Education for Democracy Foundation

What Education for Democracy Foundation does

Education for Democracy Foundation is a Warsaw-headquartered Polish non-governmental foundation established in 1989 that designs and delivers civic education, global education, and cross-border civil society programs. It serves Polish schools, teachers, NGOs, and civic activists, with significant program extension into Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries. The foundation operates as an intermediary: it secures grants from public donors (EEA/Norway Grants via Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NED, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation) and individuals via Poland's 1.5% tax mechanism, then either runs programs directly or regrants to downstream beneficiaries.

Core programmatic products include the RITA program (a long-running Polish-Ukrainian civil society exchange, with over 1,200 sub-projects funded across its lifetime), the Global Education (Edukacja Globalna) program including a regranting competition (37 NGOs supported in the 2026 edition with 704,294 PLN), the "Wspieramy Ukrainę" support line for Ukrainian civil society, and the recently launched "Space for Dialogue" project (2026-2030, 1,215,927 EUR). Digital products include the e-globalna.edu.pl educational portal, civicportal.education, the "Przepis na demokrację" civic education game, and a publications library. Methodological assets include adaptation of Norway's NCPD "dialogue" framework for the Polish context, giving the foundation an unusual content moat in deliberative civic pedagogy.

The business model is grant-funded and non-commercial. Revenue mechanics are project-based multi-year restricted grants, regranting flows, and individual donations; there is no fee-for-service pricing, no product revenue, and no AI/technology platform monetisation. Customer segments bifurcate into upstream donors (institutional public funders concentrated in three or four relationships) and downstream beneficiaries (a long tail of Polish schools, NGOs, and Ukrainian civic actors), creating a two-sided concentration profile typical of intermediary NGOs.

Name

Education for Democracy Foundation

Legal name

Fundacja Edukacja dla Demokracji

Website

https://fed.org.pl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Education for Democracy Foundation is a Warsaw-based Polish NGO founded in 1989 that runs civic and global education programs, regrants donor funds to Polish and Ukrainian civil society, and produces educational content and dialogue methodology for schools and NGOs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Education and Civil Society Support Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Democracy, Human Rights & Governance Assistance (BPADABAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), International Development & Donor-Funded Education Programs (EDADALAB), NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC)

Keywords

• Civic education services
• Grant-making services
• NGO capacity building
• Democracy education
• Civil society development

Headquarters

HQ city

Warsaw

HQ country

Poland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding from Donors: FED receives grants from government budgets (Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs), international organizations (EEA/Norway Grants, National Endowment for Democracy), and foundations (Polish-American Freedom Foundation) to operate grant programs and implement projects
2. 1.5% Tax Donations: Polish taxpayers can donate 1.5% of their income tax to the foundation. These funds support Ukraine support activities, refugee initiatives in Poland, and educational projects
3. Edukacja Globalna Regranting: FED receives government funding (917,070 PLN for 2024-2026) to distribute as grants to NGOs through competitive calls for global education projects

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Fundacja Edukacja dla Demokracji is a Polish non-profit foundation that operates grant-making programs and provides training, educational resources, and capacity-building services to NGOs, schools, teachers, and local activists in Poland and Eastern Europe (primarily Ukraine). It manages donor-funded regranting schemes such as RITA, Edukacja Globalna, the EEA Civil Society Fund, and Wspieramy Ukrainę, while also producing digital learning platforms (e-globalna.edu.pl, civicportal.education), educational publications, and dialogue-training curricula aimed at strengthening civil society and democratic participation.

Product overview

Education for Democracy Foundation operates as a grant-making foundation with a portfolio of interconnected programs and educational platforms. The core offerings include: (1) grant programs - RITA for Eastern Partnership countries, Civil Society Fund EOG, Wspieramy Ukraine, and Active Citizens Regional Fund; (2) digital platforms - e-globalna.edu.pl for global education resources and civicportal.education for e-learning courses; (3) educational materials - printed games like 'Przepis na demokrację', publications like 'Dialog publiczny w praktyce', and training curricula; and (4) training services including workshops, matchmaking programs like Swatka, and the five-year 'Przestrzeń do rozmowy' dialogue promotion project. The foundation functions as both a program operator managing international donor funds and an educational content provider serving NGOs, schools, and local activists in Poland and Ukraine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RITA – Przemiany w regionie: Grant program for Polish NGOs cooperating with partners from selected former USSR countries, promoting democratic, social, and economic changes.
• Edukacja Globalna
• Fundusz Społeczeństwa Obywatelskiego EOG
• Wspieramy Ukrainę
• Przestrzeń do rozmowy
• Aktywni Obywatele – Fundusz Regionalny
• Szkoła Aktywnego Sektora
• Swatka
• E-globalna.edu.pl
• Przepis na demokrację

