- 346J Eggers Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-1090 - +1.315.473.5073 (work)
Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken
Syracuse University, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Department Member
- Civil Society, international NGOs, Social Movements, Civic Agency, Public Participation, Participatory governance, and 14 moreNon-state actors, Evaluation, Program Evaluation, Global Civil Society, Plan International, Leadership, Organizational Change, Accountability, Rights Based Approaches, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Non-profits, NGO Leadership, Management, and Human Resource Managementedit
- Research interests: the role of transnational civil society organizations in global governance governance, leadersh... moreResearch interests:
the role of transnational civil society organizations in global governance
governance, leadership and effectiveness challenges of transnational NGOs
Rights Based Approaches to development
Leadership transition and successionedit
<p>Chapter 7 describes innovations in TNGO measurement and evaluation practices and considers the many internal and external challenges that organizations confront as they attempt to bring their measurement capabilities into better... more
<p>Chapter 7 describes innovations in TNGO measurement and evaluation practices and considers the many internal and external challenges that organizations confront as they attempt to bring their measurement capabilities into better alignment with their rhetoric about achieving impact. An enhanced focus on assessing effectiveness and impact at the program and organizational levels requires not only strategic investments that are hard to make, but also broader cultural changes in how TNGOs and their staff think about organizational learning and their roles in bringing about social change. Despite being an area where many organizations still struggle, TNGOs will need to improve their measurement and evaluation capabilities to demonstrate their value and relevance and satisfy changing legitimacy expectations that increasingly emphasize data and results.</p>
<p>Chapter 1 outlines how geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition are driving the need for change within the TNGO sector. TNGOs are responding to these change drivers with specific... more
<p>Chapter 1 outlines how geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition are driving the need for change within the TNGO sector. TNGOs are responding to these change drivers with specific initiatives intended to secure their future relevance and effectiveness, but their efforts are constrained by institutional and cultural legacies—forms and norms—that inhibit the sector's ability to adapt. This chapter elaborates on these major change drivers and characterizes the obstacles to successful adaptation. It also identifies the types of TNGOs emphasized in this book, briefly describes general trends in the TNGO sector, overviews the main topics discussed throughout subsequent chapters, and describes the overall organization of the book.</p>
Chapter 6 examines an array of strategic options provided by digital tools, including broadcasting, analytics, convening, and distributed organizing. Such digital strategies can be deployed to broaden participation as a means of... more
Chapter 6 examines an array of strategic options provided by digital tools, including broadcasting, analytics, convening, and distributed organizing. Such digital strategies can be deployed to broaden participation as a means of generating more inclusive activism and to deepen participation to intensify supporter engagement. Leveraging digital tools and shifting from staff-led to supporter-led activism can help TNGOs become more authentic, representative, and legitimate. But despite these opportunities, features of the legacy architecture make it difficult for TNGOs to invest in new technologies or accord them a major role in shaping programmatic strategies and organizational structures. Moreover, “going digital” carries its own inherent risks. For example TNGOs must be careful to avoid overemphasizing superficial metrics or underappreciating the need to complement digital strategies with other resources and capabilities.
Chapter 5 explores how the foundations for TNGO legitimacy have changed over time, creating imperatives for TNGOs to invest in new capabilities and adopt new practices. In the past, TNGOs derived legitimacy from their espoused principles,... more
Chapter 5 explores how the foundations for TNGO legitimacy have changed over time, creating imperatives for TNGOs to invest in new capabilities and adopt new practices. In the past, TNGOs derived legitimacy from their espoused principles, representational claims, elite expertise, demonstrated financial stewardship, commitment to charity, and patterns of conformity. More recently, TNGOs themselves have helped to bring about a shift toward new bases for legitimacy that focus on effectiveness, strategy, leadership, governance, transparency, and responsiveness. However, transitioning to the legitimacy practices of the future is complicated by the persistence of an antiquated architecture that still demands that TNGO conform to legacy expectations. Nevertheless, new approaches to enhancing legitimacy provide a wide range of opportunities that invite organizations to proactively align their aspirations with emerging stakeholder expectations.
