"This is a hands-on guide for setting up, managing and using formal networks efficiently and effectively. It focuses on the structural and operational issues of networks and explains the most important aspects in making them work. The guide addresses networking practitioners, as well as other profes
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sionals wishing to establish a network." (Introduction, page 16)
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"Part A introduces theory of change (ToC) and Hivos’ perspective on ToC thinking: what it is, what you should know before you start, and key features of ToC thinking that you need to understand in order to be able to use the approach effectively and reap the benefits of the process. ‘Theory of C
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hange’ as a term is used by an increasing number of organisations and demanded by donors, but is not always understood in the same way. Hivos has developed its own understanding of the process and what good quality ToC work is all about. All users who are not fully acquainted with a ToC approach and/or are new to Hivos will benefit from reading this part. Part B is a stepwise approach to guide you through the process of developing a ToC for different purposes. Here you will find also information on how to use specific tools recommended for each step. This is the most practical part of the document. Part B also includes ideas for a ToC Quality Audit that can be used to check whether all the necessary components are elaborated with sufficient quality. Such an audit is useful in two situations. First, for staff responsible for assessing proposals, either from partner organisations to Hivos, or from Hivos to other donors. It can also be used as an extra check at the end of a table of contents; design process by the team involved in the process. Second, for those involved in the review of the ToC of an ongoing intervention. Part C contains references to tools suggested in Part B, as well as resources and sites where you can find more information about ToC use." (Page 8)
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"The discussion of opportunity costs, choosing a platform and networking strategies highlights the clear need for more industry data and transparency [...] Further, the private sector can monetize research on network effects and fundraising norms across the continent [...] Regarding the supply of ca
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pital in Africa, the Cheetah Fund model could potentially be scaled across the East Africa region, or even the entire continent, to include other crowdfunding platforms and instruments, such as debt [...] entrepreneurs should seek partnerships with individuals or marketing firms located in more developed crowdfunding ecosystems [...] There is significant room for payment systems innovation within the private sector." (Conclusion, page 15)
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"This technical report introduces a set of evidence-based principles to guide evaluation practice in contexts where evaluation knowledge is collaboratively produced by evaluators and stakeholders. The data from this study evolved in four phases: two pilot phases exploring the desirability of develop
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ing a set of principles, an online questionnaire survey that drew on the expertise of practicing evaluators to identify dimensions, factors or characteristics that enhance or impede success in collaborative approaches, and finally a validation phase. The principles introduced here stem from the experiences of 320 evaluators who have engaged in collaborative approaches in a wide variety of evaluation settings and the lessons they have learned. We expect the principles to evolve over time, as evaluators learn more about collaborative approaches in context. With this in mind, we pose questions for consideration to stimulate further inquiry." (Abstract)
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"Why Create a Theory of Change? It is no longer enough for nonprofits to do “good work.” With growing competition for social change dollars it is absolutely crucial that nonprofits develop their own Theory of Change. Funders, policy makers and board members are increasingly demanding that nonpro
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fits explain what social change they are trying to achieve. It used to be enough for a nonprofit to talk about what it produced (or “outputs”), such as meals served in a soup kitchen, hours spent reading to a child, beds provided in a homeless shelter, but that just doesn’t cut it anymore. In a world where there are fewer and fewer dollars and more and more nonprofits fighting for those dollars, people are increasingly asking what a nonprofit organization ultimately exists to do. It is not enough to create outputs. The question must increasingly become, “Did anything really change because of our work? Did the lives of those in our program change, and did the community change?” If you want to raise more money, chart a strategic direction, make your nonprofit more effective, get your board engaged, and achieve your mission, you need a Theory of Change." (Page 1)
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"This study examines the impact of legitimacy on the dynamics of interorganizational networks within the nongovernmental organizations' children's rights community. The 27-year period of analysis included a critical community event: the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
