Workshops to help make ‘good guys’ better

THE SPANISH government has given a P6.87-million grant for a project that will teach the nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines how to operate with more professionalism and business-like efficiency. Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) will implement the project.

At the recent launching of the NGO Clinics on the Basics of Accountability and Good Governance at the Filipinas Heritage Library on Makati Avenue in Makati City, speakers pointed out that good intentions and the sincerity and commitment of do-gooders were often not enough to ensure the viability and survival of service organizations.

PCNC vice chair Felicitas C. Rixhon said many NGOs had to be assisted in assessing their performance and trained so they could meet standards set for accreditation with the council.

Executive director Luis P. Morales said many local NGOs needed help to improve their organizational functioning, including how to collaborate with other organizations so they could optimize use of resources and coverage of services.

The project, supported through the Agencia Española de Cooperacion International para el Desarollo (AECID) or Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, was designed “to train NGOs to be more efficient, more productive” and to strengthen their internal management, said Maria Molina, Spain’s deputy head of mission in the Philippines.

PCNC chair Vitaliano N. Nañagas II said the clinics would seek to strengthen the NGOs’ sense of accountability to their donors and beneficiaries.

As implementer of the project, the PCNC would harness the services of volunteers from the more established and sustainable NGOs as coaches or trainers, Morales said. This means NGOs would be learning from one another.

The workshops are expected to begin this month in the National Capitol Region. Each workshop will take two to three days. A total of eight workshops are being planned.

Subsequent workshops are planned for the Bicol region, Leyte/Samar, Cebu City, Butuan City and Davao City. Sessions will cover vision, mission and goals, governance, internal management, program operations, financial management and collaborative linkages.

Morales said some participants would be invited while others could apply. Priority will be given to NGOs that want to improve their organizational efficiency and effectiveness, but with little or no access to training.

Morales said they would want the executive director, a member of the board or a person in a position to effect improvements to attend the workshop.

Participants will not be charged any fees and will even get travel subsidy.

Many of the expected beneficiaries of the training program are NGOs involved in education, seeking to fill gaps in resources—classrooms, school furniture, equipment and facilities, etc.—created by limited government finances.

Accreditation body

Organized by six of the country’s largest NGOs, PCNC accredits organizations applying for donee (recipient of donations) institution status provided they meet minimum standards for certification.

It was established as a response to a challenge from the Department of Finance for NGOs to police their ranks and ensure that organizations were pursuing avowed goals and objectives.

While the role of NGOs in national development—and in delivering basic services to underserved areas and populations—is recognized by the government that realizes it is unable to provide for every Filipino’s needs, the proliferation of so-called civic and service organizations has been a concern.

Some estimates place the total of purported nonprofit, NGOs in the country at 60,000, encouraged by the recognition of the sector’s contribution in Philippine development that has even been enshrined in the Philippine Constitution.

The rapid rise in NGO numbers made it difficult for the government to monitor and regulate them to make sure they were using their resources and donations for their declared purposes.

The government wanted to make sure donations to NGOs were not simply a way for individuals and/or organizations to avoid paying the correct taxes.

Responding to the challenge, the country’s largest NGOs (Association of Foundations, Bishop Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development, Caucus of Development NGO Networks, National Council of Social Development Foundations and the Philippine Business for Social Progress) set up the PCNC as a self-regulatory mechanism and body that would “certify to the legitimacy, accountability and transparency of NGOs.”

Only donations to organizations certified by PCNC as donee institutions will entitle donors to a corresponding 100-percent tax deduction.

In effect, the PCNC has become the grantor of the good housekeeping seal in the NGO sector that assures donors that their chosen beneficiary is indeed deserving of their support.

Those interested in the clinics may write to PCNC, 6/F SCC Bldg., CFA-MA Compound, 4427 Interior Old Sta. Mesa Rd., Sta. Mesa, Manila; e-mail [email protected] or fax 7152783.