As a part of the third-sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are faced with issues of trust and accountability. Questions are increasingly being raised about how to make NGOs more accountable for the funds they receive and how to enhance their effectiveness and performance. This article examines the issues of trust and credibility of NGOs. The article identifies a number of factors that would help improve NGOs’ credibility, effectiveness and performance. Implications for third-sector organizations are discussed.
AhmadM.2006: The partnership between international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and local NGOs in Bangladesh. Journal of International Development, 18, 629–38.
2.
AkingbolaK.2006: Strategic choices and change in non-profit organizations. Start Change, 15, 265–81.
3.
AmagohF. and KabdiyevaA.2012: Management issues for improving NGO sustainability in Kazakhstan. World Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 31–40.
4.
AndreoniJ. and PayneA.2003: Do government grants to private charities crowd out giving or fund-raising?American Economic Review, 93, 792–812.
5.
AppletonL.2005: The role of nonprofit organizations in the delivery of family services in 11 EU member and applicant states. International Social Work, 48, 251–62.
6.
AtackI.1999: Four criteria of development NGO legitimacy. World Development, 27, 855–64.
7.
Bar-NirD. and GalJ.2011: Who has the power? The role of NPOs in public authoritiesVoluntas, 22, 1–25.
8.
BarrosC. and NunesF.2007: Governance and CEO pay and performance in non-profit organizations. International Journal of Social Economics, 34, 811–27.
9.
BaxterJ. and ChauW.2003: Alternative management and accounting research: Whence and wither?”Accounting, Organizations, and Society, 28, 97–126.
10.
BebbingtonT.1996: Organizations and intensifications: Campesino federations, rural livelihoods and agricultural technology in the Andes and Amazonia. World Development, 24, 1161–77.
11.
BeneveneP. and CortiniM.2010: Interaction between structural capital and human capital in Italian NPOs: Leadership, organizational culture and human resource management. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 11, 123–39.
12.
BorwankarA. and VelamuriR.2009: The potential for management development in NGO private sector partnerships. Journal of Management Development, 28, 326–43.
13.
BrinkerhoffD. and BrinkerhoffJ.2004: Partnerships between international donors and non-governmental developmental organizations: Opportunities and constraints. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 70, 253–70.
14.
BurgosS.2013: Corporations and social responsibility: NGOs in the ascendancy. Journal of Business Strategy, 34, 21–9.
15.
ChalhoubM.2009: The effect of management practices on corporate performance: An empirical study of non-governmental organizations in the Middle East. International Journal of Management, 26, 51–73.
16.
ChoudhuryE.2010: Attracting and managing volunteers in local government. Journal of Management Development, 29, 592–603.
ConatyF.2012: Performance management challenges in hybrid NPO/public sector settings: An Irish case. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 61, 290–309.
19.
CourtneyR.2002: Strategic management for voluntary non-profit organization. London: Routledge.
20.
DahanN., DohJ., OetzelJ. and YazijiM.2010: Corporate-NGO collaboration: Co-creating new business models for developing markets. Long Range Planning, 43, 326–42.
21.
DiochinM.2010: Governance, entrepreneurship and effectiveness: Exploring the link. Social Enterprise Journal, 6, 93–109.
22.
EcclesR. and SaltzmanD.2011: Achieving sustainability through integrated reporting. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 9, 56–61.
23.
EdgarG. and LockieF.2010: Fair-weather friends: Why compacts fail non-government organizations. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 30, 354–67.
24.
EdwardsM.1996: NGO performance: What breeds success? Approaches to work in South Asia. Working Paper 14, Save the Children Fund.
25.
EdwardsM. and HulmeD., editors. 1995: NGO performance and accountability: Beyond the magic bullet. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.
26.
EsmanM. and UphoffN.1984: Local organizations: Intermediaries in rural development. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
27.
EvansP.1996: Development strategies across the public-private divide: Introduction. World Development, 24, 1033–37.
28.
FowlerA.1997: Striking a balance: A guide to enhancing the effectiveness of NGOs in international development. London: Earthscan.
29.
FowlerA.1998: Authentic NGDO partnerships in the new policy agenda for international aid: Dead end or light ahead?Development and Change, 29, 137–59.
30.
FowlerA.2000: Introduction—Beyond partnership: Getting real about NGO relationships in the aid system. In FowlerAlan, F., editor, Questioning partnership: The reality of aid and NGO relations—Special issue of Institute of Development Studies Bulletin, 31, 1–13.
31.
GibelmanM. and GelmanR.2004: A loss of credibility: Patterns of wrongdoing among nongovernmental organizations. International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 15, 355–91.
32.
Gil-EstalloM., Giner-de-la-FuenteF. and Griful-MiquelaC.2006: The strategic social map of a nongovernmental organization. International Advances in Economic Research, 12, 105–14.
33.
GrayR., BebbingtonJ. and CollisonD.2006: NGOs, civil society and accountability: Making the people accountable to capital. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 19, 319–48.
34.
GreatbanksR., ElkinG. and ManvilleG.2010: The use and efficacy of anecdotal performance reporting in the third sector. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 59, 571–85.
35.
GugertyM.2010: The emergence of non-profit self-regulation in Africa. Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 39, 1087–112.
36.
HagerM. and BrudneyJ.2004: Volunteer management practices and retention of volunteers. Washington, D. C.: The Urban Institute.
37.
HansenE. and SpitzeckH.2011: Measuring the impacts of NGO partnerships: The corporate and societal benefits of community involvement. Corporate Governance, 11, 415–26.
38.
HendersonK.1997: Alternatives to imposed administrative reform: The NGOs. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 10, 353–63.
39.
