NGO Interest
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Dangerous assumptions about admitting failure
14 February 2012
Engineers Without Borders Canada's fourth annual Failure Report. PR exercise or innovative internal learning document?
In the last six months, debate surrounding admitting failure in development work has escalated, swinging periodically between two “absolutelys” – yes and no. Tshikululu’s senior communications specialist, Gina de Villiers, discovers that the concept itself could be doomed to failure.
No one is arguing that increased transparency and knowledge about the realities of working in development would be a bad thing. In fact, in this debate, that’s probably all that everyone agrees upon.
The organisations admitting failure very publicly, and creating platforms on which others can do the same (see www.admittingfailure.com, the website launched by Engineers Without Borders Canada), assert that better clarity and communication is exactly what lies at the heart of this movement.
Those calling the movement a fad and the phrase a “meaningless buzzword” have pointed out that a noble cause could become one that is dangerous to development’s millions of beneficiaries, should funding be threatened.
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Time for the nonprofit sector to consolidate
23 January 2012
In the business world, it is not unusual for companies to be merged, bought and traded. Sometimes, this is how companies survive, albeit in a different incarnation. Tshikululu’s CEO, Tracey Henry, considers that when NPOs are struggling financially, collaboration to the point of consolidation may well be an alternative to closure.
This article was first published by Business Day on 20 January 2012.
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All NPOs should be using social media. Well, maybe.
13 September 2011
Social media is not the “˜next big thing’, it’s right now’s big thing. But, NPOs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should be doing it. At the risk of sounding like a social media cynic, Gina de Villiers, Tshikululu’s senior communications specialist, explains. -
NGOs need help in halting increase in fraud
26 August 2011
Have you noticed an increase in reports of nongovernmental organisation (NGO) fraud? Tshikululu’s CEO, Tracey Henry has, and doesn’t believe this means investors should run scared.
This article was first published by Business Day.
Our grant-making oversight has picked up as many cases (some not yet proven) this year as in the previous 12 years combined. And all around us we hear more stories of misrepresentation of accounts, or hidden extra payments to staff, or even outright theft. This is happening in a development sector under severe financial stress and holds lessons for private-sector funders of “good works”.
