NGO Effectiveness and the UK Platform

1. NGO Effectiveness and the UK Platform Date February 2010

2. “Push Factors” mean that we have to improve our ability to show the results for what we do. UK NGOs External Environment Strong possibility of a new Conservative Government that will push value for money and greater impact reporting. Growing public skepticism– 55% of the British Public believe aid is wasted (DFID Survey) Renaissance of State as Savior – E.g. Bailouts, War on Terror means Civil Society has to justify its role (John Clarke World Bank) It is getting harder to raise funds – 56% of small charities say maintaining their funding is their main priority

3. But also “Pull Factors” that make the UK sector want to improve. • Growing number of charities in the UK – Over 6,000 new ones in one year (NCVO) Need to be able to say who are the good ones • NGOs genuinely want to do better in response to Paris Declaration but also their own aspirations • A growing awareness of the need to professionalise and make better decisions with the resources that we have • A maturing of approaches as work on topics like accountability, participation and monitoring and evaluation are coming together

4. The Bond Response • Effectivness high profile in Bond Strategy 2006-11; • Bond Quality Standards Report 2006; • *2007-date Quality Wk Gps ongoing • *2008 Aid Eff’ness Forum (Accra) ; • *2008 launch of “Open Forum” • *Bond members active in CONCORD CSO Eff’ness Group; • *Bond active in “Open Forum” co-ord gp; • *Oct 2008 Bond Board approves BEP • *Mar–Jul 09 BEP Inception Phase with consultation meetings • Jul 09 launch of BEP prog plan; • * Oct 09 BEP Prog Mngr starts;

5. The Bond Effectiveness Programme • A three year process to work with members to help them prove and improve their contribution to social development 1: Develop an NGO effectiveness framework that willenable managing and reporting on NGO development effectiveness in a flexible and rigorous manner. 2: Improvement in standards of participation and work with partners through exploring and identifying what constitutes good practice. This could then be used as a means to assess practice. 3: Developing a management agenda and organizational culture which rewards effective development practice and outcomes, not at the expense of sound business practices, and reflects organizational values and development principles.

6. Progress to date Start with the Framework to add substance to discussions Oct to Jan – Consulted with 20 members and various expert groups Jan – set up steering group of CEOs or Senior Technical Specialists from 10 member NGOs Feb – Meeting to reflect back with membership and determine the scope of the framework Mar – Oct Task groups to develop framework with regular quarterly meetings for membership to respond to progress Late 2010/ 2011 Practical testing of framework Research into better partnership working and management engagement will start alongside the above

7. How we hope to work with CONCORD and the Open Forum Coordinate to ensure that our work is compatible Contribute ideas to the development of European and Global CSO Effectiveness work Listen and learn from Open Forum consultations and global processes Provide an example of a practical national level framework that can inspire others Any other ideas???

8. Thank you Regent’s Wharf • 8 All Saints Street • London • N1 9RL • United Kingdom+44 (0)20 7837 8344 • bond@bond.org.uk • bond.org.uk