The recent Harvard Business School article, Achieving Excellence in Nonprofits, is one of those pieces that should be translated and passed out to every NGO in China.

Building internal governance and structures is often the most difficult task there is.  Developing a consisent plan, learning how to work with a board of directors, developing accounting and financial controls, etc are all issues that many face here… myself included.

To be fair, when managing an NGO in a environment where the role of NGOs is still new, reglations are non-existent, funding is difficult, and getting progams of the ground is the first priortiy (when you are short staffed)… the last thing that many think about are all the things in the back office.

However, as this article highlights, these are the things that long term will set the best NGOs apart from each other.  having a board of directors that can help guide an organization develop plans and relationships, ensuring the organizational books are in order, and having a focus that is clear internally and externally, are all steps that need to be taken to become a mature organization that develops deep programing.

In high-performing SMDOs, the board and executive management team have worked out an agreed and clear set of goals to achieve, have formulated a coherent strategy for advancing those goals, and have organized and are executing an aligned set of actions consistent with that strategy. This takes hard work, discipline, and focus on the part of the board and executive team working together to develop and maintain a coherent and consistent set of visions: a vision of what they are trying to accomplish, a vision of their role in accomplishing it, a vision of the activities and operations they will need to make progress on it. It takes strong communication between the CEO and board, and strong communication with clients, workers, and supporters.

It doesn’t come easy, and it is not a process that is completed overnight.