The following benchmarks, broadly organized in the categories of early transition, mid-transition, and consolidation, are compiled from USAID's 2001 NGO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, USAID's Lesson in Implementation: The NGO Story, and the Peace Corp's NGO Card.

Early Transition

At this early stage, an NGO may

. . . lack a clear sense of an organizational mission independent of the vision of its founders, engage in activities unrelated to its purpose, or lack procedures for periodic evaluation of its activities to ensure that these are consistent with its mission.

. . . not clearly delineate between the role of management and the oversight role of the board of directors, experience micromanagement by the board, or have a board composed of founders or members selected by founders.

. . . have only a small staff, not involve staff in decision making, fail to tie job definitions evaluation criteria to the organization's strategic plan, have informal personnel and employment procedures, or fail to clearly define staff roles.

. . . fail to engage in strategic planning, or engage in planning on an ad hoc basis with only limited participation of its staff and constituencies and with limited reference to its mission, fail to assess its financial and human resources in terms of the needs and purpose of the organization, lack the ability to monitor and evaluate programs, and fail to compare program achievements to anticipated outcomes.

. . . lack internal governance documents, an administrative or operating manual, and budgeting and financial reporting procedures, experience over- or under-budgeting of up to twenty percent, fail to inform funders of budgeting changes, fail to conduct regular financial audits, and lack procedures to prevent cross-project funding.

. . . not realize the role it can play in the development of public policy, be reluctant to engage in a dialogue with the government, believe the government will not respond to its recommendations, begin to establish systems for collecting, analyzing and disseminating data to officials and citizens, but fail to realize the use of such data in influencing the development of public policy.

. . . be supported by individual, project-specific grants from a few donors and, as a result, have donor-driven program development, lack sophisticated fundraising skills, lack the ability to charge for any portion of its services, and receive limited, if any, governmental subsidies or contracts.

. . . fail to communicate its vision to the public, view its constituencies as service recipients, not partners, allow its constituencies only limited input in decision-making processes, have only a limited understanding of how to conduct public relations, and lack a board that can take the lead on public relations and fundraising.

. . . not realize the full value of developing partnerships with other NGOs, try to plan services in collaboration with others on only an ad hoc basis, and view with suspicion cooperation with the private sector or the government.

Mid-Transition

At this stage, an NGO may

. . . have a well-defined vision that is clear to staff and other insiders.

. . . have greater differentiation in the roles of and division of labor between board and staff, and have a board that increasingly participates in fundraising, advocacy and public relations activities.

. . . have professional staff, increase staff participation in decision-making processes, have well-defined job descriptions, and mobilize volunteers within specific projects.

. . . conduct strategic planning that is guided by the NGO's mission and objectives, account for the needs of but fail to fully involve staff and constituencies in organizational planning, review achievements against objectives, consult constituencies in program design and evaluation, but fail to integrate human resource planning in its strategic planning.

. . . have systems in place to collect information but lack a mechanism to integrate this information into organizational planning, have formalized administrative and personnel procedures, produce timely, clear and complete financial reports, create budgets accurate to within twenty percent, notify funders of budgeting changes, conduct independent audits frequently but not regularly, and avoid cross-project funding.

. . . lobby and advocate on behalf of their constituencies on clearly-defined issues, present concerns to inappropriate levels of government, but underestimate the importance of the legislative branch, and have limited contact with decision makers

. . . experiment with new fundraising strategies, develop a diversified funding base, begin to pool resources with other organization, create uniform grant application procedures, begin to contract with the government to provide services, start to charge fees for certain services, although not enough to recover cost of services, and ensure that no one funding source exceeds sixty percent of the organization's budget.

. . . increase its transparency through publication of an annual report, strengthen lines of communication with the public, and recognize the importance of transparency and accountability in local fundraising.

. . . begin to rely on new intermediary organizations that provide services and training to NGOs, share information and network with other organizations but fail to take a leadership role in promoting coalitions or cooperation on projects, seek constituency input and establish mechanisms for constituency participation, and cooperate with the government on an informal project basis.

Consolidation

At this stage, an NGO may

. . . have a vision that is clear to both insiders and outsiders, translate the mission into clearly communicated program objectives, involve constituencies in review of the mission and strategies, and use the organization's vision to attract public support and engage decision-makers in policy discussions.

. . . have a board that provides policy direction and engages in fundraising, public relations and lobbying, and create mechanisms within the board to obtain the views of the organization's constituencies in evaluating and monitoring the organization's development.

. . . have a full-time professional staff, have the ability to recruit, train and manage a volunteer network with duties distinct from staff, establish a clear relationship between organizational objectives and staff functions, and create and update internal training plans to improve staff performance and support the career needs of individuals.

. . . survey needs of constituencies and incorporate results into its strategic planning, create an operating manual and personnel and employment procedures that are tied to the strategic plan, incorporate into strategic planning a review of previous year's achievements and evaluation of future financial and human resources, review long-term plans for maximum impact, fully integrate constituencies in planning and program review, develop measurable indicators of success and impact for each organizational goal, and are able to review their strategies and adapt and respond to challenges when needed.

. . . have established internal decision-making processes that are tailored to the organization's needs, have financial systems that generate current and complete information that is fed back into the planning process, use budgets as integral part of planning, make project staff responsible for creating and managing project budgets, conduct regular independent audits, and create controls to avoid cross-project financing.

. . . focuses on lobbying and advocacy both on individual issues and on broader system failures that give rise to the specific concerns of the organization's constituencies.

. . . work toward establishing donor confidence by adopting rules on conflict of interests and distribution of assets on dissolution, begin to develop the legal foundation for future sources of NGO support by lobbying for reforms on government procurement, cultivate domestic tradition of corporate philanthropy, diversify its funding base, cross-subsidize goods and services for which full cost recovery is not possible with other earned income, establish long- and short-term funding plans such that temporary shortfall will not require discontinuation of services, and ensure that no one funding source exceeds forty percent of the organization's budget.

. . . be transparently governed and publicly accountable, have the ability to educate and mobilize citizens and other organizations around issues, and provide services that reflect local priorities.

. . . be a leader in developing and promoting coalitions to pursue issues of common interest and to monitor political actors, have formal procedures for collaboration with the government and to provide input in area of expertise, and sponsors or participates in formal association of NGOs.