Background to NGO Capacity Building
Community and voluntary organisations need good quality support and information so they can focus their effort on delivering services and contributing to their communities. However, there are gaps in the information and resources available to support these organisations.
Concerns were voiced about these gaps by organisations during the work to strengthen the community-government relationship, as documented in He Waka Kotuia.
A project with the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, established in September 2004, worked closely with small and medium sized community organisations to collect information and agree on priorities for new or revised initiatives and resources.
The options for support investigated included training resources, advisory information (e.g. good practice guides, manuals, case studies) and practical help.
In April and May 2005 information about resources and services available to organisations was collected for a joint FACS and OCVS project. Gaps in services and opportunities to improve access to information and resources were also identified.
Information was gathered by:
- business processes and planning
- a community information sheet inviting suggestions and feedback
- interviews and discussions over 50 stakeholders and community groups.
Results were used to shape proposals for practical support.
Summary of findings
The Summary of Capacity Building Needs and Opportunities (October 2005) report reflects themes and information gathered throughout the joint project.
Six key areas were identified where access to information and resources can be improved. These are:
- business processes and planning
- policies and procedures
- employment/human resources
- financial management
- governance
- IT/knowledge management.
Opportunities to strengthen the provision of information and resources include:
- written resources and toolkits focusing on best practice information and case studies
- advisory services providing face-to-face information and advice
- a clearing house providing a central point for accessing policies, news, regulation changes etc.
- an information and referral helpline
- peer-to-peer support networks and mentoring
- shared services such as HR, IT and financial advisers or specialists and facilities such as photocopiers, buildings, storage and administration.
In 2005 FACS worked with the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector and representatives from community and government agencies to identify the information, resources and services needed by people wanting to build organisational capacity in their community and voluntary organisations.
Two projects that came from this work were:
- the Managing Well catalogue that lists practical organisational resources to make it easy for those running or setting up a community organisation or project to find information and resources.
- the Community Resource Kit which was extensively updated in a joint project with the Department of Internal Affairs.
Since then Family and Community Services has developed other capacity building initiatives including introducing the Results-Based Accountability Model to community organisations and government departments and the Family Partnerships Model.
