MatchMaker Solution Pack | Organisational Leadership for Local Humanitarian NGO Networks

Written By ADMIN

This resource package was developed as part of the Oxfam HST-LHL programme. Click on the button below to download the full report.

We welcome external contributions. Please feel free to use the “comment” function to share your thoughts with us or suggest additional solutions you would like us to feature.

LOCATION: Global

SECTOR: NGO Management, System Strengthening

DEMOGRAPHIC

  • Primary target group: Executives, board members and senior managers of local NGO networks and their members

  • Other possible target groups: Managers of projects focused on advancing localisation of humanitarian systems and strengthening of local civil society organisations.

Download the Report

  • This MatchMaker Resource Pack provides an overview of potential solutions to strengthen organisational leadership in networks of local humanitarian NGOs. It has been commissioned by the Humanitarian System Transformation through Local Humanitarian Leadership (HST-LHL) programme facilitated by Oxfam in partnership with more than 30 local and national actors, and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. While this resource is primarily addressed to networks of local NGOs operating in humanitarian contexts, its contents should also be relevant to networks of civil society actors operating in the development space as well as large Clusters, NGO working groups, consortia, alliances and the like.

    This resource package contains a review of top solutions to a challenge that was identified and refined by key informant interviews and a desk research exercise undertaken by Response Innovation Lab (RIL), and selected as a priority by HST-LHL programme teams and partners operating in the seven program countries: Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, South Sudan and Yemen. This Pack is meant to be an iterative resource, with solutions added and refined with the support of HST-LHL programme partners in an open-source manner, with curation from RIL. You can see the full synthesis of the research process that led to this challenge being selected here.

    It is important to note that this research specifically focused on internal operational risks and capacity gaps that local networks of humanitarian NGOs experienced and not on the broader challenges of humanitarian response systems (e.g., power dynamics between global and local actors).  Instead, this document focuses on suggesting solutions that can be directly investigated, assessed, trialled and adopted by local NGO networks and their members.  Partnership with international organisations in a risk sharing framework, however, is highly encouraged and may lead to more transformational results. A section dedicated to risk sharing suggestion is included in the document.

    Response Innovation Lab is a global collaboration between leading humanitarian non- governmental organisations (World Vision, Oxfam, Danish Refugee Council and Save the Children), and Civic (an international community social impact accelerator). RIL manages the largest network of response-based social innovation hubs, with a focus on strengthening the innovation ecosystem and scaling solutions through collaborative partnerships.

  • The MatchMaker Solutions Pack is meant to be a guide that helps an organisation or network kickstart the process of identifying one or more solutions that can effectively address a particular type of challenge.  This process is meant to be internally driven, with or without external support and should include the following key steps:

    ·       An analysis of the specific gaps that the organisation or network faces in regard to the challenge highlighted in the specific MatchMaker Solutions Pack;

    ·       An assessment of the types of solutions presented in the document and their applicability to the specific needs of the organisation or network;

    ·       A decision to further explore one or more of the solution types and to identify providers available in, and adapted to, the organisation’s specific context;

    ·       Collecting information about the providers’ offerings and selecting the most suitable one(s) to pilot;

    ·       Testing this solution via a pilot project and using the evidence to make further decisions about further adapting and/or adopting the innovation.

    Throughout this process, outreach to peer organisations, networks and relevant knowledge hubs is highly encouraged to gather more specific insights into what solutions have succeeded and failed in the specific operational context.

    As you go through the contents of this MatchMaker Solutions Pack, please keep in mind the following:

    ·       The types of innovation provided are broad categories that include ideas that range from the simple to the highly disruptive, depending on the ambitions of the user. The same basic idea (for instance, enhanced professional training) can be applied in limited ways (assigning a one-off training course) or in a more transformative manner (developing a comprehensive digital staff training curriculum).

    ·       There may be barriers to some of the solutions presented and the user will need to assess whether these prohibit the use of an innovation type or whether they can be overcome through introducing an additional solution. For example, if poor connectivity prevents an organisation from accessing certain digital tools, it may be possible to introduce a new connectivity solution (such as an internet satellite subscription) that can be added to the pilot project.

    ·       This MatchMaker Solutions Pack was specifically designed for the Humanitarian System Transformation through Local Humanitarian Leadership programme and targets networks of local humanitarian organisations active in a wide range of operational settings (from highly fragile, low-income contexts to more stable, middle-income countries). It is possible that some solutions presented will not be considered innovative in some more economically advanced contexts. Conversely, some innovations suggested may not be as feasible in some of the more difficult operating environments.

    We hope that you enjoy reading this document and, more importantly, that you find enough inspiration in these pages to start a meaningful conversation about creating change in your organisation or network.  We wish you an exciting and fruitful innovation journey!

  • PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

    The issue of organisational leadership encompasses a number of facets that can enable or hamper the functioning of non-profit networks and standalone organisations.  For the purpose of this exercise, RIL broadly defined the challenge as:

    Suboptimal strategic leadership that can inhibit long-term objective setting, lead to loss of focus and limit impact of representation in coordination structures.

