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

Buy the full version of these notes or essay plans and more in our Accounting in Non-Governmental Organisations Notes.