Thousands of American volunteers have launched their own organizations to combat the challenges of international development, but until recently, little has been studied about how these entities operate. A collaboration between researchers at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the University at Albany fills that void.
The Grassroots Aid Survey, the first national survey of small and mid-sized nonprofits in the United States working on international development, was conducted by O’Neill School Associate Professor Allison Schnable and Susan Appe, Associate Professor of Rockefeller College, University at Albany. The researchers surveyed a sample of 185 U.S.-based international organizations with annual budgets of less than $1 million to collect data on the programs, finances, and challenges facing them.
“These are largely volunteer-driven organizations or organizations with a small staff,” Schnable said. “In spite of that, a lot of what they’re doing is providing services to people in developing countries. There are a lot of questions about how organizations can balance a volunteer spirit with accountability to those they serve.”
The survey was designed to develop a better understanding of what international development nonprofits look like when run by volunteers rather than large, professional staffs, and it allowed a more systemic account of small and mid-sized organizations’ projects, locations, and operations than had previously been gathered. An open-access report of survey findings, authored by Schnable, Appe, and Indiana University Ph.D. student Derek Richardson, is now available online.
“The biggest takeaway for organizations like these is they are doing direct, hands-on work,” Schnable said. “When you get bigger non-governmental organizations, there’s really sort of a trickle-down chain. A lot of what the larger organizations do is about training and developing skills. The smaller and mid-sized organizations are digging wells, building schools, running orphan homes, things like that. It’s very hands-on, and I think it’s very appealing to a lot of donors.”
Virtually all organizations, regardless of size or religious affiliation, report budget-related challenges, such as securing grant support, expanding the donor base, and obtaining funding. The organizations predominantly rely on donations from individuals rather than foundations, corporations, and community support organizations to support their activities.
“They want to raise more money,” Schnable said. “They don’t see themselves necessarily wanting to become a more sophisticated organization. They want more money to do more of what they’re already doing.”
The survey also shows that the opportunity for collaboration between larger and smaller nonprofits can play an important part on the international stage.
“Most of the smaller organizations are not trained in running a nonprofit or in managing development projects, they are actually learning as they go” Appe said. “We suspect that there might be additional ways these organizations can learn and be more effective. There is a role especially for support or umbrella organizations and we would want to see more spaces for peer learning among small organizations and interactions with larger nonprofits. Again, with the goal for these organizations to be more effective and accountable in their work.”
The Grassroots Aid Survey, which was funded by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI, will serve as a resource for better development practice and outcomes.
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