2023 was a successful year in the life of NIOK despite the challenges we are facing in Hungary’s shrinking civil space. We have worked hard to deliver on this year's most important plans.

Today, we would like to share with you an important awareness-raising campaign - a case study from the Local Action Plan carried out by our TechSoup Trainers.

There is a Hungarian, civil concept that has reached Slovakia, Romania and even South Korea, which is the 1% model. This is the only form of direct control that taxpayers in this country have over how their taxes are spent. Which organisations are we happy to support? What does 1% mean for the NGO sector? What is the history of the 1% and what role has the NIOK Foundation played?

Civilians need to have more and more skills to reach the people who can become their future supporters. In today's media frenzy, you can't just stand out by being an interesting organisation and representing a good cause. That is why it is good for NGO members to keep themselves trained and learn, for example, how to target their audience or how to check whether their campaigns have achieved their objectives.

Interview with Both Emőke in the NIOK30 civic leaders podcast series

Climate change stands as one of the greatest challenges facing contemporary activism. This interdisciplinary, multi-level problem engages hundreds of thousands of activists and non-governmental organizations worldwide. In 2019, global climate movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Fridays For Future catalyzed a worldwide mobilization and unprecedented awareness of climate change. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, the scope and significance of the climate fight have gained additional urgency.

How can an NGO benefit from its relationship with the press? What should NGOs keep in mind when they appear in the newspaper or on TV? How much impact does what the press says about them have? Is the journalist even obliged to show the material before publishing it? Many similar questions can arise for an NGO when they are in the media or want to get more publicity for their cause. It is a long learning process, but fortunately young organisations can learn from more experienced ones

The Association of Environmental Service Providers and Manufacturers (KSZGYSZ) is one of the largest Hungarian environmental advocacy organizations, whose members are key players in the Hungarian green industry, covering the whole spectrum of environmental activities. KSZGYSZ works to promote the aspirations of its members at national and international level. The association, which currently has 269 members, has been coordinating and training actors in the Hungarian environmental protection, nature conservation and environmental industry for more than 30 years, and is a prominent partner of policy makers and almost all actors in the business community.

Disinformation is a custom-made approach designed to polarize society by instilling fear of others and undermining values, democracy, and human rights, as well as the structures that support them. Civil society has been actively working for years to counter these phenomena. We combat hate speech, work with vulnerable groups, educate society, conduct fact-checking and even OSINT research. However, the problems that society faces remain almost unchanged, while the social need to take action is growing. And we – as civil society – face both new and ongoing challenges in this fight.

At the beginning of 2024, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still trending. We observe new tools, upgrades, and public discourse focusing on the hyped generative AI. As most of the focus is being placed on the technological level, the ethical and societal contexts of AI use need more attention from the perspective of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

The digital age is both present and future. Protecting humanity from the risks and dangers they are exposed to every time we click or share potentially misleading content are just some of the challenges facing the world today.

For NGOs, face-to-face meetings are very important, but in most cases, it is still necessary to keep in touch with donors and reach new people online. In addition, virtuality is becoming an increasingly important part of our daily lives, which is why every organisation needs to find the right channels of communication. Once they have that, they need to make their issue visible through a likeable message.

Almost all the news this year has been dominated by the development of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in general, its various uses, and concerns about the new technology. In this article, we try to summarize where ChatGPT can help a non-profit organization in its tasks and what it cannot be trusted with.

Klaudia is the co-founder of Vidoc Security Lab, an Application Security Expert with years of experience. Her dedication to security research led to the creation of Vidoc, a platform for security professionals, gaining global recognition by discovering hundreds of vulnerabilities through bug bounty programs with prominent tech giants.

Beyond spearheading the startup, Klaudia actively engages with NGOs and the tech community, sharing knowledge and empowering human rights activists across Central and Eastern Europe.

Beata Zwierzyńska: Increasingly our world emerges through the lens of online reality, social media, streaming videos, image sharing by witnesses of events. How do drastic images influence? Perhaps, we are becoming more immune and indifferent to such content?

