Q24: What is the current annual budget of your organization?
Annual budgets for CEE NGOs range right across the board, but most groups have small budgets of less than USD 5,000. In fact, the largest proportion of NGOs (34 percent) report annual budgets of less than USD 500. One-seventh of NGOs (13 percent) survive on budgets from USD 501 to USD 1,000, and one-fifth (20 percent) operate on budgets between USD 1,001 and USD 5,000. Ten percent of NGOs exist on budgets between USD 5,001 and USD 10,000, and eleven percent on budgets between USD 10,001 and USD 50,000. Only a few NGOs (5.8 percent) operate on annual budgets exceeding USD 50,000. (See Figure 3.11)
There is a direct relationship between the size of an NGO's annual budget and its self-defined financial status. The majority of organizations (70 percent) with an annual budget of less than USD 500 characterized their financial status as poor or very poor, while only 11 percent of NGOs this size described their financial status as good or very good. On the other hand, about half of NGOs (47 percent) with annual budgets between USD 50,001 and USD 100,000, and two-thirds (67 percent) of NGOs with budgets greater than USD 100,001, judged their financial situations to be good or very good.
An analysis of the financial status of NGOs by specific countries reveals that the proportion of organizations that believe their financial situation is good or very good is higher than average in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia, and lower than average in Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary and Macedonia. Romanian NGOs seem to be particularly polarized, with large numbers of NGOs reporting their financial status as either good and very good or poor and very poor.
There is also a direct correlation between an NGO's financial status and other organizational characteristics. The profiles of NGOs that designated themselves as poor or very poor most often contain some or all of the following characteristics: unregistered, grassroots NGOs or political clubs with low active memberships (0-10 members) that operate in small towns and on the local level, and that identify ecological protest as their major activity. Poor organizations are also characterized by the absence of working relationships with national governments and by tense relationships with local governments. NGOs with an above average financial status are typically registered, operate in capital cities, were founded between 1980 and 1989, are active nationwide, and have close relationships with governmental agencies. NGOs who indicated they are traditional partners of the REC report a higher than average financial status.
Q25: What is the composition of the financial resources of your organization?
The most important sources of funding for NGOs, defined as comprising more than 50 percent of a group's total funding, include national private grants from domestic foundations (18 percent), membership dues (16 percent), and foreign grants (13 percent). Other important funding sources include fees for services (11 percent), government grants (9.8 percent), and grants received from the REC (8.7 percent). Fees for training (2.7 percent) and fees for publishing (1.6 percent) are much smaller sources of income.
National private donations or grants from domestic foundations are more important than average in Hungary and less important than average in Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia. Foreign grants are a more important source of funding in the Baltics, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Slovakia, and less important in Hungary and Slovakia. Membership dues are much more important in Albania, Bulgaria Croatia, Poland and Romania, and less important in the Baltics, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. REC grants play an integral role in financing NGOs in Albania, Bulgaria, and Macedonia, and are also important in the Baltics and Romania; they are less of a factor in the Czech Republic and Poland. In the case of the Czech Republic, this is probably due to the size of the country and the relatively large number of NGOs, as well as to the fact that no REC Local Office existed in that country until 1996.
There is a very close correlation between an NGO's financial status and the composition of its financial resources. NGOs that labeled themselves as poor or very poor often receive a significantly higher proportion of their resources from member dues and much less from foreign grants. Those in a good financial state rarely use member dues. Private donations and grants from domestic foundations are characteristic of NGOs with poor or unstable budgets. It seems that fees for different services don't contribute substantially to the financial success of NGOs. About 19 percent of NGOs obtain more than 25 percent of their budgets from sources such as fees for services, research and consulting; characteristically, it is more often a source of income for NGOs in the Czech Republic (32 percent) and Lithuania (28 percent), and for organizations in good or very good financial situations.
There is also a correlation between sources of income and annual budget. For NGOs with smaller budgets (less than USD 1,000), membership dues are significantly more important. NGOs with medium-sized budgets (USD 1,000 to USD 10,000) rely on all other possible sources of income. NGOs with budgets above USD 10,000 rely on foreign grants, government grants and income generated from their own activities.
