By this article we want to provide some reflection about the types of National structure.
Most YMCAs -YWCAs in Europe have the following two types of the structure: federated and single legal entity. Near fifteen percent of the organisations within the YMCA Europe umbrella are registered as Single Entities.
Single Legal Entity: there is only one legal body; local organisations are branches of the centralised system.
Federated structure: there are several local independent legal structures. They create an association (a national organisation) for coordination and cooperation.
We have collected the opinions of leaders of several organisations to see the key advantages and challenges of both types. Further we present the common list and several particular cases.
Federated Structure:
Advantages
- Independent local organisations with their own governance structure, strategic vision, set of services;
- National organisation does not have mandate to intervene in the organisations’ business;
- Provides enough room for local leaders;
- National organisation has less or no formal accountability for deeds of local associations;
- Allows focus on and better management of key organisational governance structures;
- In spite of a longer decision-making process (maybe) better decisions can be taken.
- The ability to respond more quickly to local needs.
- Recruiting individuals to the local Board who have that local knowledge.
Disadvantages/Challenges
- Communication and agreement can take quite a long time;
- National organisation does not have mandate to intervene in the organisations’ business which can influence quality level;
- Dependency on local associations when it comes to “hard” decisions that need to be taken quickly for the benefit of all;
- Worse conditions (for National Organisation) to demand compliance with agreed rules;
- National organisation is generally in a weaker position;
- More complicated negotiations e.g. with central authorities (structure is not always understandable for external partners/authorities).
- Local groups are not independent bodies and do not have a mandate to act in local communities without agreement with the whole organisation
- More difficult to speak with one National voice.
- Negative activities can have a reputational impact on other local YMs and nationally.
- Risk of local YMs competing for resources.
“I personally see this as an advantage – it is true that local groups would need an agreement with the whole organisation to carry out activities. But having a federated structure can easily give access to having independent local groups with a mandate to act ‘on their own with the risk of not sharing the same vision – values – strategy, etc..I see it as an advantage that local groups are not independent but part of one entity as this makes the strategy even stronger, aligned, and one.” (Anthony Camilleri, YMCA Malta NGS)
Single Legal Entity:
Advantages
- Joint coherent brand, vision, strategy, values, services;
- Easier management of the whole organisation;
- Stronger position of National organisation vs Partners and Donors;
- Top leaders in key positions (they need to go through demanding selection process);
- Easier representation of the movement;
- Stronger readiness for actions.
- Able to speak to local and national governments with one voice.
- Ability to fundraise at a national level.
- Consistency of standards across the programmes.
Disadvantages/Challenges
- Local groups are not independent bodies and do not have a mandate to act in local communities without agreement with the whole organisation;
- Need to oversee every aspect of organisational activity;
- More room for making mistakes by unqualified decisions (e.g. with no or lesser understanding of local circumstances/conditions);
- The more people (staff) the lesser opportunity to know each other (meaning more formal relations);
- Relatively complicated organisational structure.
- More difficult to make quick decisions for a local operation.
“Agree with a complicated structure. We just carried out some changes in the past months to avoid this. What I found that works out in terms of structure is to have a horizontal structure and not a vertical one with an emphasis on a bottom-up approach – this gives the movement an open approach of communication from the lowest involved staff/volunteers to the top people. Hence the cleaner is as much as important as the CEO as there is no structure but teams. We differentiate them in the line of communication: who reports to who.
Additionally, we segregate the local YMCAs with the localities where the activities carried out are strong. So for example, Valletta, where we have the head office, is strong with activities as we carry out youth activities from the same premises. Hence we call this a local branch. Msida where now we have 3 premises (2 shelters & social work office) is also a local branch.
But what we also do is emphasise the services that can be carried out according to a need analysis not only from one particular branch or local YMCA but from several or multiple premises/local branches/ymcas. So to say if we are giving counselling services it is not given only in Valletta but also in Msida or in any other locality where YMCA functions and there is the need for it.” (Anthony Camilleri, YMCA Malta NGS)
YMCA Belarus Case, blended structure, registered as single entity de juro but with the possibility of autonomous local organisations
YMCA Belarus was registered in 2000 as a single entity but based on local associations. Perhaps, it is quite a unique structure for YMCA. YMCA Belarus has only one Statute, which is the main document for all local associations in Belarus but at the same time every local association can have their own governing bodies and regulations.