Chapter 2 identifies a disharmony between the “soul” and the “body” of the TNGO. Drawing on theoretical insights and cultural observations, the chapter examines the sources of the difficulties that many TNGOs have encountered in their... more
Chapter 2 identifies a disharmony between the “soul” and the “body” of the TNGO. Drawing on theoretical insights and cultural observations, the chapter examines the sources of the difficulties that many TNGOs have encountered in their attempts to adapt for the future. The chapter explains how the TNGO is embodied in a particular institutional form and is embedded in a particular normative context that together constitute an “architecture” that constrains the potential of TNGOs to successfully assume new roles. The analysis establishes an understanding of how legacy structures, beliefs, and practices limit the abilities of TNGOs to adapt to their changing external environment and realize their expanding aspirations.
<p>Chapter 4 explains why and how TNGOs have become powerful advocates in global affairs. It argues that TNGOs were at the "right place at the right time" and benefited from favorable geopolitical conditions in previous... more
<p>Chapter 4 explains why and how TNGOs have become powerful advocates in global affairs. It argues that TNGOs were at the "right place at the right time" and benefited from favorable geopolitical conditions in previous decades. The chapter examines the nature of TNGO power historically and explains how TNGOs have exerted influence throughout various stages of the policy process, including issue emergence, agenda-setting, policy formation, and policy implementation. Even as TNGOs have largely benefited from professionalized activism and elite access, their power today may be plateauing, if not waning, because of a less favorable operating environment and the increasing incongruity between their contemporary ambitions and their legacy forms and norms. Such conditions suggest that the sector is likely to struggle to live up to its rhetoric of social transformation without significant changes.</p>
<p>Chapter 12 summarizes the main themes of the book, with an emphasis on how the sector's future potential remains constrained by its normative and institutional architecture. To help ensure future success, TNGOs can invest in... more
<p>Chapter 12 summarizes the main themes of the book, with an emphasis on how the sector's future potential remains constrained by its normative and institutional architecture. To help ensure future success, TNGOs can invest in organizational metamorphosis and sector-wide collective action. Metamorphosis may involve a polycentric model, embracing a facilitation role, adopting a hybrid model, engaging in deeper collaborations, pursuing mergers and acquisitions, and investing in operational platforms. However, such initiatives will require significant change leadership, which introduces its own substantial challenges. Ultimately, TNGOs can best serve their missions not only by changing themselves, but by also organizing collectively to change the architecture in which they operate.</p>
<p>Chapter 7 describes innovations in TNGO measurement and evaluation practices and considers the many internal and external challenges that organizations confront as they attempt to bring their measurement capabilities into better... more
<p>Chapter 7 describes innovations in TNGO measurement and evaluation practices and considers the many internal and external challenges that organizations confront as they attempt to bring their measurement capabilities into better alignment with their rhetoric about achieving impact. An enhanced focus on assessing effectiveness and impact at the program and organizational levels requires not only strategic investments that are hard to make, but also broader cultural changes in how TNGOs and their staff think about organizational learning and their roles in bringing about social change. Despite being an area where many organizations still struggle, TNGOs will need to improve their measurement and evaluation capabilities to demonstrate their value and relevance and satisfy changing legitimacy expectations that increasingly emphasize data and results.</p>
<p>Chapter 1 outlines how geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition are driving the need for change within the TNGO sector. TNGOs are responding to these change drivers with specific... more
<p>Chapter 1 outlines how geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition are driving the need for change within the TNGO sector. TNGOs are responding to these change drivers with specific initiatives intended to secure their future relevance and effectiveness, but their efforts are constrained by institutional and cultural legacies—forms and norms—that inhibit the sector's ability to adapt. This chapter elaborates on these major change drivers and characterizes the obstacles to successful adaptation. It also identifies the types of TNGOs emphasized in this book, briefly describes general trends in the TNGO sector, overviews the main topics discussed throughout subsequent chapters, and describes the overall organization of the book.</p>
Chapter 6 examines an array of strategic options provided by digital tools, including broadcasting, analytics, convening, and distributed organizing. Such digital strategies can be deployed to broaden participation as a means of... more
Chapter 6 examines an array of strategic options provided by digital tools, including broadcasting, analytics, convening, and distributed organizing. Such digital strategies can be deployed to broaden participation as a means of generating more inclusive activism and to deepen participation to intensify supporter engagement. Leveraging digital tools and shifting from staff-led to supporter-led activism can help TNGOs become more authentic, representative, and legitimate. But despite these opportunities, features of the legacy architecture make it difficult for TNGOs to invest in new technologies or accord them a major role in shaping programmatic strategies and organizational structures. Moreover, “going digital” carries its own inherent risks. For example TNGOs must be careful to avoid overemphasizing superficial metrics or underappreciating the need to complement digital strategies with other resources and capabilities.
