Slovakia

Slovakia is a small country in the heart of Europe, and its complex history and ruling governments over the past decades have affected the third sector immensely. Slovakia’s voluntary organizations are financially dependent on third parties and receive financial support from the present government through grants offered by the Slovak Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Sport and the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family, as there is no financial support system that targets volunteering organizations and centers specifically (Country 2012). Once the Law of Volunteering was officially passed in 2011, the infrastructure for nonformal networks of volunteer centers was improved. However, the society’s lack of clarity of what volunteering means is best portrayed in the following statement of a young man helping at one of the youth centers in Bratislava. He said, “I am not a volunteer! I just simply do it... [Referring to volunteering],” which resonated in the volunteering community and was hence used as a basis for publishing a volunteering brochure for youth. Moreover, the Country Report Slovakia’s (2012) authors stated that there is a general lack of information about volunteering, as well as about its importance, and many people do not refer to themselves as being volunteers. This is perhaps because sports volunteering organizations do not operate like typical voluntary organizations such as the Slovak Red Cross. Nevertheless, it takes some time and explanation for people to realize that they are indeed volunteers. The lack of information, drive, enthusiasm, capacity, and sometimes the necessary negotiating skills makes volunteering in the nonprofit sector difficult. This general trend can be seen in every type of volunteering organization. Therefore, clearer communication, efficient promotion of volunteering possibilities, as well as some financial governmental support is needed to strengthen Slovakia’s decreasing volunteering sector.