Impact of the Global Economic Crises on Civil Society Organizations

In early 2009, a number of civil society organizations (CSOs) reported substantial reductions in their funding in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, and they were concerned that this threatened their ability to deliver the services and activities that are required. The NGO Committee on Social Development has been part of the Steering Committee to guide a UN sponsored project to assess the impact of the Economic Crisis on CSOs and the people they serve. This webpage provides links to the final report, a shorter executive summary, some case studies and a PowerPoint presentation. The final report outlines the main study which examines the current situation of CSOs as indicated by responses from 640 civil society organizations worldwide. The survey finds that although some CSOs have seen increased funding, overall there is a worsening financial situation for CSOs in the period 2008-2010. As main reasons, CSOs explained that owing to the world economic crisis grants from existing sources decreased. Many humanitarian and development CSOs, especially in Europe, are intensifying their fundraising efforts, as several have seen the need to cut back their aid programmes. The revenue decline comes at the same time as demand for services is increasing, requiring more, not less, funding. The web page links to a case study file which contains various examples from the field to back up the final report. These include an AIDS project in Namibia whose funding has been cut by 12%. As yet they have not had to make cutbacks in staff or decrease in services but have had to totally eliminate training and updates this year for staff and volunteers. This is a major problem in a country where apartheid has meant a real lack of human resource capacity. Another AIDS project in Cambodia stressed that they are very concerned about what may happen in 2011 because of some of their regular donors being hit by the financial crisis either in Europe or Australia