According to the most recent survey on public attitudes towards NGOs in 2024, several positive trends can be identified:

• Slow but steady growth in civic engagement.
• Giving and volunteering form the core of civic engagement in 20-24
• Sense of Representation: from 4.4/100 in 2018 to 15.0/100 in 2024 when asked if there are any NGOs in Bulgaria that represent and advocate on your behalf.
• Overall improvement of the public image of CSOs.

Of course, in addition to the good news in terms of growing trust in the work and importance of NGOs, challenges that, if not adequately addressed, can become threats or serious drivers of negative trends need to be well thought through:

• Continued relatively weak acceptance and identification with individual rights, freedom of expression, the right to vote, the rule of law over traditional values.
• Very low level of trust between members of society. 
• The passivity and apathy of young people who, unlike the generation of current 40–60-year-olds who participated in their youth in the great political protests and changes (1989 - 1997), have never been massively involved in a vibrant political and civic cause, nor like their peers in Western universities, participated in the debates on the big current social issues.
• The etatist sentiments in society.

You can find the full study in Bulgarian here.

The study is part of the project "Advance CSO Sustainable Growth", funded by the America for Bulgaria Foundation.