Tigwepo - October 2017 3
Message from the CEO
All non-profit organisations go through good and bad times. Good times are usually considered those when external donor funds are available in abundance and bad times are those when they start to diminish. Assets of an organisation are therefore often reduced to the notion of inflow of money from external donors. Why is it that when funds start to diminish organisations usually tend to forget their other assets which are essential for an organisation to operate, such as physical assets (office, land or equipment); the networks and relationships built over time within which the organisation plays a crucial role (social capital); the skills and knowledge gained over time and available within the organisation (human capital) and the organisational assets which is the sum of all systems and procedures which have been developed over time, including the governance system built to oversee the organisation?
We at ZGF believe that established non-profit organisations set up to work towards achieving social change objectives need certain organisational minimum standards. This requires developing financial and operational procedures as well as capacities of staff to effectively build and run an organisation. Local organisations are often driven towards ticking their boxes of their work plan rather than ensuring their organisations have the adequate systems in place which allow them to accommodate new and exciting ventures, close new partnership agreements or bid for service contracts. This is partly caused by external donors not sufficiently appreciating the benefits of investments in organisational development over longer periods of time and the beneficiary organisation wanting to deliver programmes rather than developing the necessary basic organisational systems that can help the organisation survive the many challenges of the non-profit sector. In recognition that such minimum standards are increasingly useful and needed, in mid-2017 a group of Zambian non-profit organisations launched a code of conduct which can be used as a reference framework for local organisations, if they commit to it.
A focus on the inflow of funds from donors takes the attention away from looking inside an organisation and from reminding ourselves of our own local assets. Instead, we should ask ourselves what is it the collective of staff members can do to take the organisation from a place of organisational discomfort to one of comfort. What is it that makes the organisation distinct from others and can be used to spearhead new initiatives towards achieving societal change? What hinders us from thinking outside the box while relying on our capacities as individuals and as a collective to think of projects which can create income for the organisation in the medium and long-term? Non-profits need to start changing their mind-sets and unlearn certain behaviours they have acquired when working with external donors and exchange them with traits of being pro-active instead of being reactive. Organisations should be led by curiosity and staff should be driven to explore new territories and push the organisation beyond current boundaries. These are the ones likely to survive during times of austerity caused by diminishing donor funds for civil society in Zambia. Let’s pick up the issue in five years’ time and critically look at ourselves to see how we have fared as local non-profits and how we have managed to remain relevant.
Barbara Nost
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