What Information Center is?
Information Center is one of the main working areas of STGM and its main purpose, like all other STGM activities, is to support the strengthening of organizations. This support can take the form of sharing knowledge and expertise, working together, providing advices, and delivering institutional coaching and needs-based training.
The Way of working
Once CSOs submit their enquiries or request active works from the Information Centre, experts of the center examine requests first and then provide a compilation of information to enquirers in accordance with the experiences and knowledge of the STGM. The accumulative knowledge of organizations is also crucial for the formation of growing knowledge. As a consequence, knowledge and experience accumulated at the Information Center will spread back to CSOs from this point.
The CSO Support Point consists of three types of mechanisms:
1- Information Dissemination
The Information Center generates knowledge and open resources, available for all.
STGM has been working with wide range of CSOs all over Turkey for a long time. Thanks to these studies, we gain knowledge about the basic and up-to-date needs of CSOs. The first exercise, we carry out on mentioned issues is information generation and resource creation. Then, we share them on the Information Center page, STGM publications page, E-Library and on our YouTube channel.
In order to contribute to the sustainability of CSOs in Turkey and support their resource development efforts, we regularly search for funding opportunities for civil society and publish them on our main page.
Besides, Funding Sources Database that encompasses information of several international funding institutions and organizations, Academician / Researcher Database which aims to provide contributions to the strengthening of the linkages between non-governmental organizations and academia in Turkey, and our Networks-Platforms Database are available as open sources.
Depends on the topic, knowledge and resources can be in the form of announcements, guides, information notes, FAQs, video interviews, video seminars and trainings. These sources are available at any time for all CSOs.
2- Opinion Provision and Advice Giving
Open sources of the Information Center contain basic and general information. However, if an organization needs to receive opinions and recommendations for their own specific conditions/status, the Information Center provides guidance and advices in these circumstances.
If information you have reached through open sources of the STGM is not sufficient for you or if you need to have more opinions and advices, please reach out to STGM Information Center by:
- sending an e-mail to [email protected], or,
- calling (+90) 312 442 4262 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 13.30-17.30. Please remember to dial Information Center in the menu of the switchboard.
The duration to meet requests usually varies depending on the content of the enquires. Information Center experts work on enquires and as a general principle, reply to your requests in 2 working days. In cases where the request requires a wider and in-depth investigation and / or consultation process, the support point experts will return to you within 7 working days as a principle.
3- Direct & Active Supports
Sometimes providing opinions and recommendations are not enough and you may need to convene and work together. We define these situations as the third level support of the Information Center.
CSOs are able to work directly with the STGM Support Point experts and/or the relevant STGM experts within the scope of specific works that they carry out. Pursuant to specific needs of CSOs, this type of support may compose of different forms such as holding one-to-one meetings, giving advice on projects of CSOs or providing support to works carried out / to be carried out by CSOs.
Direct & active supports are open to all CSOs. Requests for direct and active supports are assessed by experts of Information Center by taking STGM expertise and capacity into account and preliminary study for working method in the form of recommendations are proposed to the enquirer.
Please be informed that our working together approach never turns into a form of undertaking the actual work on your behalf. On the other hand, we sometimes need to prioritize requests, when demands for these supports exceeds our capacity. In these cases, we would like to mention that we will give priority to the demands of right-based CSOs.
For direct and active support requets, you can contact Information Centre by:
- sending an e-mail to [email protected], or,
- calling (+90) 312 442 4262 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 13.30-17.30. Please remember to dial Information Center in the menu of the switchboard.
CSO Support Point provides supports on followings;
- Law and legislations on CSOs,
- Economic enterprise,
- Fundraising and resource development,
- Project management,
- EU funded grant projects management
- Civil networks, platforms and partnerships
- Collaboration with Volunteers.
- Communication,
- Advocacy,
- Organizational Coaching / Mentorship
Following topics and methodologies are not (cannot be) covered by activities of Information Center
- Topics remaining out of STGM’s activity field,
- Demands which are targeting, containing hate speech and discrimination, violation of rights,
- Actions that should be undertaken by the CSO itself (e.g. writing a project, preparing a logical framework matrix),
- Demands for referrals to fee-based services (for instance; a specific lawyer or consulting firm).
Working Principles of Information Center?
Basis: The principles and values of STGM are also unconditionally valid for the Information Center.
Equal treatment: All consultation requests received by the Information Center are handled equally. However, priority can be given to rights-based organizations, which are the main target group of STGM.
Confidentiality: Personal and corporate information shared with the Information Center are kept confidential. However, this information can be used by being anonymized for reporting purposes.
Accessibility: There are different communication tools are available to ensure that all CSOs in Turkey can have access to the Information Center.
Availability: The Information Center has the necessary measures to be accessible to individuals with different characteristics. It is updated basing on the emerging needs and possibilities.
Generality and Subjectivity: The Information Center responds to the organization-specific needs as well as the general and common ones of CSOs.
Empowering Together: STGM considers that main actors of the empowerment are organizations themselves. Starting from this point, the Information Center does not carry out the works “for” organizations but provides supports for empowerment of organizations. STGM gets stronger together with CSOs in the mutual learning process.
Disclaimer for the Information Center Activities
STGM presents its opinions and suggestions regarding the information and consultation requests sent to the Information Center and pays the utmost attention during the preparation of these opinions and advices. Enquirers are responsible for the consequences that arise or may arise in line with the support, and STGM and its employees do not accept any responsibility for the decisions taken by the enquirers.