Collaboration is a common strategy for improving TNGO impact and legitimacy. Chapter 10 examines different collaboration types, levels, and approaches, considers the benefits and obstacles to collaborations, and identifies various... more
Collaboration is a common strategy for improving TNGO impact and legitimacy. Chapter 10 examines different collaboration types, levels, and approaches, considers the benefits and obstacles to collaborations, and identifies various capacities required to collaborate strategically with a broad range of partners, including “unlike-minded” actors. In general, collaboration requires a greater focus on the external environment and leading without having top-down control. Success is largely driven by the attention given to the alignment of informal expectations, understandings, and behaviors. Cultural factors thus emerge as a common obstacle to collaboration effectiveness. Additional considerations include challenges related to competition, unequal partnerships, and credit-sharing for collective outcomes.
Chapter 11 argues that mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can be an important strategic tool for acquiring capabilities needed to improve organizational effectiveness, relevance, and competitiveness. However, typically M&As within the sector... more
Chapter 11 argues that mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can be an important strategic tool for acquiring capabilities needed to improve organizational effectiveness, relevance, and competitiveness. However, typically M&As within the sector are rare and often reactive in nature. They usually involve the joining together of a smaller, financially stressed organization with a larger, healthier TNGO looking to expand. Much less common are more proactive M&A efforts where both partners come together from positions of strength. M&As appear to be underutilized as a strategic tool to increase scale and impact due to a variety of normative and institutional barriers. These include legal structures that disincentivize or prevent takeovers, cultures of uniqueness among TNGOs and their supporters, and the lack of M&A matchmakers and resources for competently exploring and executing the M&A process.
Chapter 8 discusses how governance reforms have been designed to improve legitimacy and alleviate structural inequalities among TNGO (con)federation members. TNGO governance reforms may involve centralization, decentralization, global... more
Chapter 8 discusses how governance reforms have been designed to improve legitimacy and alleviate structural inequalities among TNGO (con)federation members. TNGO governance reforms may involve centralization, decentralization, global restructuring, adding new governance bodies, and experimenting with digitally enabled global fora, although each type of governance reform carries risks and trade-offs. Specific considerations include structural inequalities, dual citizenship, board composition, roles, culture, power centers, and resources. Appropriate governance reforms may be able to address long-standing disparities, but their results remain uncertain. Additionally, organizational agility and transaction costs remain concerns, and long-established norms and patterns of learned behavior remain powerful inhibitors of successful change.
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Geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition have been driving the need for change within the transnational nongovernmental organization (TNGO) sector. Additionally, TNGOs have been embracing more... more
Geopolitical shifts, increasing demands for accountability, and growing competition have been driving the need for change within the transnational nongovernmental organization (TNGO) sector. Additionally, TNGOs have been embracing more transformative strategies aimed at the root causes, not just the symptoms, of societal problems. As the world has changed and TNGOs’ ambitions have expanded, the roles of TNGOs have begun to shift and their work has become more complex. To remain effective, legitimate, and relevant in the future necessitates organizational changes and investments in new capabilities. However, many organizations have been slow to adapt. As a result, for many TNGOs’ the rhetoric of sustainable impact and transformative change has far outpaced the reality of their limited abilities to deliver on their promises. This book frankly explores why this gap between rhetoric and reality exists and what TNGOs can do individually and collectively to close it. In short, TNGOs need ...
ABSTRACT Legacy advocacy organizations face growing competition from digitally native organizations. Interviews with leaders and staff of both types of organizations reveal that legacy NGOs with professionalized and staff-led advocacy... more
ABSTRACT Legacy advocacy organizations face growing competition from digitally native organizations. Interviews with leaders and staff of both types of organizations reveal that legacy NGOs with professionalized and staff-led advocacy strategies are less comfortable than digital natives to cede substantial control over campaigns to their supporters. At the same time, legacy NGOs and digital natives acknowledge similar challenges with regard to enhancing the civic agency of their supporters. Digital natives are more open to online feedback and supporter-led actions, while both types of organizations report similar challenges in utilizing digital tools for sustained and long-term organizing.