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the Child (UNCRC). Building on theories of organizational evolution, hypotheses proposed that (1) ratification of the UNCRC served to codify and more broadly communicate the legitimate norms of the community, and (2) dissemination of normative information made it easier (a) for less experienced organizations to form and maintain partnerships, and (b) for organizations to form partnerships without reference to shared third-party contacts or dominant organizations. Data analysis via a longitudinal network model supported the hypotheses. Further investigation via an event history analysis suggested that these effects were largely confined to links among organizations in the children's rights community and not to links made by these organizations to more general others." (Abstract)
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"Crowdfunded journalism is a new model for funding journalism in which reporters solicit micropayments from readers to finance their reporting. In the present study, we seek to identify the major motivations behind readers' donations to a pioneering crowdfunded journalism website, Spot.Us. Under the
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theoretical framework of collective action, we explore a total of 9 motivations: altruism, fun, belief in freedom of content, social, community, self-esteem, understanding, image, and family and friends. Combining self-reported survey data (N = 344) with behavioral data on readers' complete donation records obtained from the Spot.Us server, we found that belief in freedom of content, altruism, and contributing to one's community were self-reported to be highly valued by donors, but fun and family and friends motivations were the only positive predictors for actual donation levels. We discuss the implications of these findings on the sustainability of crowdfunding as a business model for news." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of this guide is to help managers and development practitioners to really understand what a Theory of Change approach involves and includes, how it can complement and strengthen already existing methods for planning and evaluation, and how to get started on this journey. It introduces t
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he basic principles of applying a Theory of Change approach to planning, monitoring and evaluation, and explains how these principles can be applied for organizational planning and strategizing, for programme planning, monitoring and evaluation or for individual projects. It is important to note from the start that there is no such thing as ‘one theory of change’. There are as many theories of change as there are planners and development practitioners practicing the approach. In fact, applying a theory of change approach is a bit like applying principles of the French cuisine: There are a few basic principles to stick to, for it to be French cooking. The ways these principles are applied are as diverse as the number of cooks. Therefore, we have decided that this should be an inspirational guide rather than a set of recipes." (Purpose of this guide, page 5)
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"Crowdfunding the Future undertakes a dynamic interdisciplinary approach to the examination of the new, and growing, phenomenon of crowdfunding and its encompassment of digital society and media industries. The book offers a wide range of perspectives and empirical research, providing analyses of cr
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owdfunded projects, the interaction between producers and audiences, and the role that websites such as Kickstarter play in discussions around fan agency and exploitation, as well as the ethics of crowdfunding. With a series of chapters covering a global range of disciplines and topics, this volume offers a comprehensive overview on crowdfunding, examining and unraveling the international debates around this increasingly popular practice." (Back cover)
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"Community Radio is still nascent in Bangladesh while in India it has completed a decade and in Nepal it has existed in its myriad forms without a policy for much longer [...] The existence or non-existence of a guiding national CR policy plays an important role in determining the kind of Community
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Radio being sustained in the country. The policy has impacted the kinds of institution that is eligible to establish Community Radio as well as the kind of institutions the Community Radios themselves are evolving into. The practices at the stations in the three countries are quite diverse with CR stations in Nepal having a slight edge over those in India and Bangladesh from the point of having evolved as ‘media’ organizations’ rather than as ‘development’ organizations. Communities in all three countries are conceived of as geographic communities and not as communities of interest. All stations work on principles of not for profit in India and Bangladesh where as the underlying principles in Nepal seems to be community shareholding at least in the CR stations that were part of the study." (Conclusions, page 33)
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"La presente tesis presenta un panorama de la problemática particular de los medios audiovisuales sin fines de lucro y de la radiodifusión comunitaria en particular. Desde la perspectiva de la Economía Política de la Comunicación (EPC) analiza aspectos vinculados a la industria de la radiodifus
