Our Approach
Citizen sector organizations (CSOs) of any size, age, or geography can free themselves from the chronic dependence on unpredictable and unsustainable foundation and government funding. CSOs can become self-sustaining and maximize their social impact by developing a broad base of citizen support.
Ashoka's Citizen Base Initiative stimulates the citizen sector to cultivate a broad base of resources—money, people, goods, services, information, and partnerships—in order to increase the sector’s efficiency and social impact on a global scale.
The CBI approach 'tips' the mindset of the citizen sector toward building a broad base of support through the following methods:
Hold competitions to identify and invest in innovative ideas for developing a broad citizen base CBI invests in the winners and helps them refine and deepen their sustainability strategy.
Help organizations build capacity to implement their citizen base strategies. CBI offers workshops and learning circles to build organizations' skill sets in planning, management, and marketing.
Publicize examples of citizen base strategies to inspire the public sector to apply them to their own organizations.
Read more about creating a citizen base for sustainability.