During 2006 CIVICUS undertook a number of activities to strengthen operational planning and initiated a Strategic Planning process. Building on existing assets and organisational strengths, the Board and management of CIVICUS convened a high-level task force to identify opportunities and devise a strategy toward achieving greater long-term self-sustainability for the civil society membership organisation. The Financial Sustainability Task Force brought together a varied group of 14 creative, forward-thinking people with diverse skills and experience (civil society leaders, funders, social entrepreneurs) who share an interest in the CIVICUS mission and vision of a global community of active, informed, engaged citizens, to identify the best way(s) to promote and ensure the long-term sustainability of that mission and vision in light of current economic and philanthropic trends. The group met at the Pocantico Conference Center, New York, from February 8-10, 2006. A discussion paper, Sustainable funding: a basic theoretical introduction, served as the framework for five working groups from which a set of six prospective resourcing opportunities were identified and evaluated. The group’s recommendations were passed to the Board for consideration and their report will be incorporated into the strategic planning process.

In May, interviews were conducted with all the staff to identify issues, challenges, ideas and suggestions related to any areas of CIVICUS' operations. The majority of the action points raised were addressed during the year and those of a more strategic nature have been passed to the strategic planning task team.

To support longer term planning, the management team developed a multi-annual Operational Plan (2006-2009) with detailed implementation plans for 2007. This long term view will not only facilitate planning and co-ordination of activities during the year, it will also facilitate budgeting and resource planning in the medium term.

In November, at the CIVICUS Board Meeting, the Strategic Framework process was begun in earnest. A consultant appointed to lead the process was present to meet with the Board and the staff. The timeframe for development as well as the scope and focus of the Framework were decided. Two task teams were formed, one based on staff representatives, with the consultant and a Board member; the other an expanded version, including additional Board members. Before the end of December 2006, external and internal scoping had begun. The process aims to have a draft Framework in place by the time of the CIVICUS World Assembly in May 2007, with the final version ready to be adopted in 2008 and running for 5 years.

Progress towards objectives

CIVICUS was able to carry out activities and make progress in all areas of activity highlighted above during 2006. There were notable successes within all of the programmes and significant progress made in strengthening the organisation. Due to resource constraints early in the year, some activities were delayed or could not be carried out to the anticipated full extent. The majority of those activities will now go ahead in 2007.

Internal/External factors which contributed to or impeded programmes

Broadly speaking, during 2006 the external environment continued to present many of the same challenges and opportunities as seen in previous years. Internally however, even though challenges still remain, there has been progress in key areas.

Externally, issues of democratic deficit within global governance institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and the UN, and shrinking civic space in many countries, underline the continued importance and relevance of CIVICUS' programmes. There has perhaps been a modest increase in the ability of civil society to influence public consciousness and the agenda of certain global debates around at least some key issues, including:

Internally, challenges relate to:

Human resources – recruiting and obtaining visas for new staff has proved to be time-consuming and expensive. If the situation cannot be resolved then alternative plans to fill positions will have to be considered (such as relocating projects and using consultants). CIVICUS is able to achieve a great amount of work with the current staff, however growth plans for the coming years will require additional staff, and it is vital that key positions can be filled in a timely manner. A partnership with the United Nations Volunteer programme (UNV), and the placement of a UN volunteer at CIVICUS for 12 months from February 2007, will help support the development of a volunteer scheme and hopefully lead to increased use of volunteers within CIVICUS.

Financial resources – CIVICUS will continue to try and diversify the organisation's resource base, guided by the Financial Sustainability Task Force report, Strategic Framework and Resource Mobilisation strategies/policies (these last two being in development during the first half of 2007). CIVICUS is also seeking to deepen partnerships with key donors and obtain greater multi-annual stability in the resource position.

IT operations in a constantly changing and growing organisation like CIVICUS require more attention This will be reflected in the budget and staffing for 2007. Investments required include purchasing a new server, upgrading workstations, purchasing more software licences, enabling better remote access to CIVICUS documents and emails and offering training to staff members.

Evaluating the impact of CIVICUS' work remains challenging and the majority of information received is of a qualitative nature. The Civil Society Index was the subject of an external evaluation during the year, and an assessment of the workings of the Global Call to Action against Poverty during 2006 is also planned. CIVICUS has been working with Oxfam NOVIB to establish indicators for achievement under their core grant contract (with a formal evaluation planned for 2008). Given the enormous number of factors that ultimately come into play in determining what specific changes in policy/practice any particular mobilisation effort will achieve, determining CIVICUS' contribution is clearly very challenging, and potentially quite resource-intensive. However, ways of addressing this issue will continue to be explored in 2007.

The Strategic Framework development is of critical importance in positioning CIVICUS, determining programmatic priorities and establishing CIVICUS' areas of activity. At present the organisation receives a diverse range of requests for assistance and support. Accepting the size and resource constraints of the organisation, it is hoped that the Framework will determine where CIVICUS can focus its efforts to the greatest effect, as well as provide guidance on issues such as the future development of Membership.