Catalyst Balkans is a foundation dedicated to transforming the nonprofit sector in the Western Balkans through philanthropy and technology. We empower nonprofits to build stronger connections with their supporters, embrace digital transformation, and achieve lasting impact. By combining cutting-edge research, digital tools, and community engagement strategies, we help NPOs transition to sustainable, democratized funding models that prioritize local support and civic participation.
Our work focuses on two core programmatic pillars:
Philanthropy and Engagement: We enhance NPOs’ capacity to mobilize grassroots support and leverage local resources through the fundraising platform Donacije.rs, the Fundraising Accelerator program, and custom tools. Using AI-driven philanthropy research, we provide actionable insights to support NPOs, funders, and policymakers while advocating for an enabling environment for giving.
Technology and Artificial Intelligence: We guide NPOs in adopting smart and ethical digital solutions through capacity building initiatives and tools such as CiviCRM. By leveraging partnerships with global initiatives, we ensure NPOs access the best technology to drive social impact.
Together, we are reimagining and amplifying the impact of the nonprofit sector.
After over a decade of experience in community development, nonprofit capacity-building, and philanthropy sectors, Alex and I recognized a unique opportunity to establish an organization dedicated to generating research knowledge to expand and deepen the philanthropic ecosystem in the Western Balkans. We viewed this as a conscious step towards contributing to long-term change, a transformation that would take several decades to realize fully. Thus, Catalyst Balkans emerged as a driving force to catalyze and strengthen the efforts of numerous stakeholders in the ecosystem, supporting their endeavors to achieve even greater impact.
Our founder Nathan Koeshall’s Story about Catalyst Balkans
Remembering Aleksandra Vesić Antić (1969-2021) Senior Advisor and Co-founder of Catalyst Balkans
To some, she was Sandra, to others, Aleks, but to us at Catalyst Balkans, she was a friend, advisor, visionary, moral compass, critic, architect of philanthropy, mentor, role model, and unwavering voice of integrity, inspiring us all to be better human beings. She was an activist, a feminist, a strategist, a board member, a program evaluator, a mentor, a proposal reviewer, an individual donor, and a consistent advocate for transparent action, encouraging us all to be more transparent organizations. The methodologies, strategies, approaches, regulations, drafts, open letters, petitions, research papers, texts, evaluations, processes, and systems she wrote or devised, signed or unsigned, bear witness to her profound and immense contributions to the realms of civic activism, philanthropic development, and feminist thought and action in Serbia, the Western Balkans, and the world.