Structuring, Resourcing and Financing Today's NGOs - Case Study Example

Structuring, resourcing and financing todays NGOs Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Position of the NGO in current scenario 4 Response of the NGO to external pressures 5 Effectiveness and relevancy 7 Dealing with contradictions 9 Conclusion 10 11 References 12 Introduction CARE Australia is an Australian non-governmental organization which majorly assists for relief efforts in any disaster and even addresses possible cause for poverty across the globe. This organization works in all developing countries and comes forward with humanitarian aid. CARE Australia is one of the confederations amongst twelve national members who are a part of CARE International. The large scale operation of this NGO has proved them to be the largest international development assistance and emergency aid organization. Community donation can be considered to be a major source of funding for this organization. However they have even ensured additional support from World Health Organization, Australian government and European Union. In 2008, majority percentage of total revenue generated by CARE Australia was transferred to various projects taking place in the overseas. Australia in the year 1987 had become one of the national members of CARE International and this in the starting phase was led by Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister. The major mission of CARE Australia is to serve families and individuals belonging to poorest communities across the globe. It can be stated that the major focus of this NGO is to enhance economic opportunity, strengthen self-help capacity, deliver relief in times of emergencies, addressing discrimination and influencing any form of policy decisions (CARE Australia, 2009). There are various hurdles which are faced by the organization and they even have to upgrade their funding system continuously so that there is no delay in their operational procedures. On the other hand the CARE team incorporates best management practices into their system which provides essential framework for the entire process. Discussion Position of the NGO in current scenario The vision of CARE Australia states the position of this NGO in the modern world. They aim at extending support to all those individuals who are deprived off from the society. It’s a worldwide movement which was started so as to eradicate the concept of poverty from the world. This organization has been able to change lives of millions of people from the date of its incorporation. In today’s climate where there is a struggle towards achieving funds for sustaining such non-profit operations it becomes essential to place the organization in such platform where support can be easily gained from wide range of sources. CARE International is one of the biggest NGOs which have expanded their operations in all developing countries (CARE Australia, 2009). Their style of working has also been incorporated in CARE Australia where the main focus is towards women empowerment. The holistic approach which is followed by the organization can also be stated as a major factor that secures the position of this humanitarian organization. It not only works aligned with its political environment or governance but also takes into consideration social environment, economic environment and its natural environment. The organization aims at providing access to basic rights so as to achieve sustainable development. They even provide required training and development to all those volunteers who take active participation in the projects undertaken by CARE Australia. There is a team of emergency professionals in the NGO who are responsible for assisting long-term rehabilitation and immediate relief for communities that are greatly impacted by natural or man-made disasters (England, Budig and Folbre, 2000). This team provides shelter, food, health, support and sanitation facilities to poor communities in crisis times and even extends support to those areas which are vulnerable to any form of disaster. The NGO has made their position firm by evaluating all the areas which greatly impacts poor communities. CARE Australia has been focused towards extending their support to girls and women in developing countries so as to develop long term sustainability in context of the struggle towards eliminating poverty. Community development is achieved by the organization by implementing long term projects such as those related to food security and agriculture, health, education, nutrition, economic development and water, environmental health and sanitation. The organization aims at covering all the aspects related to the society which has an adverse impact on the community development. Hence it can be stated that the major aim of the NGO is not only to provide disaster relief but to eradicate all those factors from the society which restricts overall societal development (Clare, 2011). In order to sustain its wide scale operations the organization not only relies upon community donations but even acquire funds from other institutional partners. The NGO has such large scale of operations that it is not a difficult task to reach out to intended audience for funds or to sustain its operations. This organization possess a clear focus and target which differentiates it from rest of the non-governmental organization On the other hand a team of experts and professionals make tasks or operations much simpler and easier for the organization. Response of the NGO to external pressures The external pressures are a common factor for all such non-profit organizations. It can be stated that these pressures enhance the degree to which an organization can remain competitive in the market place. There are various forms of external pressures but for a non-profit organization the major one is growing competitive environment. To some extent functioning of a non-governmental organization is greatly affected by such pressures. The term competitive do not represent the demand