SUSTAINABLE NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS PRESENTED TO THE THIRD WORLD CONGRESS ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Palampur, India
by Michael Karp President and Chief Executive Officer A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity
June 16, 2001 INTRODUCTION Too many Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) spend too little time directly achieving the goals of their mission, due to the time, energy and resources necessary maintaining and growing their infrastructure. In short, they are not structured to be sustainable organizations. An alternative NGO, one that is financially and organizationally sustainable and is structured to take advantage of virtual technology has many advantages over the historic models of NGO's. This new model maximizes resources and time available directly into on the ground projects while fulfilling its organizational mission. It is more a virtual organization than not and:
This new model combines an NGO mission with a private sector approach to optimize effectiveness. Given the sense of urgency on this planet and a sense that we are in an accelerated "circling of the drain", new and innovative delivery mechanisms are imperative. Organizations must be able to move forward in a design mode to optimize effectiveness. This is a new opportunity for organizational re-design brought about by technology . . . . in particular, the internet.
THE MODEL A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity (A W.I.S.H.) - International has created a virtual "place" where people who have a passion in a sustainability-related field (e.g., agriculture, energy, alleviation of poverty, forestry, green building, etc.) can direct their own projects without having to start their own organizations to do so. Furthermore, they gain the advantages of an organization:
These advantages are gained for the project proponents and implementors without having to experience the downside of conventional NGO's:
With this model, it is not necessary for people with a passion for sustainability related work to have to start their own organization to implement their dream work. Most traditional NGO organizational meetings are a burnout. They involve administrative minutia and are not a creative use of one's time. Other characteristics of traditional NGO's that are not productive for energetic and passionate advocates are:
By taking advantage of the present opportunity to be "virtual" made possible by the internet, the A W.I.S.H. model alleviates the pressure for the organization to maintain an unwieldy overhead, grow in size, and accumulate the resources or spend to the time to do so.
ABOUT A WORLD INSTITUTE FOR A SUSTAINABLE HUMANITY A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity - International has been successfully testing this "virtual" NGO for the past six years and has met with remarkable success. A W.I.S.H. has a board with representation from a dozen countries. There is a core board and an ex-officio board. A W.I.S.H. has affiliate organizations incorporated in a half dozen countries . . . . and that is growing. There are a wide array of projects that are sustainability based and locally implemented through international in scale. Some examples include: o The Bolivian Rainforest Project (rainforest preservation by sustainable agriculture as economic development with a native workforce outside of Santa Cruz) o The Costa Rican Banana Project (promoting organic methods for small farmers and creates coops on the Caribbean coast) o People for Salmon (community-based salmon habitat restoration in Washington State, USA) o The Global Living Project (Canadian-based project that promotes low consumption/high quality of life methods) o The Galilee Restoration Project (Israel-based sustainable agriculture on neighborhood/community level) o The International Association of Sustainability Businesses and Organizations (IASBO) (Networking, collaboration, education vehicle for businesses, NGO's and government) o The Northwest Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Project (promotes community based wind power in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.) o REACH (advocates for affordable energy for low- and fixed-income ratepayers in Washington State, U.S.) All of these projects operate independently and most are separate legal entities in their own right (e.g. have a business license), but are clustered under the A W.I.S.H organizational umbrella for benefit of having organizational affiliation and eligibility to funding sources that historically only fund NGO's. A W.I.S.H. - International runs a corporation from a 10 foot by 10 foot office. There is a computer, phone/fax, copy machine, and filing cabinets. Work done by A W.I.S.H. personnel is on professional service contract for the Chief Executive Officer and Contracts Officer on an hourly basis. All other services (e.g. legal, accounting, audit, project direction, etc.) are done remotely by professional service contracts. This organizational design allows for the potential of hundreds of independent projects. Instead of spending time funneling decisions, securing funds for overhead, and hitting the wall of structural limitations most NGO's fall under by poor design or default, the "virtual" organization can focus its energy on providing technical and strategic assistance, and provide a place for "incubation" of the projects, depending on their needs. Though A W.I.S.H - International has many projects clustered under its "umbrella," it doesn't strive for ownership of these projects. They are almost all independent or in an incubator mode to become so. This includes the A W.I.S.H. - International initiatives such as People for Salmon, the Residential Energy Assistance Challenge project, the International Association of Sustainable Businesses and Organizations, etc. The A W.I.S.H. affiliates (e.g. A W.I.S.H - Bolivia; Germany, Uruguay, etc.) are independent organizations that have adopted the A W.I.S.H. - International mission and have incorporated as an NGO in their own country. A W.I.S.H. works primarily with professional service contracts,is not staff based, and therefore mostly avoids the usual amount of time in meetings, paperwork, and so forth that can take 60 percent of ones day. Though we do have some meetings to establish scope and negotiate contracts, these are periodic and we avoid the additional meetings that become necessary when one is managing an office full of personnel The organization has adopted a sustainable funding strategy. It is not dependent on short term funding (e.g. governmental, foundations) but one that is focused on organizational and individual memberships, fees for service, etc. CLOSING This model of a new NGO that takes advantage of technology and efficiency in order to maximize effectiveness for on the ground projects that are the core of NGO missions is intended to provide another option for exisitng organizations that may find themselves stuck in a non-sustaining structure. Even if they have a "walk-in clientele" that necessitates a business office (including health clinics, human services, etc.) they may want to think about an organizational re-design that incorporates some or all of the suggestions in this paper. This model also offers alternatives to new organizations that will be starting up in the future that may be more "home" based than has been traditionally the case. This is a work in progress. We are making it up as we go along. A W.I.S.H. is trying to stay conscious of working in a design mode and not doing business by default. We look forward to critiques and appreciate in advance any comments you have on this model.
BRIEF CV Michael Karp is the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity. A W.I.S.H. (www.awish.net) is incorporated on four continents with over thirty projects promoting sustainable practices. He is also the President of Michael Karp & Associates, a public interest consulting firm specializing in a clean, renewable, and affordable energy future. Mr. Karp has over twenty-five years experience as a founder and as an administrator of NGO's. He is based in Bellingham, Washington, USA. |