Civil society organizations belong to the non-profit sector, which is also called the third sector. Their existence is not aimed at making a profit, but at solving perceived challenges in the community, that is, society. The aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent such organizations contribute to the concept of sustainable development. Sustainable development in the contemporary context is divided into three equally important components: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and socio-political sustainability. In September 2015, the member states of the UN accepted the program: "Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (Agenda 2030)" and committed to achieve 17 goals of sustainable development by 2030, which are interconnected and which provide an answer to recognized global challenges in different areas. For the purpose of this research, four local action groups (LAGs) were selected in the area of eastern Croatia: LAG Baranja, LAG Karašica, LAG Strossmayer and LAG Vuka-Dunav. The research is focused on their analysis and contribution to the global goals of sustainable development, 17 of them, which are presented through the UN "Agenda 2030". Results obtained from the research show that civil society organizations operating in the mentioned LAGs try to directly or indirectly contribute to the realization of most of the 17 global goals for sustainable development, as well as that their missions and strategic goals are in line with the global goals of sustainable development.