NGO support toolkit (English)  >  Strategic planning  >  Defining purpose 

Setting mission and objectives

NGO support programmes are inherently complex initiatives. First, they seek to address multiple issues of NGO support with a number of different NGOs and CBOs, each of which may work with different populations in different ways and therefore have different needs. In addition, there are usually many other players at a national or regional level (such as national HIV/AIDS programmes, existing networks of NGOs/CBOs, and the support programmes of other donors) with whom it is important to develop productive working relationships. Finally, since the NGO/CBO support provider (NSP) may act as an umbrella initiative or intermediary, there are balances to be struck between the requirements of donors and the concerns of the NGOs (for autonomy and their local communities’ expressed needs).

Faced with this complexity, it is important for an NGO/CBO support programme to set clear priorities and define explicit objectives that everyone understands. A well-defined mission statement, linked to clear purposes, objectives and strategies should ensure that:

• The NSP maintains an explicit and planned balance between its different functions rather than allowing any one function to dominate (for example, it is easy to become absorbed in advocacy and policy work at the expense of technical assistance to NGOs/CBOs, or vice versa)
• Everyone involved in the programme can share a clear sense of purpose, understand what the programme is trying to achieve and how their specific roles and activities can contribute
• External agencies have a clear picture of how the programme fits into the landscape. How it seeks to avoid duplication, add value in the national or regional context, build partnerships and create a niche for funding. This will also help to clarify the opportunities for productive external relations and lines of communication
• Clear targets for monitoring and evaluation exist to measure the impact of the programme.

However, using the results of the situation assessment to define objectives, log frames and workplans is a difficult and demanding process. It cannot be underestimated the resources needed to make complex choices and difficult decisions. There is rarely consensus about top-level decisions nor the lower-level choices that flow from them. Additionally, the whole process may at first be unfamiliar to management and staff of the NSP.

Above all, it is likely that the assessment process will have identified a much larger range of both needs, gaps and deficits than can be met realistically by a single NGO support programme with limited resources. Key choices and considerations in the decision-making processes will therefore usually involve identifying a number of optimal balances between:

• Epidemiological urgency and the easiest sites and settings in which to begin work or add value
• Areas of need which are well documented and others which are identified in the assessment as important but requiring further clarification, mapping or research
• Prevention, care and impact mitigation
• Different models and approaches to support and capacity building
• Spreading the programme thinly, collaborating with other programmes, and deferring certain activities in order to concentrate on others in greater depth
• Supporting established NGOs in scaling-up their capacity, assisting small CBOs to develop, and facilitating the growth of new NGOs and CBOs from emergent community networks where there are gaps in provision
• The need for innovation in the programme to fill significant gaps in national provision and the sustainability of organisations beyond the horizon of the programme.

Given the range of choices and compromises that need to be made, the complexity of data, and the skills needed, careful attention needs to be paid to the decision making and recording process. As with the situation assessment, the strategic planning team needs a good balance of expertise, representation and involvement. Preliminary work can help establish a common understanding of the format and standards of planning tools (e.g. log frames, scenario planning, ranking, indicators, assumptions, etc.).

Issues to consider

• It may be difficult for managers and staff to dedicate sufficient time and effort for the strategic planning process and meetings and workshops need to be timed and phased appropriately.
• At set up, it may be necessary to experiment with different formats for tools and log frames which can be reviewed and refined in future strategic replanning.
• It is important to guard against changing purpose on a whim rather than revising mission and goals in response to a changing landscape.
• In defining purpose, there may be contradictions between the core values of some NGOs and CBOs and the priorities of doners and funders.
• In defining purpose, there can be competition between NGO support programmes: for donor funds; over representation roles, advocacy and policy leadership; programmatic approach and credit for programme impact. The mission needs to be defined in a complementary way avoiding duplication of effort.
• By establishing a strong ‘brand’ in the programme’s communications, the NGO support programme can ensure that the role, purpose and identity is clear, and can also help with resource mobilisation, research, technical support, policy and advocacy work.

Related themes

NSP Governance and strategy

Technical support in Governance and strategy

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