By Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Why does BGR partner with large organizations? While we mainly partner with small and middle-sized organizations, there are good reasons why each year we form a few partnerships with large global organizations. Probably the most compelling reason, is that large organizations have the strongest capacity for producing positive results at the largest scale.
Late last year, one of our donors asked us a question that may have already passed through the minds of others who support the work of Buddhist Global Relief. Her question was: “Why does BGR partner with large relief organizations?” The answer we sent to her, reproduced here, may also allay the concerns of others who share her worry that, by partnering with large relief organizations, we are not spreading the net of our assistance widely enough.
We first made it clear that because BGR is itself a small organization, we prefer to enter into partnerships with small and middle-sized organizations. Of our current list of 36 projects—those running through our fiscal year 2019–2020—BGR has only six partnerships with large relief organizations. The other thirty projects are with small and middle-sized partners, some based in the U.S., others in the countries where the projects take place.
Nevertheless, there are cogent reasons why we have entered into partnerships with these large organizations, and why on occasion we will continue to do so. The first, and probably the most compelling reason, is that large organizations have the strongest capacity for producing positive results at the largest scale. They are capable of marshaling the greatest array of skills and drawing upon the richest reserves of talent in designing projects that can reach large numbers of people.
Further, large organizations with an international standing can connect with government agencies and subsidiary agencies in the affected countries to tackle the problems targeted by the project. Projects with smaller organizations, while worthy of support, cannot draw upon such powerful resources and benefit such large numbers of people.
For instance, BGR currently has a partnership in Kenya with Helen Keller International, called “Improving Maternal and Child Health.” Because of its global reputation, HKI can enter into direct collaboration with the government of Kenya. HKI is working with the Kenyan Ministry of Health and Action Against Hunger (another BGR partner) to deliver proven programs to reach mothers, infants, and children in need of nutritional assistance at critical developmental stages. The project, which will improve delivery of nutrition health services and offer access and training at the community level, will have a direct impact on 55,000 adults (40,000 of them women) and 200,000 children. It is expected too that the project will provide indirect benefits to an additional 380,000 community members.
In South Darfur, Sudan, BGR has partnered with Oxfam America on an agricultural project in three vulnerable communities. With the grant from BGR, Oxfam America provides agricultural training and supplies to an estimated 3,000 individuals. The project will increase farmers’ knowledge and skills and support them in diversifying their income and increasing food production by 30 percent despite a challenging economy and erratic climate conditions. The farmers who receive this training will be able to share the knowledge they acquire with other farmers, thereby expanding the sphere of influence long into the future.
In Bangladesh, BGR has partnered with CARE, the large U.S. relief organization, on a project called IMAGINE that is designed to relieve the plight of married adolescents. Through the project, 200 adolescent women, married young in accordance with local custom, are given training in IT, telecom sales, and mobile phone repair and are being provided with laptops and mobile repair kits as needed.
Large organizations also provide more detailed reporting on the outcomes of the projects. Through these reports, we are seeing excellent returns on investment in terms of the number of beneficiaries, sustainable outcomes, and consistent monitoring of the results.
Large organizations will also generally have larger financial reserves. These reserves play several important roles. In emergency situations in particular, NGOs need to have some savings or accumulated assets. Rapid deployment of resources requires a large immediate outlay to get people and supplies to a disaster site—often before there is an appeal or response in terms of donations from the public. Also, when projects are judged to be highly successful and can be easily replicated in nearby communities, it may be more economical to draw from reserve funds while the team is in the area of need to get the new project started. The project can then be added to the list of projects donors may wish to help fund. Financial reserves are thus necessary for both emergencies and flexibility in program development.
Although BGR will continue to give priority to smaller organizations in forming the great majority of our partnerships, in any given year, to ensure that our projects benefit many people, we will enter into a few partnerships with large-scale organizations that have long established track records for achieving excellent results.