towards undertaking long term community developmental project but it highlights the deficit of well trained professional who can perform efficiently assigned tasks. This problem to a great extent has been solved by CARE Australia simply by maintaining their training and development program which helps the team of experts to resolve their problems and set forth future developmental plans. On the other hand these programs even help individuals to identify possible loopholes in the system and incorporate strategies which help to achieve desired goals and objectives. This tool has also enabled the organization to retain those employees who has been passionate towards their job (Folbre, 2006). The operations or projects that are undertaken by a NGO are not similar to that of any big organization as it is done for humanity and not for profit. In such a scenario it becomes essential to keep those members in the team who can understand the cause behind these projects and can even feel a sense of ownership. CARE Australia has efficiently maintained such team and even performs constant evaluation so as to ensure that the team members are meeting required performance standards. The other form of external pressure is the need towards performing well so that stakeholders or rather donors feel satisfied that their funds are being utilized efficiently. This is a major issue with many NGOs as they fail to maintain the level of efficiency which is needed by such organizations. CARE Australia has been able to cater such challenges efficiently as it has implemented automated systems throughout the organization, which tracks their performance and even outlines the areas that need further improvement. It is an efficient process as it reduces the complexity of manual tracking and dependency on advanced technology reduces the scope for probable errors in the system. The other pressure is the concern towards coverage in context of community development. In order to mitigate such issues the organization arranges for annual meetings where it put across the projects which are being implemented along with their progress reports (Baird and Whitehouse, 2007). Along with this the NGO even encourages stakeholders to come forward with their innovative ideas so that some effective feedback can be implemented in the system. On the other hand this pattern even eliminates the barrier which is usually present between stakeholders and management of an organization. Thus it is evident that CARE Australia not only works for developing poor communities but even is equally focused on preventing their operations from any such adverse impact created by external environment. Effectiveness and relevancy Being a non-governmental and nonprofit organization, CARE Australia has responded positively to the several pressures related with the supporter base and funding. Nongovernmental organizations like CARE Australia always face this kind of pressure. But according to the annual report 2013 of the organization, CARE Australia is planning to reach $20 million donation from the Australian public. Since 2009 unrestricted income of the Australia based NGO has increased significantly. It has registered a staggering 37 % growth (CARE Australia, 2013). This figure is clearly indicating that the organization has responded well and has successfully attracted adequate funding. Activity like “Walk in Her Shoes” campaign has helped the organization significantly to raise the fund. With the help of effective leadership and management system the organization has able to manage its support base. The organization has developed a unique program of National Staff Leadership Development Program. This program has made the organization significantly effective and relevant as far as the supporter base is concerned. The organization has managed its bilateral donors and multilateral donors. Over the years the organization has consistently delivered to its commitment. It has directly helped 2.58 million people and indirectly assisted 17 million people (CARE Australia, 2013). It has stick to its commitments and this has helped him to gain more supporters and public funding. Whatever may be the pressure, the organization has responded to the 13 emergency situations. The numbers of the regular donors have increased by 136%. It is a clear cut evident the organization has attracted adequate funding. Now the NGO has 12,000 dedicated individual donors. The NGO has made a consistent effort from within to manage all the pressure related with the supporter base and fund raising. Various philanthropic activities and initiatives have made the organization significantly relevant and effective. (CARE Australia, 2009b) The above picture is indicating the fund utilization of the organization. It shows that the organization spends lion share of the funds for the purpose of the different programs. It shows that the publicly donated funds are being properly utilized by the company. This characteristic of the NGO has attracted significant funds and supports across the world. 95% staffs of the organization are belonging to the same country where the project is on. It has helped the organization to respond significantly as far as the supporter base is concerned. The organization has partnerships with Qantas, Girl Guides Victoria and Body Shop to increase its supporter base. The organization has multidirectional and strategic partnership with AusAID (Horton and Roche, 2010). It has helped the organization to respond in effective manner as far as the support base is concerned. The last one year the organization has increased its active individual donor base from 62,623 to 80,816. All the above facts and figures are clearly articulating that CARE Australia with its dedicated and committed activities has responded significantly well in terms of increasing its supporter base and raising funds. The organization never has backtracked from its primary responsibilities and has managed optimum utilization of its financial resources. Dealing with contradictions The organization