INAMIDE - Feb 22, 2006

The quality of nonprofit management is a widespread and growing concern among the philanthropic community. "In addition to the fiscal and economic challenges confronting the nonprofit sector at the present time is a third challenge, a veritable crisis of effectiveness. Because they do not meet a ‘market test,’ nonprofits are always vulnerable to charges of inefficiency and ineffectiveness. However, the scope and severity of these charges have grown massively in recent years." PEOPLE DON´T TRUST US ANYMORE"

This concern has led grantmakers to invest substantial sums in nonprofit efforts to build management capacity. Technical assistance grants pay for outside consulting, while general operating support and management development grants can fund internal management costs. In addition, grantmakers have supported the development of a growing community of management support organizations (MSOs) around the country that provide management support to local nonprofits, but third world non profits are almost excluded from the system.

For some grantmakers, capacity building is simply a new name for what they have been doing for years through technical assistance grants and support for MSOs. For others, capacity building means stepping back from such practices, and making a concerted effort to learn about the impact of prior work, compare approaches, and make adjustments. There seems to be a growing recognition that nonprofit improvement is difficult, and that grantmakers need not only to understand the challenges but to learn from each other. This interest in learning led to the formation of Grantmakers web solidarity for south american NGOS, The purpose of SOLIDARITYNGO

To promote learning and dialogue about the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations among funders, about the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations working to build a more just and sustainable society.