Organizational management

PDCS offers training and consultancy services on organizational development and management to nonprofit organizations, public institutions and companies. We provide expertise in areas of human resources management, strategic planning, internal and external communication, and financial sustainability.

We design and facilitate organization-wide meetings aimed to build teams but also small working strategic planning meetings. We help design organizational structure changes and develop marketing and fundraising plans.

Through formative and normative evaluation, we give insights, feedback and suggestions projects, programs, or entire organizations.

On individual basis we work with leaders of nonprofit organizations in addressing urgent issues of human resources, strategic, or crisis management. Through systematically designed advisory services and education, we help organizations use their human potential and strengthen or develop their organizational culture.

PDCS-PANET works to improve conditions for systematic development of nonprofit financing in Slovakia, particularly through its analytical and consultancy activities.

Project examples

In the international E-learning Manual project, we worked towards strengthening sustainability of and further developing nonprofit organizations in Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. We created educational materials on fundraising, project management, and advocacy at the educational web portal www.ngoemanual.org in four languages.

In the NGO Self-Financing Project, we worked with the Jan Hus Educational Foundation to produce the how-to and descriptive handbook Nonprofits and Profit aimed at strengthening financial sustainability of NGOs throuh income-generating activities such as sale of services or products.

In a long-term consultancy process for the Intenda Foundation (previously Youth of Slovakia Foundation), we helped develop its internal capacity to manage grant programs and we facilitated the formulation of its key principles and framework for successful grant-making. The foundation has already implemented several high-quality grant programs. The pilot program Let Us Lower the Thresholds was designed still under the consultation process we provided to the foundation and it was internationally recognized within European Union. We also helped the foundation to develop its strategic and fundraising plans for period until 2010.

In the area of evaluations, we worked with the International Youth Foundation Slovakia to conduct a two-day training course for foundation staff aimed to strengthen their skills in designing project monitoring mechanisms and evaluating grant programs.

To help raise awareness of nonprofit funding, PDCS-PANET authored several smaller documents and one comprehensive analysis of funding for nonprofits. Results have been presented in several conferences.

This program area is covered in PDCS by:

Our experience

We facilitated strategic planning processes of Youth Council of Slovakia, eRko, Odyseus Civic Association, or CVNO, in which organizations tried to clarify their long-term direction.

Upon request of IREX, we conducted a training program for representatives of Uzbek NGOs and companies to enhance their skills in addressing issues of sustainability and strategic development. Responding to an initiative of the same organization, we also helped develop income-generation plans of Civil Society Support Centers in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. For Counterpart Armenia we provided a series of training courses on the functioning of intermediary NGOs.

We coached the executive director of Brána do života Civic Association addressing various topics related to management of a social service providing organization.

PDCS evaluated a program of the consortium of Open Society Foundation Slovakia, International Youth Foundation Slovakia, and Jan Hus Educational Foundation. The evaluation included formulation of well received recommendations.

Organizations we consulted on organizational development included: Slovak Women Alliance, Brána do života Civic Association, eRko, Integra Foundation, APIS in the Czech Republic, Rada pre poradenstvo, Odyseus Civic Association, Revia Small Carpathian Community Foundation, Proti Prúdu Civic Association and Institute for Public Affairs Slovakia.

Organizational development was also the main topic of education requested by World Learning for representatives of Macedonian nonprofit organizations and companies implementing USAID-funded projects. One-week-long training program increased their ability to deal with funding transformation from international funding to own income-generation and local fundraising.

Some of the long-term processes we completed in the past included evaluation of the program Places and People of Via Foundation (Czech Republic), conducting processes of strategic planning for Via Foundation, VOKA Civic Association, Nádej deťom Civic Association, and Truc spherique Civic Association.

Publications:

Nonprofits and Profit/ (Neziskovky a zisk)
1st edition, 2005

A Reader for Nonprofit Organisations

(in English)
1st edition, 2001

Handbook on enterpreneurship of non-profit organizations/ (Príručka podnikania neziskových organizácií), 2nd edition, 2003

Financial stability of NGOs/ (Finančná stabilita MVO), 1999

Financovanie neziskového sektora na Slovensku po roku 1989/ (Financing of NGO sector in Slovakia after 1989), PANET, 2004

Financovanie neziskových organizácií /(Financing of NGOs), PANET, 2004