NGO support toolkit (English)  >  Partner and project selection  >  Selecting NGOs and CBOs 

Capacity and credibility assessments

When reviewing proposals and NGO/CBO profiles, it may be necessary for NGO/CBO support providers (NSPs) to carry out a more detailed capacity assessment and a community credibility check. Capacity assessments are used to assess both the organisational and programmatic capacity of potential NGO and CBO partners. Key issues for organisational and programmatic capacity assessments include whether:

• the NGO or CBO is financially sound or could integrate good financial management and systems quickly with support
• the organisation is adequately staffed
• the NGO or CBO has an appropriate level of understanding of HIV/AIDS and/or other health and development issues on which to build.
• the proposal is understood and supported widely within the organisation and the community, and has been developed through a consultative process.

NSPs need to balance selecting organisations with a good existing level of capacity and encouraging and supporting the development of weaker, well-placed organisations that are in a position to play a key role in prevention, care or impact mitigation.

It is also important to make some kind of assessment of the organisation’s credibility in the community. For example, NSPs can look for evidence of community participation in the NGO/CBO’s programming and/or management, the level of respect the organisation commands in the area where they work, and perhaps the impact of past programmes. This needs to be done sensitively and NSPs should be aware of local organisational politics to make sure that rivalries do not unfairly influence a credibility check.

Capacity assessments and community credibility checks require a visit to the organisation’s location and can be time consuming. Where this is not possible, a phone call may suffice. However, in general, it may be better to include this step only for those organisations that have been shortlisted or if those making the selection are seriously undecided.

Issues to consider

• When doing a capacity check, NSPs need to decide whether existing capacity, rather than the potential capacity, of an organisation is a critical criterion for selection or rejection, given that capacity building is a core role of an NSP.
• NSPs may decide to give grants to a CBO or NGO on the basis of a credibility assessment, while using a more detailed capacity assessment to identify training needs once a commitment to provide support has been established.

Related themes

Capacity analysis

Technical support

Building capacity

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