3. Ngo Accountability Notes

What is Accountability

• “Being answerable to stakeholders for the action of the organisation” (Christensen and Ebrahim, 2006)

• “The process of holding actors responsible for actions” (Fox and Brown, 1998)

• Who to be accountable to?

  • Responsibility for those directly affected vs. responsibility to all whose life experiences are affected

  • Debate on who NGOs should be accountable to

    • Lagging behind private sector where the belief has become that you should be accountable to wider actors

      • E.g. corporate, social and environmental responsibility

• Academic research into NGO accountability has lagged behind (ActionAid International, 2006)

• International NGO accountability charter (INGO, 2006)

• Focus of accountability:

  • Functional = accounting for resources, resource use and immediate impacts

  • Strategic = accounting for impacts on other organisations and the wider environment

• Easier to demonstrate accountability when your aims and outcomes are measureable

Why Accountability?

• Increasing attention is being afforded to issues of accountability

• Public scandals have damaged confidence in NGOs

  • E.g. National Lottery Charitable Board (2000) – lack of oversight of grant awards

  • E.g. United Way of America (1992) – President misusing funds

• The press has taken on a watchdog role, acting on behalf of smaller stakeholders and the public

• Emerging research agenda in social accountability literature (Dixon et al., 2006)

• A competitive NGO marketplace is developing

• A need to “practice what you preach” otherwise potentially damaging

• Demonstrating accountability can help leverage funds and publicity

Hierarchical and Holistic Accountability

Hierarchical (Bureaucratic)

• Narrowly focused

• Functional and short-term

• Based on Weberian notion of bureaucracy

• Favours those stakeholders who control access to key resources (Ebrahim, 2003)

  • No focus on those stakeholders, who are weaker, lack control and power, but are those actually in need

• Prioritises accountability to powerful patrons (upward accountability)

• Lacks scope for learning and sharing

  • Damaging effects for the NGO as a catalyst for social change (Dixon et al., 2006)

• Limited resources and the changing donor market probably encourages hierarchical accountability because of priorities

Holistic

• “Broader accountability to a range of other organisations, individuals and the environment” (Edwards and Hulme, 2002)

• Embraces quantitative and qualitative mechanisms

• Focus on long term achievement of organizational mission

• “second and third order effects of NGO actions”

Upward and Downward Accountability

Upward

• May crowd-out downward accountability

• Focus on relationships with donors, foundations and governments

• Emphasis on accounting for spending money

• Pull towards upward accountability because it is often these stakeholders who demand it

  • Laws and regulations create a focus on upward accountability

• Business...

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