Governance Decision-Making Tool

Organisational structure

What funding is available for our area?

Considerable resources are required for the long-term sustainability and successful governance of designated areas – for example, in raising/maintaining awareness of the area and its designation/s to potential visitors, and keeping stakeholders informed and engaged. The required resources consist primarily of money and people. In terms of money, most designated areas employ at least one paid member of staff in a “coordinator” (or similar) role, but funding for this tends to be fairly limited.

The availability of funding is a key consideration when deciding what type of organisation the area should be – for example, one closely linked to a municipality or local authority, or an independent NGO. Key questions with regard to finances, then, are:

• Will the necessary funding be available? For example, if the idea is to be closely linked to a municipality or local authority, will the budget be sufficient to cover at least one paid member of staff?
• If setting up as an independent organisation (for example, an NGO or company limited by guarantee), what funding sources might be available for core and project funding?