Products and services

• RITA – Przemiany w regionie

Quantifiable outcome

• 450+ people in 96 Ukrainian communities developed local diagnoses in the last 6 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego (Stefan Batory Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Consortium partner in the Civic Society Fund EOG program. Together with FED, Stocznia Foundation, Fundacja Wspomagania Wsi, and Civil Society Norway, coordinates grant programs strengthening civil society in Poland until 2032.
• Fundacja Stocznia (Stocznia Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Consortium partner in Civic Society Fund EOG and co-implementer of the 'Space for Dialogue' project promoting public dialogue and depolonization in Poland.
• Civil Society NorwaycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Norwegian partner in the Civic Society Fund EOG consortium, contributing to bilateral relations and knowledge exchange between civil societies.
• Fundacja Wspomagania Wsi (Rural Development Foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Consortium partner in Civic Society Fund EOG, focusing on strengthening rural civil society organizations.
• Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue (NCPD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Norwegian organization providing dialogue methodology for the 'Space for Dialogue' project. NCPD methodology focuses on openness to others and respect for differences, creating spaces for dialogue across conflict lines.
• Toczka Dostępu (Access Point)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUkrainian partner organization implementing projects on local community development and EU integration support in Ukrainian oblasts.
• Stowarzyszenie Nasze Podole (Our Podolia Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term Ukrainian partner for local governance reform and civil society development projects in Khmelnytsky and other oblasts.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• National Democratic Institute (NDI): US-based NGO supporting democratic institutions and civic participation worldwide, including in Ukraine and Poland. Sister organization to IRI with comparable programmatic focus on democratic governance, citizen participation, and civil society strengthening.
• National Endowment for Democracy (NED): US-based private foundation funding democracy support programs worldwide. Active financial partner of FED for Ukraine local governance reform; operates at much larger scale across many countries but pursues the same democracy-support mission.
• Open Society Foundations: Global grantmaking network supporting democracy, human rights, and civil society. Comparable mission to FED but at substantially larger scale and global geographic reach; funds many Polish and Ukrainian civil society organizations.
• International Republican Institute (IRI): US-based democracy and civil society support organization operating in Poland and Ukraine. Similar mission to FED in democratic governance support, though typically delivers technical assistance and training rather than regranting.

Direct peers

• Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) Poland: German political foundation active in Poland with civic education, rule of law, and EU integration programming. Operates a similar grantmaking-plus-training model serving Polish civil society and comparable to FED's mandate.
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) Poland: German political foundation operating in Poland with civic education, democracy promotion, and social dialogue programs. Directly comparable grantmaking and training activities serving Polish civil society.
• Stocznia Foundation (Fundacja Stocznia): Warsaw-based foundation focused on civic participation, public policy, and social innovation. Co-implementer of the Space for Dialogue project with FED and consortium partner in the Civic Society Fund EOG.
• Fundacja Wspomagania Wsi (Rural Development Foundation): Polish foundation supporting rural civil society and local development. Direct consortium partner with FED in the Civic Society Fund EOG, with overlapping NGO grantmaking and training activities.
• Stefan Batory Foundation (Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego): Poland's largest grantmaking democracy and civil society foundation. Direct consortium partner in the Civic Society Fund EOG program through 2032, with overlapping mission (democracy, rule of law, human rights) and grantmaking model.
• Forum for Dialogue (Fundacja Forum Dialogu): Polish foundation running dialogue programs between Poles and Ukrainians, among other communities. Directly comparable to FED's Space for Dialogue work, with similar Nansen-methodology-adjacent focus on cross-community understanding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Fundacja-Edukacja-dla-Demokracji-387893824747040
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/education-for-democracy-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Education for Democracy Foundation