A Survey of Environmental Civil Society Organizations in SEE
PART A – NGO DIRECTORY ENTRY
Data from Part A of the questionnaire will be published as your organizations’ entry in the new NGO directory.
Name of the group/organization (original name - including all accents):
Name of the group/organization (English translation):
Abbreviation/Short form of the name (English and Original language):
Country:
Town:
Postcode:
P.O.Box:
Street and number:
Telephone [(country code-city code) number], eg. (36-26) 504-000
Fax [(country code-city code) number], eg. (36-26) 311-294
E-mail address:
Web Site address:
Leader of the organization and her/his position: <First Name> < Last Name>, <Position>
For example: John Smith, Executive Director
Contact person (if different from above):<First Name> < Last Name>, <Position>
Year when the organization was first formed:
Is your organization formally (legally) registered?
Registered
Not registered
If registered, year of last (active) registration:
If your organization is legally registered, what type of registration does it have?
assosiation
foundation
public organization
I don’t know
other please specify:
How many people are employed in your organization (full time and part time)?
How many members does your organization have?
How many volunteers participate in your activities?
Current annual budget (choose one that applies):
no budget
up to 500 EUR
5001 – 1000 EUR
1001 – 5000 EUR
5001 – 10,000 EUR
10,001 – 50,000 EUR
50,000 – 100,000 EUR
above 100,000 EUR
don’t know
Sources of funding (tick all that apply):
domestic government/public sector grants or donations
domestic government/public sector contracts
foreign government/international public sector grants or donations
foreign government/international public sector contracts
domestic foundations donations/grants
foreign/international foundations donations/grants
domestic business/corporate sponsorship, donations or grants
foreign/international business/corporate sponsorship, donations or grants
other private/citizens donations or grants
membership dues (fees)
fees and charges for mission-related services (economic activity) i.e. research, consulting, education and training
fees from rentals or other assets (investments, copyrights)
Subsidiary businesses and/or product sales
Main topics your organization is active on: (tick all that apply)
agriculture / organic / traditional farming
air quality / air pollution
animal protection / wildlife
biodiversity
certification and labeling
climate change
consumer protection/rights
economic instruments
energy/nuclear
energy/renewable and energy efficiency
environmental education/education for sustainable development
environmental legislation
environmental policy making
forestry
genetically modified organisms/biotechnology
globalization and international policy
nature protection
rural development
sustainable development
sustainable/green consumption
tourism / sustainable- / eco- tourism
toxics, chemicals and POPs
transport / traffic
urban environment
waste issues
water issues
Activities (tick all that you do):
advisory services
awareness raising campaigns
campaigning/protest actions/direct action
cleaning up actions, camps
community organizing and planning (LA21, LEAP)
conferences, meetings
education
environmental impact assessment (SEA, EIA, others)
environmental management
fieldwork
information dissemination
legal advocacy
lobbying
media/press
monitoring/measurement (technical)
negotiation and dialogue facilitation
networking
policy implementation
public meetings
public participation
publishing
research
social marketing
training/capacity building
watchdog (scrutinizing public/private activity)
Level of activity (tick all that apply):
local
regional (region within the country)
national
international
Which umbrella organizations or networks are you a member of or involved with (at the national, sub-regional or international levels)? (Please list them)
National:
Sub-regional (SEE):
Regional (European) and International (World-wide):
Languages spoken:
Comment/short narrative (successful actions, finished projects, etc):
<maximum 50 words>
Your key publications (title, year, frequency):
<maximum 50 words>
PART B – CSO Assessment
Data from Part B of the questionnaire will not be published; it will be used strictly for research and evaluation on the needs and status of the civil society sector. Please try to answer as many questions as you can.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKThis section evaluates the legislative framework for CSO work and the regulations in place.
REGISTRATION ISSUES
Q1. If you are legally registered, how would you evaluate the procedural complexity of the registration process? (tick the applicable option in each column):
Bureaucracy / Financial / Legal
clear and simple
unclear, complicated, overly bureaucratic / requiring significant financial resources
not requiring significant financial resources / requiring services of a lawyer for the registration procedure
Not requiring services of a lawyer for the registration procedure
Q2. If you are legally registered, which of the following best characterizes the way in which your organization’s registration corresponds to its intended activities? (tick only one option):
We have the full legal capacity to engage in our intended activities
Our registration is a formality and is not relevant to our activities
We intend to amend our registration to conform to our activities or to change our activities
We sometimes have difficulties with the authorities concerning certain activities due to our registration status
REPORTING ISSUES
Q3. Which of the following documents does your organization produce on a regular basis? Please select the reports you prepare and indicate those reasons why you produce them. (tick all that apply)
Type of report / Why you produce it?
