199 questions to ask yourself to run a youth NGO

Running a youth volunteer-based organisation or network is a challenge offered to a lot young people and young leaders committed to make a change in their local, national or international communities. The leadership ladder in youth organisations can be climbed very quickly, and it is not rare to see dynamic and motivated young people jumping from an active volunteering role to the presidency of their local association or national network.

However, running a youth organisation requires a set of skills, knowledge, attitude that these young people are not necessarily equipped with when they start their mandates. This set of competences is usually learnt by doing, but unfortunately, the valuable experience we gain by exercising our responsibilities gets lost easily due to the high turnover in youth organisations.

Keeping a broad overview of all the challenges running a youth organisation entails is one of these competences that one learns through experience and that can easily be shared and transmitted.

This blog post has been made primarily for JEF sections. About 90% of the information is relevant for all youth NGO. Section 2 (partners) and section 5 (international) are more JEF specific and you should adjust it to your own context.

Mind Map of a perfect JEF section - full file available here.

1 - GOOD GOVERNANCE

1a - Risk planning and management

• Have you identified the different risks that could hinder/endangered the work of your section?
• How likely is each risk?
• How dangerous is each risk?
• Do you have plan B or C for each risk? 

1b - Change of leadership

• Do we renew our leadership on a regular basis?
• Do we also have a good continuity with some board members?
• Do we have enough new members to fill leadership positions? Are we empowering them to do so?

1c - Statutes

• Do we have updated statutes ensuring the right balance between democracy and efficiency?
• Are we revising them on a regular basis?
• Do they reflect the reality of the work of the section?
• Did we consult with similar NGOs to see if we can improve our statutes?

1d - Rules of Procedures

• Similar to 1c

1e – Registered

• Are we a registered NGO?
• Are we aware of the right and duties it creates?

1f - Team governance

• Do we organise team building?
• Do we think of ourselves as a team?
• Do we have processes to handle conflicts?
• Is the team managed in an open, democratic and transparent way?
• Does every member feel it’s safe to work in the team?
• Do we have clearly defined responsibilities and task?
• Are we sharing successes and failures together?

1g - Effective Meetings

• Do we have regular meetings offline/online?
• Do we have a clearly defined agenda shared before and built collaboratively?
• Do we keep precise minutes including tasks and responsibilities decided in this meeting?
• Do we keep these minutes accessible?

1h - Risk and Safety

• Are we properly insured for our normal functioning and for our events?
• Are we aware of our duties regarding risk and safety when organising different events?

2 - OPEN TO PARTNERS

2a,b,c,d - Partners

• Have we sought support from the different partners?
• Did I go to them knowing precisely what to ask them, and how we can cooperate?
• Have we formalized our cooperation through a written document?
• Do I invite them to our different events and activities?
• Do I have a specific pitch for each of them?

eg: National Youth Council, other Youth NGOs (ESN, AEGEE), Erasmus+ Agency, Local Authorities, UEF/EMI sections, schools, universities, Representation of the European Parliament, of the European Commission; Eurodesk, Europe Direct.

3 - Financially stable

3a - Yearly budget

• Do we have a yearly balanced budget including resources and expenses?
• Have we prepared an optimistic and pessimistic budget to anticipate different scenario?
• Do we have access to past budgets to compare?

3b Lookout sponsors

• Do we know how to approach sponsors and donors?
• Do we have a list of potential sponsors? Universities, local authorities, private sponsors?
• Do we have a clear pitch or project to present them?

3c Grants

• Do we know what grants are available?
• Do we know how to write a grant?
• Have we looked for tips and tricks, to do and to avoid?
• Do we have good example of grants in the past from my organisation?
• Are we aware of all the rules it involves?
• Have we explored the possibility of Erasmus+ Grants?
• Do we look for support to write Erasmus+ grant?

3d Working with nothing

• Did I prepare a minimalistic budget?
• Do I list activities that doesn’t involve any costs (gathering in a bar to discuss EU topics? small intervention in school?)
• Do I know where to get support with free material (municipality? Eurodesk for Europe info material?)

3e Bank account

• Do we have a bank account?
• Is the access shared between treasurer and president?
• Do we have regular financial updates by the treasurer?

