About the project

The EYFA Help Desk project was established in 2017, thanks to generous support from Lush Charity Pot Germany. This is the space in Berlin, where activists – both groups and individuals, can come when they need an advice, a second opinion or a helping hand in terms of formal organizing, fundraising, legal support, but also group dynamics, sustainable activism, horizontal and inclusive organizing etc. We work as a consultation point one day per week and we are available online. We do not only support people with our knowledge, but also offer the space for sharing – skills, experiences, good practices – in the form of trainings, workshops, skillsharings or discussion. We strongly believe the knowledge is in the movement, but sometimes needs to be facilitated or welcomed in the proper space. This space EYFA, as the Help Desk project, offers and maintains as well.

We dedicate one day per week to informal groups and collectives with less access to other supporting structures and resources. We counseled projects, offered our feedback, facilitated a couple of meetings, shared plenty of materials (printed and digital), helped with translations and linked people to groups and individuals providing trainings (usually about self-organizing, direct actions and sustainable activism).

In the frame of the Help Desk, we
– organize workshops on a chosen topic (fundraising, collective organizing, meeting facilitation);
– assess funding applications, including official references;
– support groups in the reporting phase (collecting documentation, writing the report);
– organize skillsharing days about bureaucracy for informal collectives (bookkeeping, legal requirements, software and technical tools, communication platforms and skills);
– consult individuals and group members about the formal and legal requirements to register an organization in Germany.