Organisational Development Resources
Effective forest governance grows from strong civil society
Organisation development — supporting organisations to change and becomemore effective — can improve how civil society organisations (CSOs) contribute to key issues such as forest governance and social justice.
Benchmarks for a Healthy Organisation
How do you know if an organization is functioning at a high level? How do you know if it is healthy? We present our organizational development tool that describes the seven key benchmarks of a healthy organization.
Organisation Development Success Stories: MEFP
This series of success stories is designed to share our experiences of OD with CSOs, identifying factors that we consider have been important in enabling them to become more effective and to have more impact. Read here about our work with the Maison de l’Enfant et de la Femme Pygmée (MEFP)!
How can the RACI model be used to balance the workload within an organisation?
The RACI methodology is simple to use and helps organisations to revisit their internal structure and clarify the division of tasks within a team. Read these guidelines and understand how you can easily apply this tool to your organisation!
Organisation Development Success Stories: Accountability, Participation and Organisational Growth
This series of success stories is designed to share our experiences of OD with CSOs, identifying factors that we consider to have been important in enabling them to become more effective and to have more impact. Read here about our work with the Dynamique des Groupes des Peuples Autochtones (DGPA)!
Organisation Development Success Stories: Structure, Strategy and Diversity
This series of success stories is designed to share our experiences of OD with CSOs, identifying factors that we consider to have been important in enabling them to become more effective and to have more impact. Read here about our work with the Plateforme pour la Gestion Durable des Forêts (PGDF)!
Discussion Series – Issue 3: The importance of strategy for CSOs
For CSOs to have a significant impact, it’s important to be able to reflect and respond strategically to what is going on around them. This article highlights the importance of strategy and the challenges inheritent to developing strategies with CSOs. It also explores our learning about how we can support CSOs to develop their own strategies. It is our hope that this article will fuel debate on this topic.
Discussion Series – Issue 2: Collective action between CSOs: How can networks be effective?
For organisations trying to influence politically and economically sensitive forest policy, it is a necessity to collaborate with others. Alone, an organisation can be vulnerable and their voice can be marginalised or silenced. When working with others, they are harder to ignore. This article highlights effective methods for collaboration between organisations in having their voices heard.
Leadership Development Resources
WOMEN IN CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Their place and influence
As part of its engagement with civil society committed to social and environmental justice in the Congo Basin, Well Grounded conducted research on the place of women in civil society in the DRC. Through a consultation of numerous CSOs complemented by qualitative interviews with women leaders of NGOs or networks throughout the DRC, the study confirmed the existence of numerous structural obstacles encountered by Congolese women to demonstrate associative leadership in a highly patriarchal society. Nevertheless there are also hopes and opportunities to be explored in order to achieve a better representation of women in Leadership positions in DRC civil society.
Discussion Series – Issue 1: The challenge of leadership in CSOs in the Congo Basin
This discussion paper sets out the importance of leadership in CSOs in the Congo Basin. It draws from the experiences of Well Grounded’s Leadership Development Programme, which supports leaders, managers and staff of CSOs working in the field of natural resources or community rights in Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Highlights from Nairobi Peer Learning Event
In July 2015, Well Grounded and Maliasili Initiatives brought together a small group of representatives from civil society organisations (CSOs) working on conservation and natural resource management issues in Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The purpose of the one-day event was to share experiences and ideas across organisations around strategy development, business planning, and the incorporation of new and more sustainable funding models. This report highlights some of the key points and themes that emerged from the learning event.
Strengthening African CSOs for improved natural resource governance and conservation
This report, co-authored by Well Grounded and Maliasili Initiatives, explores the major organisational challenges and issues facing African civil society organisations (CSOs) working in the natural resource and conservation fields, as well as current practices and trends in funding and external capacity support.
A short video outlining the key findings and recommendations of the research report can be viewed here.
Study on aspects of the legal framework that affect CSOs in Cameroon
Well Grounded commissioned this study on aspects of the legal framework that affect CSOs, after discovering through our daily interactions that many organisations are unaware of their legal obligations, that it is hard to obtain relevant information and that much of the information which is available is presented in a language that is hard to understand. To remedy this we asked local legal experts to collect and collate all the information that CSOs need in order to comply with their national legal system and to translate it into accessible language. (Please note that this publication is only available in French).
Study on aspects of the legal framework that affect CSOs in DRC
Well Grounded commissioned this study on aspects of the legal framework that affect CSOs, after discovering through our daily interactions that many organisations are unaware of their legal obligations, that it is hard to obtain relevant information and that much of the information which is available is presented in a language that is hard to understand. To remedy this we asked local legal experts to collect and collate all the information that CSOs need in order to comply with their national legal system and to translate it into accessible language. (Please note that this publication is only available in French).
Tips & Tools
The role of strategy in an organisation’s success
Strategy is at the heart of an organisation’s work. In this document, you’ll find practical tips and key elements to integrate in a strategic process.
Characteristics of an effective network
We have identified the characteristics of an effective network through our experiences of providing organisation development support to civil society groups in the Congo Basin. Feel free to use this checklist to evaluate your network’s performance!
Tips for developing proposals
Well Grounded has developed a short document offering ‘ten tips’ on preparing proposals for international donors. Download it here!