities Aid Foundation,
UK).
 Training for 20 foundation managers on financial reporting and management in
foundations.
 Conference on “Women and Education in the Mediterranean Region” organized
with European Foundation Center and partners.
In 2005 TÜSEV will begin designing a new programme on “Promoting Philanthropy” which will
encompass projects which focus on promoting corporate philanthropy, foundation building
and Turkish-European Foundation cooperation.
International Relations. Establishing international partnerships for our programmes brings
knowledge and experience of leaders in the sector and guides the application of new concepts
and practices in Turkey, adding strategic value to our programme areas. In addition, it
strengthens Turkey’s connection to the international non profit sector community, which is
valuable in developing ties between the Turkish civic sector and neighboring counties and
regions.
Our leadership role as a member of the European Foundation Center’s (EFC) International
Committee, Governing Council, and co-Chair of the Trans- Mediterranean Civil Society
Programme demonstrates TÜSEV’s active role not only in Turkey, but in the European context
and to help promote new practices in the Turkish sector while also helping to connect
European and Turkish foundation sectors.
To date, we have established relationships and/or joint projects with Ford Foundation,
CIVICUS (World Alliance for Civic Participation a US based International NGO), International
Center for Not-for-Profit Law (a US and Eastern European based International NGO) and
Charities Aid Foundation (CAF, one of the UK’s largest charities which aims to promote the
flow of resources from the private sector and individuals to the non profit sector).
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