operates on the large scale basis. It has vast and significant responsibilities to manage. But the organization is substantially dependent on the public funding. It has very less support from the government. The organization has total 1,020 employees tirelessly working in Australia and in 24 developing countries across the world. Being a NGO the internal pressure and the External pressure of the organization are contradictory in nature. In one side different humanitarian projects requires significant amount of money on the other side for conducting internal operation fund is also required. But source of the fund is constant that is public fund. So utilization of fund for the sake of internal pressure and external pressure is significantly contradictory. But the NGO handles the contradiction efficiently. It only spends 14% of the total raised fund for the internal purpose and uses 86% of the total fund for the purpose of the humanitarian projects. The NGO always gives significant priorities to the external pressure which is to fulfill the humanitarian duties (Lewis, 2006). Being a multinational organization, mobilizing human resource is a significant contradiction that the organization faces. But with the help of its strategic management the organization has handled this contradiction very well. It has employed 95% of its total staffs to their home countries. In this way the organization has reduced lots of costs for relocation. The NGO is related with the public humanitarian activities. Often personal behavior and code of conduct can be contradictory. But the organization has dealt well with this contradiction. Being a signatory of ACFID Code of Conduct, ICRC Code of Conduct, FIA Code of Conduct and Sphere Project, the organizational behavior is significantly guided by all these standards. This practice has helped the organization to manage any kind of contradiction in the domain of ethics and operational transparency. In terms code of conduct of conduct internal and external contradiction is very normal (CARE Australia, 2009a). But all these guidelines have reduced the chances of any kind of contradiction with the sense of common ethical concept. The organization has core values to increase the local capacities. But with its limited resources it is significantly difficult to increase the local capacities. This is a contradiction for sure. But over the years the organization has managed its limited resources and contributed a lot to increase the local capacities. It has worked in 184 projects across the 24 countries. With the help of those projects almost 2.58 million people of the 24 countries have been benefited directly or indirectly. It shows that the organization has managed this critical contradiction pretty well. In some of the cases the organization has chosen the path of strategic partnerships with various others organizations. In terms of area of operations there is significant contradiction between internal and external pressure. The organization operates in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, where political situations are not at all stable (Ronalds, 2010). But the organization has shown enough dedication in terms dealing with the problems. The NGO has continued its educational programs in Afghanistan for last 19 years. Conclusion This paper has significantly pointed out that the organization has significantly responded well and always has maintained its relevancy. Over the years the Australia based NGO has managed to increase its effectiveness with the help of enhanced supporter base. The organization has been significantly effective enough as far as the fundraising is concerned. All the facts and figures provided in the paper are the bright examples of their fund raising capacities. It is being observed that commitment, dedication levels and sense of responsibility of the organization has attracted the global people. Different activities and strategic partnership has made the organization one of the reputed names in the domain of global NGOs. Like all the NGOs the organization also faces contradictions between the external and the internal pressure. But with the help of strategic leadership and right ethical conducts the organization has able to deal with all those contradictions. The NGO gives significant importance towards the sustainable developments. The organization is involved in the domain of sanitations, water, health and educational programs. To get the personnel for the project the organization manages a team of experts and those experts are retained for the future prospects. Over the years the NGO has given significant importance towards the interests of all stakeholders related with it. References Baird, M., and Whitehouse, G., 2007. Taking Care: Work and Family Policy Issues. Australian Bulletin of Labour, 33 (2), pp. 129-133. CARE Australia, 2009. Mission & Vision. Available at: http://www.care.org.au/Page.aspx?pid=201 [Accessed on 10 October 2014]. CARE Australia, 2009a. Codes of conduct. Available at. http://www.care.org.au/codes-of-conduct. [Accessed on 10 October 2014]. CARE Australia, 2009b. Where the money goes. Available at: http://www.care.org.au/where-the-money-goes. [Accessed on 10 October 2014]. CARE Australia, 2013. Annual Report. Available at. http://www.care.org.au/document.doc?id=1372. [Accessed on 10 October 2014]. Clare, R., 2011. Women and Superannuation. Australia: ASFA Research Centre. England, P., Budig, M., and Folbre, N., 2000. Wages of Virtue: The Relative Pay of Care Work. Social Problems, 49 (4), pp. 455-473. Folbre, N., 2006. Measuring Care: Gender, Empowerment, and the Care Economy. Journal of Human Development, 7 (2), pp. 183-199. Horton, K. and Roche, C.J.R., 2010. Ethical Questions and International NGOs: An exchange between Philosophers and NGOs. Carlton: Springer Science & Business Media. Lewis, D. 2006. The Management of Non-Governmental Development Organizations 2e. New York: Routledge. Ronalds, P. 2010. The Change Imperative: Creating the Next Generation NGO. New York: Kumarian Press. Read More