What is MEGAPHONE?

MEGAPHONE is a 2-day international event organized by TechSoup Europe that provides space for collaborative discussions and peer-to-peer learning to brainstorm new ideas and strengthen connections between change-makers.

Within the Digital Activism Program conducted by TechSoup and its partners in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since 2018, a pivotal activity focusing on supporting Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in being more resilient to disinformation has been underway. We believe at TechSoup that to bring about change, we must first diagnose the needs of the organizations we support and analyze the current socio-political situation in the countries where we operate. This belief is central to shaping the foundation for all future project activities.

Hive Mind Community Podcast on the Benefits of Artificial Intelligence for NGOs and Civil Society Members (CSOs).

What needs to be thought through and then re-planned in an advocacy campaign? How is it possible to keep a message alive for years? Can one of the most vulnerable people in the society fight for change? The 'Let's move so they can move!' campaign organiser tells us how it has been built in the fight for public and social recognition of homecare as a job.

How do different opinions appear in the media? Is there a place, a space for differences of opinion? What opportunities do we have as civilians to publish our own narratives?

The number of activists who become burnt out as a result of their activism is growing. Individuals who suffer from burnout experience symptoms in various ways, depending on their circumstances and coping mechanisms.

One of the most recurring problems in the work of NGOs is how to get the message across. Often, developing an annual communications strategy can take up a lot of manpower and time, and a targeted campaign can be particularly challenging. But in almost all cases, coordinated and planned communication is essential to ensure the stable functioning of an NGO.

How can a theatre association and a school in a small town work together effectively? How to actively involve overburdened teachers and young people with difficulties beyond school? In February 2023, the NIOK Foundation organised a workshop entitled Acting Locally in partnership with the Hive Mind community. After the training, the selected participants were able to practice what they had learnt in implementing actions with the support of NIOK. The experiences of the Tandem Theatre's Local Impact action are shared below.

In this article you can find out more about the "Free January" campaign of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ)

The focus of the activities of the Children and Youth Self-Government Association (GYIÖT) is to increase the participation of young people, to develop the Hungarian youth profession and to raise its profile and recognition, typically through non-formal learning methods, with a wide range of programmes, both at national and international level. In this article we present our communication campaign "Are you involved in youth work?"

The results and experiences of the "I would like to teach" ("Tanítanék") movement in 2022 in Hungary

How do CSOs remain strong while fighting for equality and justice? What is the importance of mental resistance to civil society? Learn from resilient leaders and cultivate a growth mindset. Throughout history, there have been many world leaders who were once civic society activists and demonstrated exceptional mental resilience in the face of adversity.

Case study on the "Invalid question, invalid answer!" campaign of Amnesty International Hungary and the Háttér Society

A család az család — Family is family. It seems so self-explanatory, yet this phrase infuriated some while bringing hope to others. But how did this statement become a slogan of a movement for social equality in Hungary?

Google.org Launch Event is an opening event for the Capacity Building Accelerator project for the Baltic countries. The event aims to enhance confidence and assurance when implementing initiatives and measures at the community or regional levels, specifically designed to counter disinformation.

S radostí vás zveme na výjimečnou networkingovou akci věnovanou problematice dezinformací, kterou pro vás připravil Kampus Hybernska a Sdružení VIA za podpory Google.org a Univerzity Karlovy.

In this article, we recommend 3+1 image editing programs - including free versions for NGOs - that don't require any complex graphic design skills, just some practice and a little creativity!

In this webinar, we looked at how project management software, collaboration platforms, communication tools and data management systems can enhance project management efficiency and impact.

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) play a vital role in addressing some of the world's most pressing issues, from poverty and inequality to environmental degradation and human rights abuses. However, the challenges faced by NGOs can be daunting, and it can be difficult to maintain motivation and inspire support from stakeholders. This is where the power of positive narratives can make a significant difference.

