Incentives for cooperate philanthropy, funding of CSOs by private businesses is extremely limited, if not negligible. Generally, this support comes in the form of small funds for one-off activities without any sense of strategic or social purpose, in the main because the business community does not yet understand the role of civil society. According to TACSO Needs Assessment Report, only 5 out of the 31 CSOs consulted ever having received support from the business sector. At the end of 2007, the Vodafone Company in Albania established the first, and so far only, commercially funded foundation for providing assistance to civil society initiatives, the Foundation Vodafone Albania. This intends to make a positive contribution to local communities by making direct grants to locally registered CSOs (and international NGOs) to support projects which will make a social impact, specifically in the fields of education, health, social welfare and environment. Target groups are people in need, especially children with special needs, as well as other vulnerable groups.
Businesses which pay standard profits tax may claim back tax on donations to CSOs of up to 4% of taxable income. For individual “traders” who pay small business taxes, tax may be deducted on donations of up to 1% of taxable income. This incentive remains, to all intents and purposes, notional as businesses have only made use of it on very rare occasions.
Individual giving to CSOs is similarly restricted and insignificant as a form of project or organizational support. There are no tax incentives to individual giving and Albania has no tradition or culture of this kind of philanthropy. Albania is one of the few countries in the region which provides no tax incentives for individuals to give charity.