The Humanitarian & Development NGOs domain at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations convenes a study group on NGOs and Development.   The next study group session, titled Measuring NGO Performance: Difficulties, Dilemmas and A Way Ahead, will be held on Tuesday, November 24 at 4:00 pm in the Hauser Center conference room (Belfer L-4 at the Harvard [...]

At the end of August, Neil McCullagh sat down with Ruth Allen, Mercy Corps’ Global Advisor for Community Mobilization, Governance and Partnerships, to discuss the release of Mercy Corps’ Guide to Community Mobilization Programming.  This valuable guide, grounded in over ten years of Mercy Corps’ practical experience in supporting community-led development, can be found here. [...]

On Monday, the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program at the Aspen Institute released Mobilizing Change: 10 Nonprofit Policy Proposals to Strengthen U.S. Communities.  Full disclosure: I helped edit the paper and wrote much of the introduction, and its recommendation for FEMA to create a high-level coordinating body to better integrate community-based nonprofits in disaster relief [...]

Regarding mechanisms to raise and distribute funds in the wake of emergencies, it might be productive to revisit lessons from my experience with hurricane Katrina.  I arrived in Louisiana 10 days after the storm and helped found the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation.   As documented in reports like my Weathering the Storm: the Role of [...]