Source: Pontis Website
NGO sustainability in Slovakia has slightly deteriorated, according to the 2008 report on the sustainability of the non-profit sector in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Although slight deterioration has been noted compared to the previous year, especially in the area of the legal environment and provided services, the status of the non-profit sector is consolidated. Generally, this means that sustainability of the non-profit sector is stabilized and, on the side of local non-profit organizations, development has continued in several areas of the non-governmental sector.
According to the NGO Sustainability Index for 2008, Slovakia is placed third among 29 countries of Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Compared to the previous year, the sector’s sustainability dropped by 0.1 points, while the largest decline was recorded in the area of provided services.
Legal uncertainty in Slovakia’s non-profit sector was provoked by a number of proposed laws. One of them was the proposed act on associations that, according to the 1st Slovak Non-Profit Center, was “unconstitutional and failed to react to existing partial legislative changes resulting from the act on foundations and non-profit-making organizations, and the act on income tax”. Although the law hasn’t been submitted to a governmental session and, according to statements by the Slovak Ministry of Interior, it is currently being cleaned up to remove principal objections, the threat of its being submitted is still relevant. The act on social services is one of the laws that has already, in real ways, exerted negative influence on the functioning of social facilities, and it affects the freedom of decision in their selection. Among the discussed topics were also the press law and the institute of social enterprises. The enterprises have operated since 2008, but their results thus far have been minimal. Non-profit sector representatives feel a constant lack of legal personnel capacities. A positive impulse in the legal environment is the discussion and preparation of a new act on volunteerism.
Concerning the organizational capacity of the non-profit sector, stagnation predominated; accumulation of functions can be observed, and permanent positions aren’t created; external employees have been preferred in a marked degree. Another persisting characteristic of the organizational structure are regional differences within Slovakia and the exclusion of certain types of non-profit organizations from the legal form of non-profit organizations.
“Some non-profit organizations are indirectly, through law amendments, being excluded from this category, and so their overall number is decreasing. Their power is diminishing in terms of possible cooperation in resolving issues affecting the whole society,” said Monika Smolová from the Pontis Foundation.
Financial viability is the only area that has, in the long term, remained at the stage of intermediate development. Slovakia’s non-profit sector is characterized by its constant dependence on external resources. Even though Slovakia has access to EU resources and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, it is difficult for NGOs to make use of them. Several of these resources are subject to bureaucratic procedures; the approval processes of applications and final financial reports can take months, and the options to modify the budgets are minimal. From the NGOs, co-financing and a sufficient amount of their own finances are required to implement individual project activities; NGOs only get reimbursed after the approval of final financial reports. What this leads to is that non-profit organizations cannot simultaneously implement several projects. A persisting threat is also the possible re-opening of discussions on abolishing the assignation of 2% of income tax from legal entities.
A positive signal is the gradual development of individual and corporate philanthropy. In 2008, the impact of the financial crisis was not yet fully felt in the non-profit sector.
In defending public interests, non-profit organizations continue employing campaigns, suggestions for improving proposed laws, or petitions, but from the report it follows that it is repeatedly the same groups of active people whose involvement can be observed. Among the most significant efforts were the Initiative for Free Citizens Association, and the campaign against the waste dump in Pezinok. On the one hand, non-profit organizations succeed in submitting improvement suggestions in the legislative process; on the other hand, in cases where economic or political interests are at play, non-profit organizations aren’t successful. An example is the initiative by the Fair Play Alliance whose goal was the resignation of the former Minister of Justice Harabin. From a survey conducted for the Fair Play Alliance by the company TNS SK, it followed that nine out of ten citizens expected the resignation of the minister who had been publicly caught lying. Despite this, the petition organized by the Alliance, calling for minister Harabin’s resignation, was only signed by a relatively small number of people.
When it comes to delivery of services, non-profit organizations provide them in a number of areas; these are primarily the social and environmental sphere. In the social area, the most frequent services include care for seniors and handicapped people, or nursing services. Foundations also specialize in grant foundations management, corporate grants, and consultancy in the areas of donations and corporate social responsibility. NGOs feel deficits especially regarding legal services and the development of self-financing activities.
The report further states that the non-profit sector’s infrastructure and perceptions of NGOs by the public remained on the same level as in the year before. Among the important tools for NGOs’ presentations are, precisely, campaigns promoting not only their subject matter, but the NGOs themselves. In this way, the NGOs’ image in the eyes of the public was changing – to one of organizations engaged in specific activities and projects. There is nonetheless still a lot of room for changes in the non-profit sector.
NGO Sustainability – Countries Rating
Consolidated Countries
Estonia 2.0
Poland 2.2
Slovakia 2.6
Czech Republic 2.7
Lithuania 2.7
Latvia 2.7
Hungary 2.7
Moderately Developed Countries
Bulgaria 3.2
Croatia 3.2
Romania 3.5
Macedonia 3.6
Ukraine 3.6
Bosnia 3.7
Albania 3.8
Kosovo 3.9
Slovenia 3.9
Armenia 4.0
Kazakhstan 4.0
Montenegro 4.1
Kyrgyzstan 4.1
Georgia 4.2
Moldova 4.2
Russia 4.4
Serbia 4.4
Azerbaijan 4.8
Tajikistan 4.9
Poorly Developed Countries
Turkmenistan 5.7
Uzbekistan 5.7
Belarus 6.0
NGO Sustainability Index has been published by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for 12 years now. It is a monitoring tool comparing the status and viability of the non-governmental sector in these areas: legal environment; organizational capacity; financial viability; ability to defend one’s interests; delivery of services; infrastructure; and perception of NGOs by the public. The Pontis Foundation, along with invited experts from the non-profit sector, contributed to the production of the 2008 report.
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