Maximize the Impact of Your Humanitarian Work This story was published by the Nonprofit Business Advisor in September 2009, issue 240. Reposted with permission. Nonprofit organizations are created out of a desire to do well, whether on a local, regional, national or international level. But wanting to do good deeds isn't enough. "Some nonprofits approach human work with a charity mindset," said Kelly Gibson, program director at National Relief Charities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving Native Americans on remote reservations. "While nonprofits may have any number of good intentions, there may be inconsistencies in their approach. People affected by a humanitarian crisis have certain rights, and organizations that serve them have a responsibility to provide them with appropriate aid, but we have to be careful — it's possible to make mistakes without certain guidelines." Earlier this summer, NRC signed the Red Cross' voluntary "International Code of Conduct for NGOs in Disaster Relief." After careful review of the Code's principles, NRC determined it "meshed" well with its own principles and could be implemented when providing not only disaster relief, but self-help to a community, as well.
"While doing the research, I realized the Code was an affirmation of how we work and the principles we use to guide our programs on Indian reservations in the United States," Gibson said. In fact, she believes the guidelines are helpful to nonprofits in several ways. They:
Delivering material aid to those in need is not an easy task, Gibson said. Nonprofits may face any number of environmental, political, cultural or religious challenges while trying to get aid to those who need it most. There's also the danger of undermining local strategies that are already in place to cope with a community's needs. For instance, if a community has developed job training for contract painters, it wouldn't be helpful for an organization to bring in painters. It would be helpful to donate paint. "You must try to find out what strategies are already in place and support that local determination," Gibson said. "The Code's principles can guide an organization in this approach." This past April, Gibson was a keynote speaker at a conference sponsored by World Vision and Mercy Corps, "Exploring Gifts in Kind," where she co-facilitated the session, "Creating Impact Through Material Aid." Below are some of NRC's lessons learned from her presentation:
"It's important to have a set of lessons or principles to guide your work," Gibson said. NRC used their lessons to develop the NRC Way and more recently to support the Red Cross Code of Conduct. (For more on how to review your organization’s principles, see the box above). For more information:National Relief Charities is a nonprofit dedicated to quality of life for Native Americans living on remote, poverty-stricken reservations. NRC has been serving Native Americans for 20 years and is supported by a strong network of reservation partners. NRC works on over 75 reservations year-round through a strong network of nearly 900 reservation partners. For more information, go to http://www.nativepartnership.org or contact Kelly Gibson at kgibson@nrc1.org. To read the Red Cross' complete International Code of Conduct for NGOs in Disaster Relief, visit http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/codesofconduct/ifrc-codeconduct.html.
© 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company ▪ All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1002/nba |
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