Penza, 20 March 2013. PenzaNews. Fundraising for endowment fund of the local civil society was announced in Penza. This was stated at the meeting of the executive secretary of the nonprofit partnership of grant-giving organizations “Donors’ Forum” Natalia Kaminarskaya and the chairman of the Penza community foundation “Civil Union” Igor Zaydman with reporters at a press center of news agency PenzaNews on Wednesday, March 20.

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Natalia Kaminarskaya who arrived from Moscow for the opening event, reminded the participants of the press conference that the most famous endowment fund was established by the will of Alfred Nobel, and now the Nobel Prizes are given to scientists, artists, political and community leaders with interest on this endowment.

“In Russia, the law on endowment funds was adopted in December 2006. First endowments were set up by universities, museums, theaters, which do not limit themselves with the funds from the budget. And now there are around 100 endowment funds in the country raised with the help of charitable contributions from the business,” Natalia Kaminarskaya said.

She noted that in each region there are many challenges, which are successfully met by nonprofit community organizations and volunteer groups.

“I know that Penza has dozens of new communities, especially among the youth. The young people want to develop themselves and develop the city they live in. Last year we observed a series of events in support of those communities: “Blogger against Trash,” festivals “Good Penza,” “Jazz May,” Mozzhuhinsky Film Festival. All of them require money, which the local or regional budgets cannot allocate,” Natalia Kaminarskaya pointed out.

In turn, the chairman of the board of “Civil Union” the businessman Igor Zaydman informed that the representatives of business expressed their support of establishing the endowment fund for the local community.

Most importantly, according to the businessman, not the deputies and officials, but the active citizens of the region will be able to use the fund through their socially important projects: the endowment fund allows any resident of the Penza region to express themselves and leave a trace in the history of the place they live in.

Igor Zaydman reminded that Penza Community Foundation “Civil Union” initiated the establishment of the endowment fund, the interest on which will be shared with other communities.

“This nonprofit organization is a part of the charity fund by Vladimir Potanin, which means that if the region manages collecting three million rubles for the endowment fund, V. Potanin will increase this amount of money,” he stressed.

At the end of the press conference Natalia Kaminarskaya expressed her confidence in good chances of “Civil Union” raising the endowment fund in the Penza region.

“Sure enough, this is a very ambitious goal for any region, but we see the support of the government and local businesses here in your region. We see that “Civil Union” is given a lot of trust in Penza. And I would like to point out that they trust it in Moscow as well,” concluded the executive secretary of the nonprofit partnership of grant-giving organizations “Donors’ Forum.”