According to the Survey from 2009, commissioned by USAID, international donor organizations remain the major funder for NGO community in Serbia (75%). The biggest foreign donors are: USAID, the European Commission, the World Bank, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), British Embassy, Swedish Embassy, Dutch Embassy, Canadian Embassy, the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC).

Traditionally the biggest foreign supporter of civil society in Serbia, USAID has scaled down its activity, but will maintain support to CSOs in Serbia till 2015. Currently USAID is funding the Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI), a five‐year grant and capacity‐building program running from 2006 – 2011, implemented by Institute for Sustainable Communities in partnership with key local and regional CSOs. CSAI has a total budget of 18,5 million EUR and has so far given grants and assistance to over 188 CSOs, and delivered a series of 68 trainings on advocacy and various technical skills and reached 778 representatives of 147 CSOs in Mobile Advocacy School. The World Bank has been running a Small Grants/Civil Society Fund Program for Serbian CSOs since 2004, giving grants to around ten CSOs a year. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has provided 200,000 EUR for small‐scale community services in SW Serbia over two years under the auspices of UNDP’s PRO2 municipal support programme (EAR/CARDS 05). The Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) under the SECTOR Framework Programme (in cooperation with SIDA) has distributed 175,000 EUR over two cycles to environmental NGOs in small grants since 2007. 

Collectively, the various programmes and instruments through which the EU supports CSOs and their activities represent the largest single source of civil society funding in Serbia. In 2008 it was estimated that CSOs in Serbia received around 6 million EUR support from the EU through the CARDS (remaining funds), IPA Component I and II. The CARDS European Integration Fund (worth 1.6 million EUR), came to close in October 2009 after providing 16 grants to CSOs to carry out education and dialogue projects on the process of European integration. The CARDS Social Innovation Fund is a nationwide programme of grant support and capacity building, implemented by UNDP at the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, for CSOs and municipalities to tackle poverty alleviation through social and economic service‐delivery activities. The SIF has disbursed over 6 million EUR, secured from the state budget, the Kingdom of Norway and EC/UNDP, to support over 250 project’s. Since it inception in 2003 and is due to end in 2010. Under IPA Component I Strengthening Serbia‐EU Civil Society Dialogue grant scheme through a technical assistance will be provided to CSOs in worth of 4 million EUR (i.e. 8,5 million in period 2007‐2010 from IPA ). Under IPA II, CBC small grants to CSOs and municipalities for a range of socio‐economic two‐country partnership projects, with all EU and potential EU member countries. Additionally, EIDHR grant scheme with a budget of around 1.2 million EUR per two‐year period, supporting approximately twenty CSOs per cycle in the fields of human and minority rights is also available. CSOs are also eligible for Community Programmes such as Progress, the Youth in Action and Culture Programme.