What to do and what not to do in NGO cooperation: Snapshot from the field

Abstract

Purpose - The non-governmental sector is fast growing in the developing context of the Middle East. Despite this growth, NGOs are faced with challenges of sustainability and credibility towards stakeholders, forcing them to work together. Despite decades of civil society experience, many cooperation attempts among Lebanese organizations fell short of their goals. This paper studies the dysfunctions in NGO cooperation, and brings field induced recommendations to tackle this problem. The research findings group cooperation dysfunctions under three major groups: strategic considerations in a fragmented landscape, adaptation of procedures, and developing a common language. Pragmatic recommendations were developed with actors from the field. Design/methodology/approach - Essentially inductive, a specific action research called intervention research was adopted to accompany fifteen active NGOs in framing cooperation dysfunctions and developing applicable solutions. Findings - The research identified major inter-organizational dysfunctions grouped under strategy, procedures, and language axes, and accompanied the organizations in conceiving a series of propositions to advance cooperation among them. Originality/value - The main contribution of the paper is the identification of holistic cooperation dysfunctions among non-governmental organizations in the specific context of the Middle East, and the production of actionable and instantly applicable solutions.