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ión sonora y su regulación, el mercado publicitario y las audiencias. Aborda, además, aspectos específicos de la Ley de Servicios de Comunicación Audiovisual que tienen impacto en el sector sin fines de lucro. Se exponen allí las principales tensiones, divergencias y acuerdos sobre las problemáticas del acceso a las licencias, la sostenibilidad, el trabajo y las incumbencias profesionales históricas de la radio. Por último, propone un análisis más profundo sobre los modos organizativos, administrativos, económicos y de resolución del trabajo sobre 10 emisoras del Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires." (Resumen)
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"Our remit was to look for innovative media outlets that are producing high-quality news, that are technologically innovative and that might actually survive financially. Accordingly, we spent three months interviewing media innovators around the world and reading what others have written on the sub
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ject. This report is divided into seven sections: 1) this introduction, 2) our main findings, 3) two sets of recommendations, one for the media development community and another set for people starting a media outlet, 4) an “Innovation Index” listing practices that we found around the world, 5) a description of our methodology, 6) a review of practitioner reports we read, 7) write-ups describing 35 media outlets, based on interviews we conducted [...] We were inspired and encouraged by what we saw. All over the world, independent media outlets are innovating and overcoming obstacles. Globally, start-ups are demonstrating the drive to take risks for the sake of a good idea. The challenges facing these outlets—and the innovations employed to tackle them—broadly fall into four categories: editorial, business, distribution and security. Operating with agility, media start-ups are finding creative ways to gather and disseminate information. In India, Gram Vaani uses a mobile phone social network to connect the rural poor and circumvent legislative prohibitions on radio broadcasting. In Zimbabwe, The Source survives in the repressive media climate by focusing on business journalism. Oxpeckers in South Africa uses geomapping to report on rhino poaching. Crikey in Australia has built a successful business model based on soliciting tips and scandal from the same audience it reports on and Kenya’s African SkyCAM deploys drones to avoid negotiating with police for access to disaster zones [...] Instead of finding a clear model for what works, we found confirmation of many things we knew or suspected. Independent media outlets vary in size, ambition and model. Few have fully succeeded, while many do one thing well, which typically reflects the founder’s particular strength—usually in journalism or technology [...] Most media outlets we found are small, run by a few full-time staff supplemented by volunteers and freelancers, and supported by a combination of grants, donations and haphazard business endeavors. The leaders at most organizations we interviewed were motivated by a desire to produce high-quality journalism rather than meet particular financial or audience goals." (Executive summary, page 5-7)
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"Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, Third Edition, offers a conceptual framework and detailed process suggestions for strategic planning by nonprofit organizations. For readers of one of the first two editions, much will look familiar, but much is new as well. The logic and flow of the
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process are the same, but we have broken out the middle section into a few more specific steps. In particular, we have added more detailed guidance on developing the program strategy and business model. The book is the product of the authors’ experience as planning and organization development consultants. The concepts, process design, and language presented here have been shaped by our strategic planning work with hundreds of nonprofit organizations. Many of the worksheets and approaches to formulating strategy were developed while working with individual clients in response to particular situations. Our approach is informed by the work of many published authors and dozens of colleagues, including in particul ar the wisdom and experience of our colleagues at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, where we both worked for many years. We hope that this book provides you with a practical approach that is comprehensive, without being either overly complex or unduly simplistic. The user-friendly tools and techniques will help you put the framework into action. Those who have experience with strategic planning will find the book a useful refresher and a one-stop source book of fundamental concepts and techniques; those without such experience will find it a valuable introduction to what strategic planning is—and is not—and how to make the best use of the process." (Preface)
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"Based on 25 in-person and skype meetings and extensive desk research, we identified a significant trend in the journalistic ecosystem in which information is created, delivered and monetized: the trend toward distributed production and delivery and subsequent absence of monetizing capacity and infr
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astructure. We concluded with confidence that quality journalism is a self-supporting proposition in this new ecosystem, and even a quite profitable one. We identified 52 means to generate revenue or reduce costs, and we identified what is lacking in and obstructing development toward the profitable exploitation of quality journalism in the digital age." (Itnroduction, page 1)
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