NGO support toolkit (English) 

NGO Support Programme management

All organisations providing NGO Support programs need to establish governance, management, administrative and financial structures and systems to ensure they achieve their goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. This is to ensure that:

• strategic aims and objectives are set for the work of the organisation
• the funds and resources of the organisation are used effectively and efficiently in pursuit of strategic aims and objectives, and none are misused
• roles and responsibilities are clearly allocated for all the tasks involved in implementing the programme of work
• there is a clear framework for day-to-day management
• there is a clear system of reporting and accountability within the organisation
• donor requirements are met (which makes future funding more likely).

Because grant funding may constitute a substantial proportion of the work of many NSPs, a similar level of effort may have to be devoted to developing each of:

• Management systems (including governance, organisational structure and policies and procedures) to ensure a high quality of support can be offered by the NSP to its partner NGOs.
• Financial systems (including internal control systems and procedures, accounting systems and record keeping, grant management systems, financial reporting, and audits) to ensure that funds are properly managed.

Issues to consider

• Initially, at the launch of a new NSP, the priority will be to develop the essential systems and structures required to rapidly provide a framework for beginning support to NGOs and CBOs.
• As their relationship with their first NGO and CBO partners develops, NSPs need to review their own structures and systems to ensure that they develop a wider range of activities based on a sound decision-making process, with the full range of mechanisms for accountability and other quality assurance systems in place.
• Increasingly, as an NSP matures, and as partnerships with a range of local NGOs and CBOs develop and deepen, it may become increasingly important to emphasise providing technical support to help NGOs and CBOs develop and refine their organisational structures and systems.

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