Keeping body and soul together: southern NGOs’ strategic responses to donor constraints

Abstract

Most Southern Non-Governmental Organizations (SNGOs) depend on donor agencies for their survival. To qualify for donor funding, SNGOs typically have to meet a range of funding conditions. Critics argue that donor requirements may have undesirable consequences. Based on qualitative research involving 41 SNGOs in India and Ghana, this article explores (1) the (potentially) adverse effects of donor conditions on SNGOs and (2) the strategies that SNGOs employ to deal with these conditions. We demonstrate that certain donor conditions are difficult to reconcile with a view of development that emphasizes local ownership and a strong and autonomous civil society. We also show that SNGOs employ a multitude of strategies to deal with adverse donor conditions, highlighting that they are not powerless in their relations with donors. Yet, these strategies are not always available to all organizations and may have undesired consequences. Points for practitioners Private development aid is increasingly characterized by pressure for accountability and a tightening of funding arrangements. Donors supporting SNGOs need to take into consideration that their funding conditions may have a range of undesirable consequences. Our study offers an overview of these consequences, enabling donor agencies to systematically review their conditions in the light of their potentially adverse effects. In addition, our study shows that – when confronted when unworkable donor conditions – SNGOs employ strategic behaviour. This is particularly problematic when SNGOs resort to manipulating the perception of donors resulting in the creation of a paper reality.

NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort?

“…A competitive funding environment means that their strategies must align with donor priorities and interests (Ebrahim, 2003;Elbers & Arts, 2011;Epstein & Gang, 2006;Fowler, 2000aFowler, , 2000bGill, 1997;Mohan, 2002;Tvedt, 2006). In Malawi, donor prioritization of HIV/AIDS has led to the decline or disappearance of other priorities -much to the frustration of many NGOs there (Simon Morfit, 2011).…”

Facing the Bullet? Non-Governmental Organisations’ (NGOs’) Responses to the Changing Aid Landscape in Ghana

“…Studies on resource dependency further show how organisations do not passively comply with conditions in their external environment; instead, they try to manage their dependence by adopting several strategies in order to influence their demand for resources with the aim of becoming autonomous or independent (Oliver 1991;Elbers and Arts 2011;Mitchell 2014). Resource dependency theory, therefore, aligns with a range of perspectives on how NGOs obtain resources from their external environment and the exercise of control by donors over NGOs because of their resource dependence.…”

“…Partnerships (despite its contested definition) between Northern NGOs and Southern NGOs have a long history in international development (Lewis 1997;Fowler 2000a). Since the early 1990s, several international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) have entered different forms of partnerships with Ghanaian NGOs to finance their projects, build capacities and at times jointly work on some programmes and projects (Porter 2003;Elbers and Arts 2011). At the same time, some NGOs in Ghana, through proposals, have also sought funding from the private sector and government agencies.…”

“…The aim is to respond to calls by some authors (e.g. Elbers and Arts 2011;Mitchell 2014:90) for further research on the effectiveness and identification of additional variables and factors that explain the choice of strategic responses by NGOs.…”

Renewable energy partnerships in development cooperation: Towards a relational understanding of technical assistance

“…Funding conditions imposed by donor organisations can have undesirable consequences when they hamper the development of local RET markets (Case 1) or motivate opportunistic behaviour on the side of the implementing organisation (Case 2) -an issue also discussed by Elbers and Arts (2011) in their study of NGOs responses to donor constraints.…”