4 - High level of activity 

4a Realistic action plan

• Do we have an action plan that includes concrete activities and projects?
• Is it ambitious and realistic?
• Is it written in a clear action form (using action verbs)?

4b - Learn from the network

• Am I asking other sections what they are doing?
• Am I looking for ideas and support from other sections, other similar NGOs?
• Do I share my activities with the network?

4c - Organise activities on a regular basis

• Do we organise activities on a regular basis (activities that can be repeated every week, bigger events that can be taking place every year)?
• Are the activities evenly planned during the year?
• Are we using specific moments to organise activities?
• Do we have a calendar with our activities and other external events we can use to develop activities? 

4d Diversity of activities

• Are we organizing policy activities (debates, conferences, reflection)?
• Are we organizing grassroots activities (stands in fairs, intervention in schools, demonstrations)?
• Do we think in terms of different target groups?
• Do we organise very small and bigger scale activities?
• Do we organise internal activities (team building, regular meeting, training for our members)?

5 - International 

5a - Send active members to events

• Do we advertise international opportunities - JEF and external (seminars, FCs, working groups)?
• Do we send members to these events?

5b - Host international events

• Do we think about hosting international JEF events?
• Are we applying for it? (FC, Congress, Seminar, Board meeting, or trainings)

5c - Share and learn from the network 

• Similar to 4b + do we have a buddy section?
• Do we exchange regularly about our challenges and successes with other sections?
• Do we seek support from the EB of JEF Europe, and from the Staff?
• Do we wend them regular activity reports?

5d - Use network opportunities

• Are we active in Political Commissions?
• Task Forces?
• Are we sending members there?
• Are we aware of the political platform and resolutions?
• Are we using these documents for our own advocacy? 

5e - Inform, nurture, develop

• Do we inform about all these opportunities?
• Do we support and encourage our members to engage in these opportunities?
• Are we developing our members so they can be active European JEF members (FC, EB, Arbitration Board, PCs, TFs) and become JEF leaders?

6 - Humanly Diverse

6a - Recruitment campaign

• Do we carry regular recruitment campaign for new volunteers/members?
• Are they visually engaging? Well planned? Targeted to the right target group?
• Where do we go to carry these campaigns (universities? european events?)?
• Do I know how to pitch to potential new members? (What is JEF? Why should they join? What tasks/responsibilities/opportunities/benefits in joining the section as a volunteer/member?)

6b - Trainings for volunteers

• Do I offer regular trainings to our volunteers to ensure we can efficiently run the association?
• To ensure we can organise high quality project?
• To ensure they develop personally and professionally beyond their engagement?
• Do these trainings are organized in an interactive and participatory way?
• Do I consult our volunteers on their needs for trainings and skills?
• Do I know where to find training resources?
• Do I look for JEF Europe staff support for these trainings?
• Do we have an introduction kit for our new volunteers and new board members?
• Do we have an introduction day for our new volunteers?

6c - Diversity of tasks

• Are we able to offer a diversity of tasks (communication, project management, team management, leadership, advocacy, political reflection) to our volunteers?
• Are we able to offer tasks on a regular basis meaning there is always something to do? 

6d - Recognition of engagement

• Are we able to offer recognition/validation to our members in different forms?
• Certificate, letter of recommendation, facilitating credits at university?
• Small rewards such as t shirts, dinner together, etc.
• Are we encouraging a self-reflection process on the skills, knowledge and attitudes gained during the engagement and how they can be used in professional context? 

6e - Team spirit

• Are we fostering a feeling of belonging to the team? to the organization?
• Are encouraging a fun atmosphere, a try and fail atmosphere?
• Is the organisation a safe space for members to talk, discuss, have fun, try and fail?
• Do we have space and moments to hang out together?
• Are we all clear with the goals, plans, projects to work stronger together?

6f - Alumni

• Do we have a contact list of past members?
• Are we seeking to involve them? If so how? training, funding, networking?

6g - Inclusion

• Are we open to diverse volunteers with mixed abilities?
• Do we have clear practices in place to integrate volunteers with disabilities?

7 - Sustainable

7a - Clear action plan

• Do we have a clear short term action plan?
• And a long term strategy?
• Is it written down and shared to all members?
• Is it SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound)?
• Do we refer to it regularly? Revise it regularly? 