IrishL. and SimonK.2003: The nongovernmental organizations act 2002, for the United Republic of Tanzania. International Journal of Civil Society Law, 1, 70–2.
40.
JainP.1996: Managing credit for the rural poor: Lessons from the Grameen Bank. World Development, 24, 79–90.
41.
JonkerJ. and NijhofA.2006: Looking through the eyes of others: Assessing mutual expectations and experiences in order to shape dialogue and collaboration between business and NGOs with respect to CSR. Corporate Governance, 4, 456–66.
42.
KamariaK. and LewisA.2009: The not-for-profit general management responsive capability competencies: A strategic management perspective. Business Strategy Series, 10, 296–310.
43.
KaplanR.2001: Strategic performance measurement and management in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 11, 353–70.
44.
KellyD. and LewisA.2010: Funding of human service sector nonprofit organizations (HSNPs). Business Strategy Series, 11, 192–99.
45.
KhanM.2003: Accountability of NGOs in Bangladesh. Public Management Review, 5, 267–78.
46.
KortenD.1987: Third generation NGO strategies: A key to people-centered development. World Development, 15, 145–59.
47.
LindenbergM.2001: Are we at the cutting edge or the blunt edge? Improving NGO organizational performance with private and public sector strategic management frameworks. Non-profit Management and Leadership, 11, 247–70.
48.
McMurrayA., Pirola-MerloA., SarrosJ. and IslamM.2010: Leadership climate, psychological capital, commitment, and wellbeing in a non-profit organization. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31, 436–57.
49.
MiltinD., HickeyS. and BebbingtonA.2007: Reclaiming development? NGOs and the challenge of alternatives. World Development, 35, 1699–720.
50.
MorfD., FlesherD., HayekM., PaneS. and HayekC.2013: Shifts in corporate accountability reflected in socially responsible reporting: A holistic review. Journal of Management History, 19, 87–113.
51.
MwenjaD. and LewisA.2009: Exploring the impact of the board of directors on the performance of not-for-profit organizations. Business Strategy Series, 10, 359–65.
52.
NajamA.1996: NGO accountability: A conceptual framework. Development Policy Review, 14, 339–53.
53.
NdegwaP.1996: The two faces of civil society: NGOs and politics in Africa. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press.
54.
O’DwyerB. and UnermanJ.2007: From functional to social accountability: Transforming the accountability relationship between funders and non-governmental development organizations. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 20, 446–71.
55.
OkorleyE. and NkrumahE.2012: Organizational factors influencing sustainability of local non-governmental organizations: Lessons from a Ghanaian context. International Journal of Social Economics, 39, 330–41.
56.
PearceJ. A. and RobinsonR.2007: Strategic management: Formulation, implementation and control. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
57.
PfeifferJ. and JohnsonW.2008: Strengthening health systems in poor countries: A code of conduct for nongovernmental organizations. Public Health, 98, 2134–40.
58.
PrugsamatzR.2010: Factors that influence organization learning sustainability in non-profit organizations. The Learning Organization, 17, 243–67.
59.
PuplampuB.2010: Leadership as engagement, leadership as system development: A contextualized Ghanaian study. European Business Review, 22, 624–51.
60.
RandleM. and DolnicarS.2011: Self-congruity and volunteering: A multi-organization comparison. European Journal of Marketing, 45, 739–58.
61.
ReillyC., editor. 1995: New paths to democratic development in latin America: The rise of NGO-municipal collaboration. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
62.
RodríguezC., LangleyA., BélandF. and DenisJ.2007: Governance, power, and mandated collaboration in an interorganizational network. Administration & Society, 39, 150–93.
63.
SadounB.2006: Donor policies and the financial autonomy of development NGOs. Development, 49, 45–51.
64.
SalamonL. and AnheierH.1999: The third sector in the third world. In LewisD., editor, International perspectives on voluntary organizations. London: Earthscan.
65.
SalazarL.2010: Enablers and constraints to knowledge creation, sharing and use: The case of policy advocacy networks. VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 40, 362–75.
66.
SarrosJ., CooperB. and SantoraJ.2011: Leadership vision, organizational culture, and support for innovation in not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32, 291–309.
67.
SchalteggerS. and WagnerM.2006: Integrative management of sustainability, performance measurement and reporting. International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 3, 1–19.
68.
SchneiderS. and GeorgeW.2011: Servant leadership versus transformational leadership in voluntary organizations. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 32, 60–77.
69.
SilvermanR. and PattersonK.2011: The effects of perceived funding trends on non-profit advocacy: A national survey of non-profit advocacy organizations in the United States. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 24, 435–51.
70.
Soakell-HoM. and MyersM.2011: Knowledge management challenges for nongovernmental organizations: The health and disability sector in New Zealand. VINE, 41, 212–28.
71.
SoleF.2009: A management model and factors driving performance in public organizations. Measuring Business Excellence, 13, 3–11.
72.
StidD. and BradachJ.2009: How visionary nonprofits leaders are learning to enhance management capabilities. Strategy & Leadership, 37, 35–40.
73.
StohlM. and StohlC.2010: Human rights and corporate social responsibility: Parallel processes and global opportunities for states, corporations and NGOs. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 1, 51–65.
74.
TendlerJ. and AmorimM.1996: Small firms and their helpers: Lessons on demand. World Development, 24, 407–26.
75.
VangenV. and HuxhamC.2003: Nurturing collaborative relations: Building trust in interorganizational collaboration. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39, 5–31.
76.
WarnerM. and SullivanR.2004: Putting partnerships to work. Greanleaf Publishing.
77.
WeidenbaumM.2009: Who will guard the guardians? The social responsibility of NGOs. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 147–55.
78.
ZaidiS.1999: NGO failure and the need to bring back the state. Journal of International Development, 11, 259–71.