Who is a leader? Is he/she someone gives orders for others to obey and who others are afraid to contradict? Is a leader someone who knows how to convince the team that they are right? Or maybe a leader is someone who want to follow and to let the team lead?

The Hive Mind* launch in South Africa was a success. We are thankful to all our speakers who gave incredible presentations and supported the need for Hive Mind to help civil society and build digital resilience.

Across the world, the spread of disinformation is on the rise. Its volatile growth is the result of the strategic use of online disinformation, which undermines democracy and polarizes societies. While ways to combat disinformation are currently trending in the media, the existing tactics are primarily directed at fact-checkers and journalists, leaving wider civil society actors to their own devices.

As part of the Empowering Europeans Against Disinformation (EEAD) project, we are happy to invite all interested educators residing in Europe to express the interest and take part in a 2-day onsite Training of Trainers (ToT) on Countering Disinformation and Building Positive Narratives in Warsaw, on April 19-21, 2023.

When social media communication focuses on activating the audience for a charity purpose or organisation, on increasing reputation and on growing commitment, the creation of the marketing activity's strategy needs professional planning.

Besides the written and visual content of posts, we need to bear in mind the motivations and interests of the local target groups.

The Empowering Europeans Against Disinformation (EEAD) project is part of TechSoup Network’s Digital Activism Program.

Since 2018, the program has been offering complex support to civil society organizations (CSOs) and their staff in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Latin America and West Africa. In the area of countering disinformation, the program strives to increase their understanding of direct disinformation threats, strengthen their capacity to deal with disinformation, boost their knowledge in this field and expand their connections within the nonprofit network.

Phambano Technology Development Centre was founded in 2017.

Our aim is to provide sustainable technology-related solutions and support technology development among civil society organisations (CSO’s) that work on social justice issues across Southern Africa.

The Non-profit Information and Training Center (NIOK) Foundation was founded in Hungary in 1994. NIOK's mission is to strengthen civil society in Hungary by empowering nonprofit organizations to be efficient, professional, resilient and independent. Toward that goal NIOK works with experienced and motivated staff as well as with a wide range of experts.

The GURT Resource Center is an innovative accelerator of democratic transformations. Since 1995, GURT is committed to capitalizing on the potential of changemakers for the benefit of Ukraine. GURT’s head office is located in Kyiv, but their team works remotely throughout Ukraine.

MAKAIA is based in Medellín, Colombia and was founded in 2006 by Catalina Escobar, Camilo Mondragón and María Claudia Camacho.

The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) was established in 2005 and became operational in 2007.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in West Africa will see improvement in digital literacy, security and safety as 15 digital activists have received training to help protect the civic space from cyber threats and attacks.

Disinformation has become a widespread problem in Africa, with the rise of social media and the internet making it easier for false information to spread. Disinformation can cause harm to individuals and communities, create social and political divisions, and undermine public trust in institutions and leaders. NGOs and charity organizations in Africa play a crucial role in combating it, as they are often on the front lines in communities and have a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities for promoting digital literacy and critical thinking skills.

Fiatalok a civilek közt - hogyan lesz utánpótlás?

What links Flood Alert Service from Austria, a Polish mobile app informing about the condition of the air quality and a mobile app that helps you commute in Kyiv?

Would you like to strengthen the impact of your organization? Or to share some important information that you’ve collected from your activity?

Are you interested in monitoring your government’s or your local authorities’ way of providing social services or how they’ve been spending the public money?

On Wednesday 16 November 2022, The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) organised the Launch of WACSI Nigeria Node to build civil society resilience in Nigeria for the country’s development and to address the proximity challenge and especially make the Institute’s services readily available to organisations and civic actors that may not have the means to engage effectively online.

Testing and experiments can make a huge difference when it comes to results. The secret to great leadership in campaigning is to be open, and accepting of feedback; in other words: having the growth mindset.