    Interviews and desk research identified several components to address, including:

    ·       Dysfunctional/underperforming boards;

    ·       Geographic and thematic overreach in response to donor expectations;

    ·        Misalignment between proposals submitted and organisational strategy;

    ·        Unclear roles and responsibilities of internal structures;

    ·        Limited understanding of the localisation agenda and humanitarian system structure;

    ·        Absence of clear policies on sensible topics such as gender equity and protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment;

    ·        Lack of agility, ambition (“growth mindset”) and risk-taking in organisational strategies and ways of working.

    Altogether, these gaps and limitations featured prominently not only in external analyses of local actors’ capacities but also in self-assessments by humanitarian NGO networks themselves – it was voted #2 out of 10 challenges in a survey of HST-LHL partners.

    OBJECTIVES OF THE SOLUTION

    This MatchMaker Solutions Pack will focus on identifying innovations addressing the following key components of the above-described challenge:

    1)     Leadership skills of executive officers of local NGO networks and member organisations;

    2)     Strategic planning tools and systems;

    3)     Non-profit and network governance structures and their management;

    4)     Knowledge about the localisation agenda, humanitarian system reforms, and current best practices applied by peer networks and organisations in the region and globally.

    Solutions are meant to provide options which local humanitarian NGO networks and their members can adapt, test and adopt, either through an internal process or in partnership with one or more external organisations. They are proposed separately but can be mixed and matched to fit the specific needs and contexts of the adopter.

    Scope

    This MatchMaker Solution Pack is meant to provide ideas for local humanitarian NGO networks operating anywhere in the world.  As per the focus of the HST-LHL programme, special care has been taken to highlight solutions available to NGO networks operating in contexts ranging from low-resource settings (e.g. Yemen, South Sudan, et al.)  to Middle Income Countries (e.g. Indonesia, Columbia, et al.). Additional solutions may be applicable to NGO networks operating in more advanced economies.

    CRITERIA FOR DESIRED SOLUTIONS

    The research focused on solutions that respond to the following criteria:

    ·        Feasibility: Solutions should be available in nearly any humanitarian context and be usable by NGO network leaders who do not master the English language (but can operate in at least one international language – i.e., French, Spanish, Arabic or Portuguese);

    ·        Affordability: Solutions should be affordable to NGO networks under current funding parameters and able to be included in proposal budgets for project grants;

    ·        Scalability and Sustainability: Solutions should be able to expand and evolve from the pilot phase to become fully integrated parts of organisational leadership development strategies. They should be replicable across new individuals, teams and organisations in the same network;

    ·        Impact: Solutions must be capable of producing significant positive change for the organisations adopting them. These improvements should be measurable and attributable to the solution though the full impact of adoption may take longer than the pilot phase to be assessed.

    CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATIONS

    Adopters of solutions will need to account for the specific opportunities and limitations defined by their operating contexts. The description of solutions below will mention specific requirements and whether or not these might be a challenge in certain contexts.

    BUDGET AND TIME

    ·        It should be possible to adapt and pilot the solutions listed below at budgets ranging from US$10,000 to $25,000 and for a duration of 9-12 months.

    ·        Long-term costs of applying the solution at scale will vary.

  • Generally, interactions between leaders of international organisations and their local NGO counterparts are limited to project milestone events (proposal writing, kickoffs, reviews) and crisis management situations.  Local NGO executives, network leads or board members are all provided too few opportunities to engage in strategic level discussions or in more open exchanges on organisational management.

    Organisational leadership gaps can lead to a number of important risks for a structure or network.  Among them are safety and security concerns that can arise if the organisation is perceived to be partisan or to otherwise be distrusted by communities or relevant authorities.  Structures without clear ethical guidelines and a strong culture of accountability are also likely to foster irresponsible or malicious behavior by staff.  Altogether, underperforming leadership will invariably lead to reputational risks and loss of trust by donors, partners and communities.

    Taking a risk sharing approach would encourage international partners to engage more meaningfully with local leaders and provide opportunities for exchange, collaboration and cross-learning beyond the realm of individual projects and their grantor-grantee relationships, such as through:

    ·        Inviting local partner executives to join coordination bodies (Clusters, working groups, etc.);

    ·        Helping provide direct access to visiting and in-country donors;

    ·        Organising regular meetings between international leaders and LNGO executives and board members;

    Extending invitations to leadership training opportunities managed by international organisations.

Overview

  • Leadership training programmes:  Online and/or in-person training courses and curricula especially targeted at non-profit executives and board members.

  • Peer-to-peer learning platforms:  National, regional or global networks or events connecting local NGO leaders and facilitating the exchange of skills, knowledge, tools and best practices.

  • Organisational twinning: Partnership between two networks/organisations with similar missions for the purpose of transferring strategic-level capacity and knowledge

The above solutions can be combined to generate hybrid innovations that leverage multiple benefits of each.

ADMIN
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