Activity report (annual report) / Required by law
Required by internal rules of the organization
Required under contract (donors etc)
Facilitates fundraising
Information for members
Public information and outreach
Financial report (accounts) / Required by law
Required by internal rules of the organization
Required under contract (donors etc)
Facilitates fundraising
Information for members
Public information and outreach
Q4. If you are legally registered, which of these tax exemptions apply to your organization? (tick all that apply)
Is your organization exempted according to the law from the following taxes? / How do you evaluate the procedure for obtaining the reimbursement of the taxes you are exempted from (tick all that apply):
Income taxes for grants, donations / It is fairly easy-to-use and reasonably fast
The procedure is somewhat burdensome but works
The tax rules are applied inconsistently
The procedure is too complicated and we do not invest our time in it
Income taxes on generated fees / It is fairly easy-to-use and reasonably fast
The procedure is somewhat burdensome but works
The tax rules are applied inconsistently
The procedure is too complicated and we do not invest our time in it
Employment taxes / It is fairly easy-to-use and reasonably fast
The procedure is somewhat burdensome but works
The tax rules are applied inconsistently
The procedure is too complicated and we do not invest our time in it
VAT / It is fairly easy-to-use and reasonably fast
The procedure is somewhat burdensome but works
The tax rules are applied inconsistently
The procedure is too complicated and we do not invest our time in it
Other (specify) / It is fairly easy-to-use and reasonably fast
The procedure is somewhat burdensome but works
The tax rules are applied inconsistently
The procedure is too complicated and we do not invest our time in it
Q5. Are donations to your organization from individuals and corporations tax deductible? (tick only one option):
Yes
No
I don’t know
ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES
In this section we wish to assess CSO access to resources, their financial status and the potential problems organizations may have in accessing resources as a basic precondition for operations.
FUNDING
Q6. How would you evaluate the financial status/viability of your organization? (tick only one option)
Very Good (We do not have any serious financial problems)
Good enough (Basically we have enough funding to support our main activities, but some of our current and/or prospective programmes are lacking financing)
Unstable (Most of our projects are experiencing financial difficulties)
Poor (We can hardly maintain our basic activities/projects because of insufficient funding)
Very poor (We do not receive any funding)
Q7. Approximate the relative importance (proportion of your current budget) of the main funding sources for your organization (try to make approximately 100 % from the different types):
Type of funding / Critical source (>50%) / very important source (+25%) / somewhat important (5 – 25%) / minor source (<5%) / not a source / don’t know
F1 - domestic government/public sector grants or donations
F2 - domestic government/public sector contracts
F3 – foreign government/international public sector grants or donations
F4 – foreign government/international public sector contracts
F5 – domestic foundations donations/grants
F6 – foreign/international foundations donations/grants
F7 –domestic business/corporate sponsorship, donations or grants
F8- foreign/international business/corporate sponsorship, donations or grants
F9- other private/citizens donations or grants
F10 – membership dues (fees)
F11 – fees and charges for mission-related services (economic activity) i.e. research, consulting, education and training
F12 – fees from rentals or other assets (investments, copyrights)
F13 – subsidiary businesses and/or product sales
MATERIAL
Q8. How would you characterize the status of your organization’s equipment resources? (tick only one option)
Excellent (we have all the equipment that we need)
Adequate (we more or less have what we need to do our activities)
Inadequate (we don’t have the required equipment and it hinders our activities)
None (we have no equipment and it is damages our prospects)
Q9. Which of the following options best describes your organization’s accommodation? (tick only one option)
Our organization owns its own office space
We rent (or given for free) the office space we need for our work
Sometimes we rent rooms or another space for our work
We work informally or in the working places of our members
We do not need any room for our work
STAFF
Q10.If you have paid staff or external specialists (both part-time or full-time), please indicate how many your organisation employs or contracts under the following functions? (write numbers in the boxes below)
Type of PositionNumber
Managers
Project Staff
Administrative/clerical staff
External Project staff/consultants
External accountants/bookkeepers
Legal Advisors/Lawyers
Q11. Considering all the people ‘actively’ involved in your organization (staff, members and volunteers), please estimate the percentage that are women. (tick only one option)
More than 80% are women
Between 60 and 80% are women
Between 40 and 60% are women
Between 20 and 40% are women
Less than 20% are women
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITIES
This section looks at the capacities of organizations, trainings they have access to and needs in organizational development.
ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Q12. Organizational performance: How would you evaluate the overall performance of your organization in achieving its goals over the last year, regardless of the reasons? (tick only one option)
unsuccessful performance (unfortunately we mostly failed to achieve the goals that we have identified)
partially unsuccessful performance (some of the goals were partly achieved, but most were not)
intermediate performance (several goals were achieved, while several others were not)
partially successful performance (many of our goals were achieved, but some were not)
fully successful performance (we have achieved all the goals that were identified for last year)
difficult to say (don’t know; we did not really evaluate our goals)
Q13. Organizational effectiveness: Within your organization, please evaluate the importance of the following strategic and planning tools. (please tick the appropriate box in each row)
Very important, this tool is key to our organizational planning and is closely adhered to / Important, this tool is regularly used as planning mechanism and mostly followed / Somewhat important, we use this tool, but it is only partially applied / Less important, we only occasionally or informally use such a tool for our planning, but it is seldom followed / Not important, we do not use such a planning tool
Strategic planning of our activities
Fundraising Strategy
Human resources strategy
Communication and/or PR strategy
Business planning
Others, please specify
Q14. Organizational efficiency: Within your organization, please evaluate the importance of the following administrative procedures. (please tick the appropriate box in each row)
Very important, this procedure is key to our organizational management and is fully adhered to / Important, this procedure is fairly well developed for management and mostly followed / Moderately important, this is somewhat developed, but it is partially followed / Less important, this is informally developed, and is seldom followed / Not important, we do not have or use a procedure
Financial Management
Human Resource Management
Operations Manual
Project Management System
TRAINING ISSUES
Q15. Which of the following options best describe your organization’s approach to training? (tick all that apply)
our organization invests funds into staff training on a regular basis
our staff attends only trainings that are free of charge
our organization follows a staff development strategy when it comes to training
our staff attends trainings that are relevant to the organization’ development needs
our organization encourages its staff to attend as many trainings as possible
our organization lets the staff attend any training they consider appropriate
our organization doesn’t think training is important
Don’t know
Q16. Evaluate if the training offered for civil society meets the training needs of your organization? (tick only one option)
Very Good (We have all that we need)
Good enough (Basically we have enough possibilities to answer our needs, but in some areas we see gaps)
Insufficient (Many of the needs are not addressed)
Poor (Some training is available but it is insufficient)
Very poor (We do not receive any training)
Q17. Did your organization undergo any training needs analysis in the three past years?
Yes
No
Don’t know
Q18. If your organization had the opportunity to participate in training courses on the following organizational issues, please indicate. (please tick the appropriate box in each row)
Management topics / Very useful / Somewhat useful / Not useful
Organizational Strategy
Strategic planning of activities
Fundraising Strategy
Human Resources Strategy
Communication and/or PR strategy
Business Planning
Organizational Processes
Financial Management
Human Resource Management
Operational and administrative processes
Project Management system
Other relevant skills
Database design and maintenance
Desktop publishing
GIS application
Hardware/software installation and management
Management of volunteersManagement of volunteers
Presentation skills
Proposal writing
Team building
Webpage management
Q19. If your organization had the opportunity to participate in training courses on the following topics, please indicate their usefulness. (please tick the appropriate box in each row)
Environmental Topics / Very useful / Somewhat useful / Not useful
T1 - agriculture / organic / traditional farming
T2 - air quality / air pollution
T3 - animal protection / wildlife
T4 – biodiversity
T5 - certification and labeling
T6 - climate change
T7 – consumer protection/rights
T8 - economic instruments
T9 – energy/nuclear
T10 – energy/renewable and energy efficiency
T11 - environmental education/education for sustainable development
T12 - environmental legislation
T13 - environmental policy making
T14 – forestry
T15 - genetically modified organisms/biotechnology
T16 – globalization and international policy
T17 - nature protection
T18 – rural development
T19 – sustainable development
T20 – sustainable/green consumption
T21 - tourism /sustainable-/ eco- tourism
T22 – toxics, chemicals and POPs
T23 - transport / traffic
T24 – urban environment
T25 - waste issues
T26 - water issues
Q20. If your organization had the opportunity to participate in the following skills development training courses, please indicate their usefulness. (please tick the appropriate box in each row)
Very useful / Somewhat useful / Not useful
A1 - advisory services
A2 - awareness raising campaigns
A3 - campaigning/protest actions/direct action
A4 - cleaning up actions, camps
A5 - community organizing and planning (LA21, LEAP)
A6 - conferences, meetings
A7 – education
A8 - environmental impact assessment (SEA, EIA, others)
A9 – environmental management
A 10 – fieldwork
A11 - information dissemination
A12 – legal advocacy
A13 - lobbying
A 14 - media/press
A15 – monitoring/measurement (technical)
A 16– negotiation and dialogue facilitation
A17 – networking
A 18– Policy implementation
A19 - public meetings
A20 - public participation
A21 - publishing
A22 – research
A 23– Social marketing
A24 – training/capacity building
A 25– watchdog (scrutinizing public/private activity)
KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION
In this section we evaluate what information and knowledge is available, which channels are used for its dissemination and what knowledge and information is missing among CSOs.
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION LANDSCAPE
Q21. Please assess the general availability of information on environment/sustainability in your country? (tick one that apply)
Excellent (information is freely available on many potential topics and issues)
Adequate (there is enough information but you need significant effort to gather it)
Inadequate (difficult to access and often incomplete information)
None (no or very minimal information available)
Don’t know
Q22. Regarding the quality of content and distribution of official (governmental) environmental information, please evaluate the following factors. (please tick the appropriate box in each row)
Large improvements needed / Some improvements needed / No improvements needed / Don’t know
CONTENT
Currency (i.e. is it up-to-date?)
Presentation (clarity)
Reliability
DISTRIBUTION
Ease of accessibility
Reasonability of price
Timeliness of delivery
Through Media
Electronic forms
Printed formats
Public info centers
EXCHANGE
Physical (face- to- face) fora for dialogue
Virtual (electronic) fora for dialogue
YOUR INTERNAL INFORMATION LANDSCAPE
Q23. Please assess your organization’s knowledge capacities/skills on the environmental topics you work on. (tick only one option)
Excellent (we have all the information we needed)