Germany
The GuideStar Europe project (April 2007 - October 2008) has assessed the feasibility of implementing GuideStar systems for four European countries, as well as a pan-European portal. Coordinated by GuideStar International, the project included partners with a track record in voluntary sector research, capacity building, and transparency development: DZI and MI (Germany) NIOK (Hungary), CBF (The Netherlands) and ICTR (Ireland). The project was co-funded by the European Commission under its eTEN programme and in several cases by governmental, private sector and philanthropic sources in member countries.
A GuideStar system provides an online, highly searchable catalogue of reports on the civil society organisations (CSOs) operating in a country. Guidestar Europe will draw together into a single relational database, information about the entire civil society sector in Europe, enhancing transparency and accountability while creating a knowledge infrastructure for the sector and its stakeholders. Based on the market analysis, the the next phase of the GuideStar Europe project is planned to include both a country by country roll out based on the deployment plan in the given country as well as a launch of a pan-European model.