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Participation of Baja California Sur’s civil society has become more
specialized over time as nonprofit organizations have gained
training, external partnerships, and the ability to finance their
various programs and projects. This is due as much to the search for
alternatives to remedy problems, as to having established long-term
substantive solutions to meet complex needs. The arrival of external
organizations and foundations has considerably favored the maturing
process of civil organizations in the state by bringing financial
resources to implement longer-term projects. Nonetheless, the state
still has a large number of under-capitalized organizations that
have no access to sources of international financing, many of which
lack the most basic infrastructure such as computers, archives,
office space, and Internet access). Without this critical operating
support, these nonprofits can stagnate or disintegrate, even if they
are addressing a real need in the community.
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The
conditions under which the majority of local nonprofits operate are
further aggravated by the still incipient culture of philanthropy
that prevails in the country. Although history shows that Mexicans
have undertaken extraordinary feats of solidarity and volunteerism,
the mechanisms for effective philanthropy have not been concretely
established in Mexico. Many donations are thwarted by complicated
fiscal procedures and insufficient tax incentives. Under such
conditions, nonprofit organizations depend on scarce government
resources to attempt to solve large and complex national problems,
as well as on their own ability to encourage interested individuals
to work voluntarily.
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