Lähellä.fi online portal for NGOs

Lähellä.fi (”Close by”) online portal offers NGOs free publicity vis-à-vis local citizens, fellow NGOs and the public sector.  

In Lähellä.fi national digital platform, NGOs are able to publicize their activities free of charge. Local residents typically use the site to look for peer and professional support, volunteer opportunities, as well as events or hobbies near them. Public officials in charge of residents’ counselling use the portal as a search engine to find support and activities to the individual customer.  

The awareness of your activities will spread far and wide through a multitude of interfaces, widgets and other technical solutions, so that your message will timely pop up in shared online activity calenders and other sites relevant to reaching your target group.   

In the Lähellä.fi web portal, you can advertise:  

• events organized online and offline
• hobbies and activities  
• your NGO’s basic services 
• help and support 
• peer support
• volunteer opportunities

Register your organization to become a content provider 

Lähellä.fi online service is meant for presenting activities that promote the common good. Organizations advancing citizens’ health and wellbeing are welcome to register themselves to the portal, as well as immigrant and other citizens’ associations. Even commercial companies are eligible to register to the extent that their pro bono and volunteer activities are concerned. 

NGOs will benefit from registration to the portal also due to the fact that the public sector utilizes the portal’s contact information database in communicating with them. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties use the platform to inform NGOs about funding sources or public facilities available for citizen activities. The portal also serves as a channel for inviting NGOs to participate in cooperation forums and pre-decision public consultation.