7b - Evaluate and adjust

• Do we have space and moments to evaluate and adjust our work (dedicated meetings?
• Quantitative and qualitative evaluation measures?
• Specific files to keep track of our work and progresses?

7c - Knowledge management 

• Do we have a clear, well organized archive and working folders?
• Printed and online?
• Do we have clearly organized email folders?
• Is the information always transparently available?
• Do we keep archive of past project / management of the organisation? 

7d - Knowledge transfer

• Do we have a list of tasks for each position in the organisation?
• Do we have a written knowledge transfer procedure?
• Do we have a knowledge transfer period when there is a new board?
• Do we have a list of competences required for each position?
• Do we have a guide for new volunteers?
• Do we have contact with former members to support and advice?
• Do we have a guide for new Board members?

7e - Team vs Individuals

• Is the organisation based on 1 or 2 individuals or on teams?
• Is the knowledge and activity transparently shared or held by 1 or 2 members?
• Is there an individual who holds strong feeling of ownership and belonging compare to the others?
• How do I ensure that the organizational management, knowledge, governance is based on a team and not an individual?

7f - Project management procedures

• Do we have clear project management procedures?
• Task lists, clearly assigned responsibilities, transparent communication, budget for each project, written contract for each agreement/provider, update points to the team, deadlines?

7g - Risk management

• Similar to 1a
• Do we have a risk management plan?
• What can go wrong?
• How likely it is?
• How dangerous it is?
• Do we have plan B, C?
• How do we prevent it does happen?

8 - Impactful

8a - Measure outreach

• Are we trying to measure our impact, our outreach?
• How many members do we have? how many active volunteers? how many people are we reaching out to?

8b and c - Policy and action impact

• Are we trying to measure our policy and action impact?
• Do we have a plan to measure it?
• Qualitative and quantitative measurement measures?

8b - Policy

• Do we have an advocacy plan?
• Do we know how we can influence about Europe in a local and national context? 

8d - Dissemination

• Do we have a plan to disseminate the results of what we do?
• Have we identified partners, stakeholders, target groups for that?

8e - Expertise/Legitimacy

• Are we recognized as an expert in our field/topic?
• Are we trying to gain this role of expert?
• Have we identified places where we can play that role (working groups, expert groups in ministries, local authorities, conferences)?
• Are we training our members to become such experts?

9- Communicative

9a - Share success and challenges with network

• See other sections about sharing

9b - Website

• Do we have a website?
• Have we asked external partners if it’s clear?
• Is it updated?

9c - Social Media

• Are we present on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat?
• Do we have a team for that?
• Do we have a simple but clear strategy (what message on which social media? which target group?)
• Are we regularly active on each social media? 

9d - Sharp Presentation

• Do we have a sharp pitch of the section (1 min, or 1 pager), a modern power point (few text, engaging, funny, with core info about goal and projects)?
• Do we have a modern looking flyer?
• Do members know how to clearly pitch the section and JEF in general?
• Do we have a clear Vision / Mission / Value statements + a clear slogan + a clear description

9e - Feeling of belonging

• Do we foster the feeling of belonging through communication? T-shirts, cool logo, cover pictures on Facebook? Badges?

9f - Internal communication

• Do we have clear internal communication channels for work communication / for informal communication? Do we have regular real life meeting of the board to discuss openly all projects and challenges? Do we have meeting with all volunteers regularly?

9g - Traditional media

• We have a list of local media contact (press, radio, tv)
• We try to engage local media in our activities
• We know how to write and disseminate a press release

9h - Reporting

• Are we publishing a yearly report of activities for our members and partners?

10 - Innovative

10a - Open to new ideas

• Are we open to new ideas? new projects? new ways to doing things?
• Are we ready to change the way we do things?
• Do we look for / ask how other are doing things?
• Are we self reflecting and being honest on our successes and failures?

10b - Allow to try and fail

• Are we providing a safe space for members to try and fail with new projects?
• Are we learning from our mistakes (taking the time to evaluate)?

10c - Look for existing initiatives

• Are we looking for what is existing in other sections? Other NGOs?

10d - New policy ideas

• On the political side, are we trying to foster creativity and develop new policy ideas for the future of Europe

This list is of course meant to be completed, adjusted, re-evaluated. Feel free to suggest additional questions!