Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), operating through the initiative of people, are valuable resources in contemporary economies and have grown rapidly worldwide; however, the development of NGOs in post-Soviet countries has been slower in more economically developed European countries. NGOs did not exist under the Soviet regime and only emerged in post-Soviet countries after the restoration of their independence. According to imprinting theory, when institutions are created within a new environment, they are still affected by previous knowledge, attitudes, and specific behavioral patterns. Relying on imprinting theory, our qualitative retrospective study explores the imprints of the Soviet regime and their manifestations in the development of NGOs in Lithuania in the post-Soviet period. Findings from semi-structured interviews with 30 creators and developers of early NGOs in Lithuania show that despite the new democratic norms being legitimized, many imprints of the Soviet period influenced the development of NGOs. While many negative manifestations are noted, we also find essential motivating factors that acted as impetuses for NGO development during the first decade after the restoration of independence in Lithuania.

非政府组织（NGO）通过人们的主动性运作，是当代经济中的宝贵资源，并在全球范围内迅速发展；然而，在经济较发达的欧洲国家，后苏联国家的非政府组织发展较慢。非政府组织在苏联政权下并不存在，仅在后苏联国家恢复独立后才出现。根据印记理论，当制度在新的环境中创建时，它们仍然受到以前的知识、态度和特定行为模式的影响。依靠印记理论，我们的定性回顾性研究探讨了苏联政权的印记及其在后苏联时期立陶宛非政府组织发展中的表现。对立陶宛 30 名早期非政府组织创建者和开发者的半结构化访谈结果表明，尽管新的民主规范已经合法化，但苏联时期的许多印记仍然影响着非政府组织的发展。尽管存在许多负面表现，但我们也发现了在立陶宛恢复独立后的第一个十年中推动非政府组织发展的重要激励因素。