Accounting Notes > Accounting in Non-Governmental Organisations Notes
This is an extract of our 3. Ngo Accountability document, which we sell as part of our Accounting in Non-Governmental Organisations Notes collection written by the top tier of LSE students.
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NGO Accountability What is Accountability
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"Being answerable to stakeholders for the action of the organisation" (Christensen and Ebrahim, 2006)
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"The process of holding actors responsible for actions" (Fox and Brown, 1998)
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Who to be accountable to?
o Responsibility for those directly affected vs. responsibility to all whose life experiences are affected o Debate on who NGOs should be accountable toLagging behind private sector where the belief has become that you should be accountable to wider actors
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E.g. corporate, social and environmental responsibility
Academic research into NGO accountability has lagged behind (ActionAid International, 2006)
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International NGO accountability charter (INGO, 2006)
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Focus of accountability: o Functional = accounting for resources, resource use and immediate impacts o Strategic = accounting for impacts on other organisations and the wider environment
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Easier to demonstrate accountability when your aims and outcomes are measureable
Why Accountability?
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Increasing attention is being afforded to issues of accountability
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Public scandals have damaged confidence in NGOs o E.g. National Lottery Charitable Board (2000) - lack of oversight of grant awards o E.g. United Way of America (1992) - President misusing funds
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The press has taken on a watchdog role, acting on behalf of smaller stakeholders and the public
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Emerging research agenda in social accountability literature (Dixon et al., 2006)
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A competitive NGO marketplace is developing
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A need to "practice what you preach" otherwise potentially damaging
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Demonstrating accountability can help leverage funds and publicity
Hierarchical and Holistic Accountability Hierarchical (Bureaucratic)
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Narrowly focused
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Functional and short-term
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Based on Weberian notion of bureaucracy
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