Several experts give their opinion on the possible global outlook regarding disinformation. Some remain optimistic, while others believe it is a problem that has no solution.

If you want to involve more supporters and allies in your campaign or action, you need to learn more about them. The “Empathy Map” is a tool that helps you put yourself in the shoes of others and understand how they perceive the problem you want to solve.

It is easy to jump into problem-solving without critically evaluating the problem itself. The 4Ws method is a simple way to explore the problem space and formulate a problem statement, so you actually know what you need to focus on.

The challenge that many organizations face in communications is to build content that touches the lives of their audiences. But there is an even bigger challenge; towards the construction of content of joint value, collectively and making impact visible.

Join us for a panel discussion about the current war-time disinformation landscape and learn about ways of mitigating its harmful effects.

The war in Ukraine continues. We’ve been watching brave men and women fight for their country’s freedom and independence, while many others are organizing their lives after being forced to flee their country and settle abroad.

What is digital security, and should civil society organisations in Africa be concerned?

While the war in Ukraine progresses and we are forced to watch the brave men and women fight for their country’s freedom and independence, many others are organizing their lives after being forced to flee their country.

The war in Ukraine is entering its fourth month. We’ve been watching brave men and women fight for their country’s freedom and independence, while many others are organizing their lives after being forced to flee their country and settle abroad.

Strengthen your abilities to access and critically analyze information in digital media with the free and self-paced online course: "Think twice: media literacy Online"

NGOs and activist groups often wish to involve famous people, influencers to their communication to reach a wider audience with their help. However, perhaps even the most open-minded organisations in Hungary would not have thought to ask "Pumped Gabo", originally known for his muscles and senseless partying, to be an ambassador for their cause. A coming of age story or the true face of a previously misunderstood celebrity? We looked at why the bodybuilder-turned-activist’s story works.

Elena Stojanovska is true believer that privacy protection is a culture, a way of recognition and respect of a human right. Her experience dates from the times when privacy was a mysterious concept in North Macedonia (2005), until now, when everyone is buzzing around new ways of protecting privacy. Elena worked for the Agency for Data Protection as an Advisor for International Cooperation, she was the human rights on-line specialist at the Metamorphosis Foundation and from February 2020 has really busy days in implementing the new Law on Personal Data Protection in the business sector.

In this article we have summarized for the Hungarian audience what we should know about Megaphone, and where can we find the resources of the Megaphone events.

In this article we have collected a few webinars available in English on HiveMind for the Hungarian audience.

With the dramatic increase of our digital footprint (in other words, the footprint of our activities in the online word, e.g. use of social media sites, emailing, blogging, accepting cookies on various websites etc.) data protection is not only an issue for large companies, but it is equally important for civil society organizations and individual users as well. However, while the former can often employ a whole team of security experts, in case of civil society organizations it is an issue that we have to deal with ourselves. Keep in mind that the most precious information today is data and identity, therefore it is especially important to protect them.

Russia's war against Ukraine is not only taking place on the battlefields and in besieged cities, but also in the information space. This was true even before the digital age, but war propaganda has reached a new level thanks to the possibilities of the Internet. Fake news, dubious images, videos, untraceable figures, battlefield results, not to mention conspiracy theories explaining the background to the attack.

You think you don’t have the necessary resources or a sufficient budget to start a fundraising campaign? Yet, it's important for your organization to raise donations? Check out these smart & simple fundraising tips!

If your organization has run a crowdfunding campaign before, you are probably familiar with the basics of campaign planning and online fundraising.

We have collected a few tips that beginner fundraisers often don’t think of, but they could boost your crowdfunding success!

Hive Mind and NIOK's podcast is curious how active and socially aware Generation Z's young adults are. We caught up with two different organisations that have been successful in engaging young people: Greenpeace Hungary can proudly name many generations of activists and volunteers, while the Amigos for Kids Foundation has only been running for seven years but has already built a very strong community of student volunteers. Based on the podcast we have put together a list of key tips, communication channels to use and activities to organise in orther to successfully mobilise and involve young people.

