Ambassador Robertson Addresses the Association of Slovene Associations

Ljubljana, The Parliament of Slovenia
November 8, 2005

Today, Europe and the U.S. are partners in a great mission – to help people around the world build strong democratic societies that respect human rights and that are based on the rule of law. Central to that effort is the development of vibrant NGO’s.

Through NGO’s, citizens become informed, defend their freedoms and channel their energies to help solve social problems.

Societies and individuals benefit immeasurably from the work of NGO’s. 

While government can set the framework for a healthy civil society, NGO’s and individual volunteers are the energy that make it work.

I would like to thank Mr. Sušnik for hosting this first annual conference and the Association of Slovenian Foundations and its president Mr. Bole for the organization of this event. Partnership between government and NGO’s is critical in building a healthy civil society and I applaud both for making this possible.

The U.S. is fortunate to have an enormous diversity of Americans who believe strongly in self-help and who volunteer in great numbers to support social, political, charitable or other causes. Let me give you a few statistics.
50 % of Americans – 100 million people or one out of two over the age of 13 - are active volunteers in their communities.

Three out of four Americans are regular contributors to charity, accounting for 90% of all funds raised with only 10% coming from foundations and businesses. 

But building NGO’s takes hard work and vision. Sustaining them takes even greater effort, creativity and vigilance. I have talked with many NGO leaders to find out what is necessary to build a strong and effective advocacy organization. As you begin your conference deliberations today, I would like to share some of their insights with you.

First, it is critical to adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior in all actions. Even the perception of unethical behavior is devastating for an NGO’s reputation and effectiveness.

Second, it is vital to honor donor intent. People want to know how their money or time is used and what results have been achieved.

Third, an NGO should have an identifiable active governing Board – a decision-making body that sets and regularly reviews policies on governance, including conflict of interest, grant-making, finance and administration. If selected properly, the Board is the ear of the community.

Fourth, NGO’s should build constructive relationships based on mutual respect, candor and confidentiality with the public, grantees and donors. And don’t forget about building constructive relationships with each other. A united NGO community is infinitely stronger than one that bickers among them.

Fifth, support continuous learning by trustees, staff and grantees. The forms of community foundations are rapidly changing. You must get out and learn about the latest trends to keep your organizations vital and effective.

Finally, I would say make it easy. If there is trust and a cause, people want to give money or their time, but everyone is busy. Find clear, defined tasks for volunteers that can be completed without demanding too much of their personal time. And for donors, look for creative ways to reach them and make it simple to donate. 

I’m leaving with you a copy of one of the most powerful fundraising tools in the U.S. – the Combined Federal Campaign catalog. The CFC allows federal workers to choose from more than 3,000 charities and have their contribution deducted automatically from their payroll. Last year, American federal employees raised $256 million dollars via the CFC. Just as important as the ease of doing this, the CFC catalog also provides invaluable information on these charities including the all-important category that shows what percentage of donations go to administrative costs and how much to actual program work. It provides an interesting example of how government can cooperate to make charitable institutions stronger. 

I’m glad to see the media here today and hope that there will be good coverage of today’s event. It is very important to show the public what you are doing not just through the media, but through your actions. When Ambassador Brinker, founder of the highly successful Susan G. Komen Foundation, spoke to some of you in September, she offered NGO’s another piece of advice that I would like to repeat – do something together – anything, but most importantly do it together! It sounds so simple, but it is so important for the NGO sector to become a recognizable and accepted force in society. Working together you can be much more effective than individually.

I hope that some of these ideas will be useful to you as you explore ways to strengthen NGOs in Slovenia. If you want additional practical info about grant opportunities from the U.S. Embassy, please check our website - www.slovenia.usembassy.gov.
 

Best of luck with the rest of your conference and thank you!