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Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working across borders face increased accountability demands. Although many have proposed ways of changing accountability practices, the debate is rarely informed by leaders’ perspectives of how... more
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working across borders face increased accountability demands. Although many have proposed ways of changing accountability practices, the debate is rarely informed by leaders’ perspectives of how accountability is perceived and practiced across different organizational settings. In interviews with NGO leaders we find aspirations to make accountability more meaningful and integrated, in particular by listening more to stakeholders other than donors. However, these aspirations are rarely put in practice and leaders continue to highlight traditional means such as financial accounting. This gap is particularly pronounced for smaller organizations and reflects an increasingly competitive environment shaped by rating agencies and a focus on financial metrics. To move from aspirations to practice, NGOs have to be willing to share more meaningful information about their work and outcomes with stakeholders. Practicing transparency that empowers beneficiari...
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John Clark explains in his essay that the crisis of civil society today is driven by a number of external causes, including the recent financial crisis and the re-assertion of state power, but their negative consequences are amplified by... more
John Clark explains in his essay that the crisis of civil society today is driven by a number of external causes, including the recent financial crisis and the re-assertion of state power, but their negative consequences are amplified by an inability of activists to articulate appropriate solutions to global problems. We argue here, primarily from the perspective of US-based transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs), that Clark describes that most of the symptoms are of two larger, structural developments driving the civil society sector over ...
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1. Executive summary This report is the result of a collaborative research project between Plan Guatemala and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University. The objective of this project is to provide Plan Guatemala with... more
1. Executive summary This report is the result of a collaborative research project between Plan Guatemala and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University. The objective of this project is to provide Plan Guatemala with an independent examination of the organisation's strategic transition towards a rights-based approach (RBA). The report is divided into three main parts: 1) an assessment of Plan's interpretation of a rightsbased approach, how this approach is compatible with commonly accepted RBA criteria and how ...
Abstract: John Clark explains in his essay that the crisis of civil society today is driven by a number of external causes, including the recent financial crisis and the re-assertion of state power, but their negative consequences are... more
Abstract: John Clark explains in his essay that the crisis of civil society today is driven by a number of external causes, including the recent financial crisis and the re-assertion of state power, but their negative consequences are amplified by an inability of activists to articulate appropriate solutions to global problems. We argue here, primarily from the perspective of US-based transnational non-governmental organizations (NGOs), that Clark describes mostly symptoms of two larger, structural developments driving the civil society sector over ...
This White Paper, written for INGO practitioners, examines the experiences and learnings of INGOs as they have attempted to measure their results at the agency level. It was commissioned by a group of INGO members of InterAction, the US... more
This White Paper, written for INGO practitioners, examines the experiences and learnings of INGOs as they have attempted to measure their results at the agency level. It was commissioned by a group of INGO members of InterAction, the US platform of INGOs, and was co-authored with Carlisle Levine and Sherine Jayawickrama
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Abstract: NGOs working across borders face increased accountability demands. While many have proposed ways of changing accountability practices, the debate is rarely informed by leaders' perspectives of how accountability is perceived and... more
Abstract: NGOs working across borders face increased accountability demands. While many have proposed ways of changing accountability practices, the debate is rarely informed by leaders' perspectives of how accountability is perceived and practiced across different organizational settings. In interviews with NGO leaders we find aspirations to make accountability more meaningful and integrated, in particular by listening more to stakeholders other than donors.
1. Executive summary This report is the result of a collaborative research project between Plan Guatemala and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University. The objective of this project is to provide Plan Guatemala with... more
1. Executive summary This report is the result of a collaborative research project between Plan Guatemala and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at Syracuse University. The objective of this project is to provide Plan Guatemala with an independent examination of the organisation's strategic transition towards a rights-based approach (RBA).
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The question of what role international organizations should play in domestic development processes has been debated for decades. The introduction of human rights into this debate has offered a new possible answer, an answer that requires... more
The question of what role international organizations should play in domestic development processes has been debated for decades. The introduction of human rights into this debate has offered a new possible answer, an answer that requires a
new outlook, new strategies and new perspectives on development. Plan Guatemala has embraced this challenge since 2004. The organization’s strategic transition towards a rights-based approach (RBA) represents a fundamental reflection process on the means and ends of development, which has resulted in an approach that provides new impetus to the debate on how best to combine human rights and development. Plan Guatemala invited the Moynihan Institute at Syracuse University to evaluate and systematize Plan’s shift to RBA and to learn from the organization’s experience of the past five years. The evaluation also contains strategic reflections about the future of RBA. These reflections advocate for a more practical understanding of the actual exercise of
human rights and on the relationship between poverty, democracy and human rights.