It’s been a difficult 2 years. And on February 24th, 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine it got even harder... It’s a challenging time which is testing us as activists, but also, more importantly, as people. We’re doing the best we can, but living in a constant state of unknown, having to prepare for the unexpected or currently focusing a lot of energy and resources on supporting our Ukrainian friends, who are in a much more difficult situation, takes its toll.

Filip Simeonov, Founder and Cyber Security Expert of CPP Services Skopje (www.cpp.mk), as an Information Technology Engineer begins his work experience as a System Administrator and System Engineer, later focusing on Cyber Security of IT and Telecommunication Systems, application solutions, as well as raising awareness of cyber security and secure data management of all process stakeholders and data processors.

Philip often says that Cyber Security is an investment, not a company expense. As an ethical hacker for 13 years trying to detect all the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in his clients, all in order to be mitigated before bad hackers and malicious users find them, thus improving and increasing the cyber security of companies and their solutions and systems.

Dezinformacja w służbie Putina, czyli o tym jak nie wpaść w tryby machiny propagandowej: webinarium 03.03.2022 (czwartek); 18:30-19:30

Save the dates, mark your calendars and get ready to go! These are the five Media Literacy Events you simply cannot miss in 2022!!!

PERSONAL DEMOCRACY FORUM UKRAINE (PDF UA 2022) is back!

This year PDF UA will be held on March 3-4 in Kyiv in a hybrid form.

The “Future of the Elections” is the main topic this year.

TechSoup Europe joins OPORA, TransparenCEE Network and OSCE ODIHR for the fifth time and brings "tech4good", transparency, and open data topics to the Ukrainian debate about democracy and the role of civil society.

"If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking."

- R. Buckminster Fuller

An engaging storytelling ability is crucial to catch the attention of an ever-distracted audience. The best stories share the same essential elements, arranged in a specific order to gradually build tension, that makes us want to find out what happens next. Let’s learn together how to build a powerful story that our audience won't be able to keep their eyes off!

You’ve got a good reason to do what you do, but how can you present this reason in a compelling way to those who think differently? This is where the persuasion (learning with an emotional dimension) comes in.

It’s only by learning what really counts for your audience and why it does, that you can really figure out what kind of communication will be in alignment with their needs and values.

In order to identify their behaviour, their beliefs behind it, or the emotional drivers, try out the Mapping Technique.

Knowing your audience perfectly well is the cornerstone of every successful communication. So, there are three essential questions you need to get the answers to before you start crafting your campaign. The first one is about who you’re talking to, the second - about their behaviour related to your cause, and then the last one, to look for their motivation.

Most often when we notice media articles about a hacking incident, it is usually because the target (or a victim) is a larger, more well-known company to the public. When Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. are victims of a cyber-incident, and the media are naturally interested in the topic, and thus inform the public. However, almost regardless of the magnitude and sophistication of such attacks on well-established companies and organizations, they are almost always "resolved", i.e., they have their own beginning, course, and end, or resolution. The resolution is not always "positive" for the company institution: sometimes victims pay huge sums of money (usually in cryptocurrencies) to attackers in order to get their data back.

The second podcast of NIOK Foundation and Hive Mind focused on philanthropy as with Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, another celebration has arrived: Giving Tuesday! Unfortunately the podcast itself is in Hungarian, but for those who are yet to learn this wonderful language, we have collected some tips and thoughts for NGOs from the conversation.

We live in the Information Age. Our ability to synthesize and use information well is crucial to our fate and future well-being. Our Experts have been designing bespoke courses on topics that are relevant, set in a meaningful context and important. From making sense of the news online, to protecting your own or your organization’s digital safety and privacy.

We are happy to share with you a 10-episode video tutorial prepared by TechSoup Europe. We hope it will help you make eye-catching graphics for your content with CANVA: an online design and publishing tool available in basic version for free for everyone, and for nonprofits, also free of charge in the pro version.

