Understanding the Level of Organizational Development of Social Sector Organizations in India – An Organizational Assessment Survey
Joanne Sprague, from the Centre for Development Finance at IFMR, reports.
Social Sector Organizations: do you ever wonder if all the investment you make in ‘capacity building’ for your organization is worth the cost? Or whether all the paperwork you do really contributes to your development goals? Does it ever confuse you why some organizations get funded for years but don’t seem to have much impact, while others have little infrastructure or funding to speak of but manage to be incredibly effective?
The Strategy Advisory Group at the Centre for Development Finance (CDF), an action research think tank in Chennai, India, wondered the same things. We were curious as to which parts of an organization’s development – infrastructure, governance, M&E, leadership, etc. – really correlate to an organization’s effectiveness.
To better understand this for ourselves, we’ve developed a survey to assess the organizational maturity and effectiveness of development sector organizations in India. We need as many responses as possible to gain a robust set of insights for development organizations. To complete the survey, please visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/CDFsurvey. To read more about the background of the survey and the many rewards for respondents, continue reading below.
In the literature on organizational behavior and management, there seem to be two sides of a debate unfolding. On one side are those who believe that structure and institutional processes are the building blocks to effectiveness, so that if a certain set of processes and systems are set up, they will add up to organizational effectiveness. On the other side are those who promote a more nuanced set of characteristics, such as engaging with the external environment or finding ways to inspire people, based on similarities they have seen among cases of effective organizations that they feel should be replicated. We believe there is an element of truth to both sides, and we recognize that organizational development is not an exact science.
Further, we have noticed some gaps in the literature: most of the studies and organizational development tools out there seem to be tailored to either the corporate context or the Western social sector. We’re more interested in development sector organizations in India, so we decided to create our own. We want to help the sector get a better gauge of which myriad pieces of advice on improving organizational effectiveness are worth following, and which will give them the biggest bang for their buck. This is particularly important for social sector organizations, which tend to be resource-constrained. Investment in organizational capacity is a net-sum game, so we want to ensure organizations have the knowledge they need to allocate their money to measures that will maximize impact.
To this end, we have targeted our survey toward organizations working in India’s unique development context, and incorporated elements of both sides of the organizational capacity debate. The objectives of the survey are 1) to assess the current level of development and structure of Indian social sector organizations, 2) to understand key gaps and needs that can enable effectiveness, and 3) to inform the design of customizable tools for organizational capacity building.
The outputs of this survey project will only be as good as the number and quality of its responses. We hope that Indian nonprofits, foundations and social enterprises will help us improve the knowledge available for organizational development by taking this 30-minute organizational self-assessment.
Again, the survey is accessible at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CDFsurvey
If improving the state of Indian development organizations isn’t enough reason to convince you, we’re also offering some value-added services to make it worth your time. Every respondent will receive:
- The final report on trends in organizational capacity of Indian development organizations
- A customized summary of your organization’s capacity and peer comparison
Also, we will hold a virtual lottery for the most complete assessments. The more questions you answer and additional comments you provide, the more you maximize your chances of winning:
- Cash prize of INR5000 (awarded to 3 organizations with the most complete surveys)
- Three weeks of pro-bono consulting services from our experienced team, to assist your organization in the need of your choice: strategic planning, organizational processes, program evaluation, thematic and sectoral insights (awarded to 2 organizations)
Please complete the survey by Monday, March 15 to be eligible for these rewards. Thanks for helping us improve the effectiveness of development organizations in India.
For more information, please contact sag.team@ifmr.ac.in.
Joanne Sprague is a Senior Analyst in CDF’s Strategy Advisory Group. Her work focuses on advising nonprofits, foundations, social entrepreneurs and sustainable corporations on business strategy, organizational development, impact planning and evaluation. She focuses particularly on sustainable business models that integrate social and environmental value into core strategy.
