SECTOR Organisational Viability

The organisational viability component is aimed at increasing knowledge among civil society organisations (CSOs) of organisational planning tools, which they can use to: become more effective in their activities; strengthen their organisational sustainability; and increase their relevance towards the citizens in their communities. Methodology Organisational assessment tool (OAT) The project team will first develop an organisational assessment tool (OAT), which will be used to help a number of CSOs in each target country to assess their internal structures and values, determine their legitimacy in society and establish the degree of representation of their target groups and members. The CSOs selected in each country will undergo an organisational assessment that will pinpoint those key areas in need of development (i.e. institutional, organisational, programmatic and inter-organisational networking, partnership and communication). The assessment methodology will be designed to consider the different areas of the organisation and use iterative assessment tools whenever possible. These include compliance boards (audit), performance indicators and performance measurement frameworks (capacities). The findings of the organisational assessments of each CSO will be used to draw a development plan that will lead to better resource and programme management with short and long-term steps. Grants will be available to help the participating CSOs to implement certain key actions identified in the development plans. After the assessment, the performance of each CSO during the implementation of their development plan will be reviewed on a regular basis. These reviews will enable the project team to support the organisations throughout the process. Training and coaching will be provided on the topics that are instrumental to ensuring overall organisational success and sustainability. Activities The development of the organisational assessment tools (OATs) will be the central activity of this project. The first version of the organisational assessment methodology will be piloted in Croatia, and then adapted into a final version to be further used across the project region. Approximately 10 CSOs per country will be supported in using the OAT developed. Development plans for these organisations will be drawn up and implemented with the assistance of further grants and training. A group of CSO members from the implementation countries, and some REC staff, will be trained to use the OAT methodology in order to build the human capacity needed for the long-term use of this product and thus the impact of this component in SEE. Timeline June – December 2006 Design of organisational assessment tool and training January – September 2007 Selection of pilot country CSOs operating in communities April 2007 – September 2008 Carrying out organisational assessments and developing CSO development plans October 2007 – September 2009 Implementation of CSO development plans (funds and consultation) October – December 2009 Finalising organisational assessment tool January – March 2010 Evaluation and dissemination Results A mechanism (OAT) for CSOs to carry-out self-assessments and supporting them as they implement planned organisational change will be developed. It will measure effectiveness and sustainability from the organisational, institutional and programmatic standpoints. Training of trainer courses will ensure that there is a pool in each country of up to 10 local trainers able to conduct and support organisational assessments and training to improve the effectiveness of CSOs in the future. At least 60 CSOs from SEE will go through the organisational assessment phase and will prepare a development plan. At least 25 CSOs out of the 60 mentioned above will implement development plans for better resource and programme management.

Calls for applications for organisational viability support: Call for trainers (224 KB - doc) Call for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) (240 KB - doc) CSO Questionnaire for downloading (713 Kb - doc file) Contents of this page: Methodology Activities Time line Results See also: NGO Support: viable development