In Hungary, when it comes to the analysis of news, fake news, or in general, any sort of medium, the most suitable subject is a media lesson to learn how to approach the topic. This subject, however, is riddled with so many problems in the already convoluted education system, that in 2020, in the first iteration of the latest National Curriculum, the subject almost got entirely removed.

On September 28-30, TechSoup held a three-day campaign, focused on teaching Digital Storytelling to Nonprofits and NGOs entitled "Lights, Camera, Take Action!". Its aim was to help organizations learn the basics of effective, impact storytelling during three days filled with online workshops led by top experts in the sector. Hive Mind was present there, too, and we are especially proud of the webinar session that was run as part of the event by our Polish Master Trainer and Localisation Expert on Building Positive Narratives, Hubert Sobecki.

On September 28-30, TechSoup will hold a three-day campaign, focused on teaching Digital Storytelling to Nonprofits and NGOs. Join free training today and make an impact with your story!

In this podcast episode, you will hear Jakub Górnicki talking to Tomáš Kriššák about the Project HOPE, within which a set of tools in the form of an online game was designed to help people tackle negative consequences of the Internet and the social media, including cyber-bullying and propaganda.

This podcast episode brings together Anna Chęć and "Klara", who is a TechSoup Europe trainer from Poland, a security researcher, a hacktivist, currently working as a software security engineer for a financial institution. In this episode you can listen to what are some of the key threats once you buy a smartphone and why it is important to secure it well.

In this episode Anna Chęć is talking to "Klara", who is - like Anna - a TechSoup Europe trainer from Poland, but on top of this, she is also a security researcher and a hacktivist. Anna and "Klara" are great at talking about complex security topics in an easy-to-digest, friendly and open manner. In this episode you can find out if there is such a thing as anonymity on the Internet.

In this episode of our “Let’s Talk Digital Resilience!” podcast series, we’ll be joined by Anna Chęć, talking to "Klara" (a real-deal hactivist), who are both TechSoup Europe trainers on Digital Safety & Security.

Do you ever look at the screen-time analysis on your smart phone and cannot believe the high number it displays? If not –great, but if you do –then this podcast is for you.

In this episode you will hear Jakub Górnicki talking to Kamil Śliwowski -

a Media Literacy, Open Educational Resources and Online Privacy expert.

Kamil explains how he has gone from becoming a techno-enthusiast to a real techie helping people better understand the negative effects of using technology...

Welcome to the Hive Mind podcast series: “Let’s Talk Digital Resilience!”, where we would like to offer you a chance to enjoy 5 meaningful conversations led by top experts in the field of media technology, online security, and digital wellbeing.

"Operational Security (OpSec) is a continuous process to ensure operational success in the face of adversaries. [...] Before you understand how to protect yourself, you should realise how to attack yourself."

- Melanie Rieback, CEO/Co-founder of Radically Open Security, NL

If you would like to learn more about being safe and resilient against cyber threats, watch the recording from the webinar we did on June 22, 2021,

led by Melanie Rieback and one of her ethical hackers, Stefan Marsiske.

"Bro/ Sis, Just Be YOURSELF. I got your back!" - 1st Community Building Billboard Campaign Targeting Siblings of LGBTIQ+ Persons.

Building resilience against disinformation.

Success stories at the grassroot level.

Missed any of our events, feeling like watching it again diving straight into the extra resources and materials? We've got it covered.

We'd like to invite young people associated in non-governmental organizations, informal groups, dialogue bodies and activists acting on their own to free online training sessions on disinformation, recognizing it, preventing and counteracting its negative effects. The training is addressed to all those who understand the importance of disinformation in public life, who would like to learn more about the ways it works, get specific tools of recognition and methods of dealing with it. We also invite people who actively participate in public life (also at the local level) and therefore are most vulnerable to disinformation actions aimed at undermining their credibility and the trust of public opinion, necessary to effectively fight for the public good or the interests of the groups they represent.