As expected, the problems typical of successful and unsuccessful NGOs differ dramatically. Entirely successful NGOs mentioned excessive taxation more often than any other problem, while unsuccessful NGOs more frequently mentioned problems associated with conflict with local governments. Weak administration, poor management and a dearth of activists seem to be the main problems associated with unsuccessful and intermediately successful NGOs. Unsuccessful NGOs also tended to complain of the general weakness of the environmental movement, and of problems associated with registration. For successful NGOs, limited access to modern communication means was often highlighted as a hurdle.
Q77: To what extent do you believe that external support is crucial for the effective work of your organization?
The overwhelming majority of NGOs need external support. Almost all NGOs believe that external support is either critically necessary (41 percent) or somewhat important (54 percent), while only a small minority of NGOs (2.3 percent) believe there is no need for external support. NGOs in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and Macedonia expressed high expectations for financial assistance.
The proportion of NGOs that think external support is crucial for their environmental work is significantly higher among unsuccessful and fully successful NGOs. (see Figure 3.12)
A close relationship with the REC seems to correlate to an NGO's level of success. Unsuccessful NGOs often have never heard of the REC, groups with intermediate performance typically have occasional contact with the REC, and those that have received earmarked grants or local grants are successful more often than the average NGO.
In general, there is a correlation between an NGO's size (as determined by the budget and number of members) and the major problems it encounters. Weak management is a problem that is typically more important to NGOs with 501 to 1000 members. Limited access to means of communication plagues NGOs with 26 to 100 members, but is significantly less of an issue for NGOs with 0 to 10 members or more than 1000 members. Insufficient funding is more important to NGOs with 26 to 500 members. A lack of volunteers represents a problem for smaller NGOs. There is also a correlation between the age of an NGO and its judgment of significant problems. Problems accompanying official registration are obviously more important for younger organizations, especially those founded between 1989 and 1996.
The legal status of NGOs also correlates with their most significant problems. Problems associated with excessive taxation are significantly more important to regional umbrella organizations, non-profit foundations and environmental associations, and less of a problem for grassroots organizations. Tensions with national governments are mentioned more by regional umbrella organizations and political clubs but are a very minor problem overall. Conflicts with local governments, insufficient training and a dearth of activists are problems mentioned more often by grassroots organizations.
The specific needs and problems of CEE NGOs correlate with their operational levels. Local organizations identify tension with local governments, insufficient training and lack of volunteers as significant problems. At the regional level, general legislation, limited access to communication, technology and insufficient training were mentioned frequently. Problems with general legislation, excessive taxation and tensions with national governments are more significant for NGOs operating at the national level. In the international arena, excessive taxation, lack of cooperation and lack of activists are seen as significant problems.
The results show that problems are also related to the financial status of CEE NGOs. Very poor or poor NGOs more often cited registration, tension with local governments, limited access to communication technology and insufficient funding as major problems. NGOs that graded their financial status as very good or good more often cited problems associated with general legislation and excessive taxation.
Q78 to Q84: If you were given the opportunity to apply for a grant or other kind of support (not necessarily from the REC), which of the following would be most useful to your organization?
In order of priority, NGOs requested the following types of support:
Q85 to Q96: Consider you are being offered some training courses for the next year. Which of the following would be most useful to your organization?
More than two-thirds of NGOs (72 percent) believe that courses in fund raising would be very useful, and more than half (52 percent) believe that training courses in project management and proposal writing would be very useful. More than one-third of the groups that were surveyed (36 percent to 43 percent) listed training courses on media relations, financial management, negotiating, presentation skills, strategic planning, networking and management of volunteers as potentially very useful. One-third (33 percent) chose training courses on team building as very useful.
When the different priorities are assessed on a country-by-country basis, NGOs in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and Romania list training courses in strategic planning, management of volunteers, networking, team building, presentation skills, media relations, project management and proposal writing to be very useful. Training courses in financial management, presentation skills, media relations and project management were perceived as very useful by NGOs in Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. There is a higher demand for training courses in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and Romania than in all other CEE countries. The lowest demand for training courses is in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
Training on topics related to financial management seems to be more useful for successful NGOs, while project management and management of volunteers were requested more often by partially successful NGOs.