new outlook, new strategies and new perspectives on development. Plan Guatemala has embraced this challenge since 2004. The organization’s strategic transition towards a rights-based approach (RBA) represents a fundamental reflection process on the means and ends of development, which has resulted in an approach that provides new impetus to the debate on how best to combine human rights and development. Plan Guatemala invited the Moynihan Institute at Syracuse University to evaluate and systematize Plan’s shift to RBA and to learn from the organization’s experience of the past five years. The evaluation also contains strategic reflections about the future of RBA. These reflections advocate for a more practical understanding of the actual exercise of
human rights and on the relationship between poverty, democracy and human rights.
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This short NGO practitioner-oriented article appeared in Monday Developments, the journal of InterAction, the largest umbrella organization of US development and relief NGOs. Based on the case study of our strategic evaluation of Plan... more
This short NGO practitioner-oriented article appeared in Monday Developments, the journal of InterAction, the largest umbrella organization of US development and relief NGOs. Based on the case study of our strategic evaluation of Plan Guatemala's transition towards a Rights Based Approach (RBA), the article analyzes the trade offs and challenges involved in implementing RBA for an child-sponsorship based NGO such as Plan, which in the past primarily engaged in service delivery activities.
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If you attend the American Evaluation Association conference this week in Chicago, please join us for a Think Tank session on the application of Developmental Evaluation to organizational change processes in INGOs. Sat Nov 16, 9:30-10:30... more
If you attend the American Evaluation Association conference this week in Chicago, please join us for a Think Tank session on the application of Developmental Evaluation to organizational change processes in INGOs. Sat Nov 16, 9:30-10:30 in Skyway 26
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This presentation reflects our case study of the NGO Realizing Rights (RR), which focuses on the fulfillment of economic and social human rights. Realizing Rights, which closed in December 2010, is unique in that it was designed to be a... more
This presentation reflects our case study of the NGO Realizing Rights (RR), which focuses on the fulfillment of economic and social human rights. Realizing Rights, which closed in December 2010, is unique in that it was designed to be a 'time-bounded' organization from the beginning. The case study analyzes how RR used its unique leadership assets (those of Mary Robinson, founder of Realizing Rights and ex-President of Ireland and ex-UN Commissioner for Human Rights), its fairly unique time-bounded nature and its specific approach towards rights promotion to secure impact during its 8 year duration.
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This presentation was offered to a group of Middle East NGO practitioners hosted by the Foundation of the Future, a grant making foundation based in Amman, Jordan and active in the broader MENA region. It reflects our findings in the... more
This presentation was offered to a group of Middle East NGO practitioners hosted by the Foundation of the Future, a grant making foundation based in Amman, Jordan and active in the broader MENA region. It reflects our findings in the Transnational NGO Initiative on how leaders perceive accountability. The presentation identifies some gaps between the scholarly discourse on accountability as well as specialized standard-setting initiatives in NGO accountability and how transnational NGO leaders perceive accountability.
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I was asked to write a guest essay for CIVICUS' well known annual State of Civil Society report. This year, it is devoted to 'Reimagining Democracy'. I decided to write my essay about the limits to internal democracy within transnational... more
I was asked to write a guest essay for CIVICUS' well known annual State of Civil Society report. This year, it is devoted to 'Reimagining Democracy'. I decided to write my essay about the limits to internal democracy within transnational NGOs as I see them, based on organizational culture issues.
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This is a short executive brief of a longer White Paper written on the same topic, meant for senior INGO leaders.
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In 2003, Plan International adopted a Child-Centered Community Development (CCCD) approach as its international framework for its programmatic work. CCCD reframes some familiar tools of Plan’s work, including capacity-building and... more
In 2003, Plan International adopted a Child-Centered Community Development (CCCD) approach as its international framework for its programmatic work. CCCD reframes some familiar tools of Plan’s work, including capacity-building and participation, while also expanding into new strategic areas, such as addressing national level policies and legislation and developing more holistic crosslevel activities and partnerships. Plan’s shift to CCCD represents a significant shift in the organization’s approach to its development work. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of how CCCD enhances Plan’s program effectiveness and sustainability by
reviewing all available single-program, external evaluations completed between 2007 and 2010 in the areas of water and sanitation, education, and health.
reviewing all available single-program, external evaluations completed between 2007 and 2010 in the areas of water and sanitation, education, and health.