COCO Revolving Loan Survey

Introduction

Often organizations like Coalitions & Collaboratives Inc. face challenges maintaining enough cash in reserve for operational needs while waiting for reimbursement from federal and state grant programs. We feel like the time spent looking for solutions for these financial problems would be better served going directly towards our organization’s mission, and we think that many others feel the same way. This is why we are investigating developing a low-interest loan fund to support the collaborative capacity of organizations. We will use the information gathered in this survey to better understand the needs of other organizations and the feasibility of this type of Revolving Loan Fund (RLF).

This survey consists of 20 questions and should take about 5 minutes to complete.

Thank you for your participation.

Part 1 - Background

Question Title

* 1. Which of the following statements best describes your relationship with Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc (COCO)? (Select one response)

My organization has never heard or worked with COCO

My organization has heard of COCO, but has not worked with COCO

My organization is familiar with COCO and we have worked with their team occasionally

My organization has worked closely with COCO

My organization is a COCO affiliate

Question Title

* 2. Which COCO services have you used? (Check all that apply)

My organization has not worked with COCO

AIM Grant or other funding

HR and Payroll services

Community Mitigation Assistance Team

Community Wildfire Mitigation Best Practices Training

Carbon Biomass Programs and Projects

Conservation Programs Mentorship

Post Fire Resources ( After the Flame webinars and conferences)

Post Fire Technical assistance

Mentorship

Facilitation services

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. Please select what type of organization you represent (Select one response)

Local Non-profit

National Non-profit

Regional / State Non-profit

Fire Department

Conservation District

Tribal Authority

Local Government

Individual

Coalition/Collaborative

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. What best describes your organization? (Select all that apply)

Forest Health

Watershed Health

Wildland Fire

Collaborative Governance

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 5. How many people does your organization employ? (Select one response)

1 - 2 people

3 - 10 people

11 - 25 people

26 - 50 people

More than 50 people

Question Title

* 6. How long has your organization been in existence? (Select one response)

Less than 5 years

Between 5 - 10 years

More than 10 years

Question Title

* 7. Approximately what were your organization’s total operating expenses for last year? (Select one response)

$1 - $49k

$50k - $99k

$100k - $249k

$250k - $499k

500k - $999k

$1M - $1.9M

$2M - $4.9M

$5M and up

Part 2 - Revolving Loans

Question Title

* 8. Have you pursued a low-interest (significantly below market rate) loan to support your operations in the past? (Select one response)

Yes

Question Title

* 9. If you have received a low-interest loan in the past, where do you receive it from? (Write in your response)

Question Title

* 10. How would your organization use a low-interest loan? (Check all that apply)

Cover the cost of contractors, vendors, or other external service providers while waiting for grant funded reimbursements

Cover the cost of payroll while waiting for grant funded reimbursements

Expand programs or services

Have on hand for emergencies

Manage revenue gaps

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 11. What loan amount would meet your financial needs per year? (Write in your response)

Question Title

* 12. What interest rate would be acceptable? (Check all that apply)

Less than 1%

1% - 2%

2%-4%

4%-6%

6%-8%

Part 3 - Challenges

Question Title

* 13. At my organization, managing finances … (Select one response)

Is never a problem

Is a struggle now and then

Can cause problems at particular times of the year

Always seems to be a problem

Question Title

* 14. Please describe how finding solutions for financial problems affects your organization. For example: time you spend writing and applying for funding that would otherwise be spent on project implementation. (Write in your response)

Question Title

* 15. Approximately how many months of cash in reserve does your organization generally have? (Select one response)

Less than 1 month of cash

1 month of cash

2 months of cash

3 months of cash

4 months of cash

5 months of cash

6 months of cash

More than 6 months of cash

Question Title

* 16. Please estimate to what extent the following revenue sources make up your overall annual budget. (Please enter full numbers, for example enter 30 if a revenue source makes up 30% of your overall annual budget)

Federal government

State government

Local government

Individual donors

Foundations

Corporate donations

Fees and/or service charges

Sales

Investment income

Other

Question Title

* 17. After submitting an invoice for services rendered on a government grant or contract, about how long does it usually take for your organization to receive payment from the government? (Select one response)

Within 30 days

31-60 days

61-90 days

More than 90 days

My organization has not received government contracts

Question Title

* 18. Does your organization currently have loans and/or lines of credit? (Select one response)

Yes

Unsure

Question Title

* 19. Who provided the loans/lines of credit? (Check all that apply)

Bank

Board member

Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI)

Credit union

Foundation

Government agency

Other

Describe

Unsure

Other (please specify)

None of the above

COCO Revolving Loan Survey

Introduction

Question Title

* 1. Which of the following statements best describes your relationship with Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc (COCO)? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 2. Which COCO services have you used? (Check all that apply)

Question Title

* 3. Please select what type of organization you represent (Select one response)

Question Title

* 4. What best describes your organization? (Select all that apply)

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* 5. How many people does your organization employ? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 6. How long has your organization been in existence? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 7. Approximately what were your organization’s total operating expenses for last year? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 8. Have you pursued a low-interest (significantly below market rate) loan to support your operations in the past? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 9. If you have received a low-interest loan in the past, where do you receive it from? (Write in your response)

Question Title

* 10. How would your organization use a low-interest loan? (Check all that apply)

Question Title

* 11. What loan amount would meet your financial needs per year? (Write in your response)

Question Title

* 12. What interest rate would be acceptable? (Check all that apply)

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* 13. At my organization, managing finances … (Select one response)

Question Title

* 14. Please describe how finding solutions for financial problems affects your organization. For example: time you spend writing and applying for funding that would otherwise be spent on project implementation. (Write in your response)

Question Title

* 15. Approximately how many months of cash in reserve does your organization generally have? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 16. Please estimate to what extent the following revenue sources make up your overall annual budget. (Please enter full numbers, for example enter 30 if a revenue source makes up 30% of your overall annual budget)

Question Title

* 17. After submitting an invoice for services rendered on a government grant or contract, about how long does it usually take for your organization to receive payment from the government? (Select one response)

Question Title

* 18. Does your organization currently have loans and/or lines of credit? (Select one response)

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* 19. Who provided the loans/lines of credit? (Check all that apply)

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* 20. What was the amount and interest rate you borrowed? (Write in your response)