Until 2021 YMCA Belarus had 7 local associations, which formed YMCA Belarus as an organisation. We have always supported the principles of the federated structure as they are based on democratic procedures and allow local Ys to keep independence. Unfortunately, challenges of Covid Pandemic and political situation in the country had a profound effect on the membership and leadership in our YMCA. In May of 2021 we had to close one local association and from 2022 we are transferring governance of another local association to National YMCA Belarus. So far, the original registration of a single entity allows us to be flexible in the quickly changed circumstances.
Before 2021 YMCA Belarus was a Single Entity but with supported Federated structure de facto. In the current situation we have to change focus on supporting Single Entity but with an opportunity for local associations to run their own activities and, if possible, to have their own governance. The external factors have impacted work at local level a lot. National level activities become more realistic and safe for leaders of the organisation.
The main advantage of such a transfer is avoiding risks of being closed. If we keep a single entity we have more chances to save the organisation and key leaders. If one local organisation falls under the risk, it will impact the whole national structure.
The key challenge is the following: less support for local associations’ structure can lead to vanishing those local organisations in the communities.
We see such a transfer as a forced temporary measure, as we understand the high importance of grassroots local activities.
By Alexander Drachuk, Secretary General of YMCA Belarus
YMCA Spain Case, registered as single entity
Mission and Vision
Advantages: It is easier to align both at the local level, which allows greater internal clarity of the organisation and a more defined external perception. An excessive dispersion of activities that blur the true goals of the organisation is avoided.
Impact
Advantages: the impact figures are higher because they are considered in aggregate. You can count on a greater variety of programs around some main areas: childhood, youth, employment, educational reinforcement, housing, etc. You can start new programs starting from high initial figures. You can incorporate more refined methods of measurement.
Disadvantages: Sometimes it is more complicated to initiate local actions because they must be framed within the state axes so that the organisation has coherence.
Sustainability
Advantages:
- You have a substantial presence at all levels: national, regional and local, which makes financing more flexible.
- Fundraising-oriented programs (eg, camps) are launched nationwide, raising potential demand.
- The set of programmes is more viable than the parts because it allows resources to be applied where they are needed. There are no sealed spaces.
- Better salaries allow access to better professionals.
- There are shared central services that are specialised and robust.
- The economy of scale allows you to access better services and better prices.
Disadvantage:
- The huge number of different financial resources forces you to manage complex management systems.
- YMCA survival risk is very high in a single entity. If there are serious problems, they affect the YMCA as a whole.
Participation and government
Advantages: the reputation of the organisation is not distributed among many autonomous units. Any problem can be solved in a coordinated and centralised way.
Disadvantages:
- The general secretary and the management team act as CEOs, attending to the general development of the entire organisation.
- A larger organisation is more difficult to lead.
- It is more difficult to find members for the board of directors: they must know and have experience in the government of large and complex organisations. A balance must be found between people from complex business backgrounds and people with a “YMCA experience”; it’s not always simple.
- It is more difficult to get the identification of volunteers and local staff with the global movement. It is more difficult to make them feel a full part of the project.
- The community has more difficulty identifying the project as a local project.
Communication
Advantages: access to better information media.
Disadvantage: It is more complex to attend to the communication requirements of all our funders and stakeholders in a centralised way. Normally there are many and with different focuses, so it is more difficult to maintain a clear message.
By Pedro Fueyo, Secretary General of YMCA Spain
The project “Organic Governance and Quality Development” is supported by Erasmus+, Key Action 2 programme.
The article is prepared by Governance Group of YMCA Europe with special inputs from
Adrian Davies, YMCA Kosovo Secretary General
Anthony Camilleri, YMCA Malta Secretary General
Vojtech Ralek, YMCA Czech Republic Secretary General
Pedro Fueyo, YMCA Spain Secretary General
Movement Strengthening in YMCA Europe is aimed at building the capacity of organisations in different spheres including governance, internal policies, quality standards and strategic planning.
