Donor Interest Research Articles

Increased conservation marketing effort has major fundraising benefits for even the least popular species

Conservationists often complain that their study species are ignored by donors. However, marketing theory could help understand and increase the profile and fundraising potential of these neglected species. We used linear regression with multimodel inference to analyse data on online behaviour from the websites of the World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) and the Zoological Society of London's EDGE of Existence programme (EDGE), in order to understand how species traits and marketing campaign characteristics influenced flagship-based fundraising efforts. Our analysis accounted for species traits through variables such as appeal and familiarity, and marketing campaign characteristics through measuring the order in which the species were presented and the amount of information provided. We found that species traits were key for the WWF-US website, with appealing and threatened non-mammal species the most popular with donors. This was probably because WWF-US used well-known flagship species and so marketing had little impact. The EDGE website used a wider variety of species and in this case both species traits and the marketing campaign characteristics were important, so that appealing species and well-promoted species did best. We then predicted outcomes for a hypothetical EDGE fundraising campaign with varying degrees of marketing effort. We showed that additional marketing can have a large impact on donor behaviour, potentially increasing the interest of potential donors towards unappealing species by up to 26 times. This increase would more than equal the amount raised by campaigns using appealing species without additional promotion. Our results show marketing can have a large impact on donor behaviour and suggest there is scope for successful marketing campaigns based on a much wider range of species.

Impact of Small-Scale Irrigation on Poverty in Rural Malawi

The aftermath of the Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) and droughts in the 1990s which culminated into the 2002 food crisis renewed government and donor interest to reinvest in irrigation agriculture in Malawi. As a result, a number of investments were instituted to spur irrigation agriculture between 2006 and 2014. However, there is little evidence from Malawi on the national scale on whether irrigated farming translates into poverty reduction. This study, therefore, sought to establish the impact of small-scale irrigation on poverty reduction in rural Malawi by examining poverty, crop productivity, crop income, and food security configurations of irrigation impacts. Using the Third Integrated Household Survey Data (IHS3) and Propensity Score Matching, the study found positive and statistically significant impacts of irrigated agriculture on crop productivity, food security and poverty reduction and a statistically insignificant impact on crop income. However, the reduction in poverty is not huge even though it is statistically significant. There is, therefore, need for the government to establish large scale irrigation schemes along the lake and big rivers where water is abundantly available. This should be coupled with the creation of infrastructure in transport and communication to aid distribution and marketing of the crops to be produced. Keywords: Irrigation, poverty, crop productivity, crop income, food security, propensity score matching .

“Out of the Back Rooms”

Physician Virginia Apgar joined the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, the forerunner of today's March of Dimes, in 1959, a pivotal time in the non-profit's history. When the Salk polio vaccine proved to be effective in 1955, the organization created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1938 to eradicate polio struggled to maintain the interest of donors and volunteers. In 1958, executives redirected the foundation's mission to focus on birth defects and arthritis. Apgar, already well known in medical circles for having created an effective method to assess a newborn's health, was hired to help manage a $6.1 million research agenda. However, the smart, charismatic physician soon became the organization's popular spokesperson. This article uses archival records, newspaper accounts, and primary interviews to show how a physician-turned-publicist popularized the cause of birth defects and, in so doing, helped a national organization successfully rebrand itself in the second half of the twentieth century.

Charities stepping up efforts in impact measurement and reporting

About half of nonprofit leaders say that increased donor interest in organizational impact—or social return on investment—has made fundraising more challenging, but most are rising to the challenge and seeking new ways to meet demands for SROI metrics, according to new research conducted by Marks Paneth, a New York City–based accounting firm.

The Contribution of Donor Support Programs to Decentralized Development: Learning from the District Level in Ghana

ABSTRACTDonor aid has over the years turned out to be a very decisive development component for most developing nations, but aid is often criticized for ineffectiveness. This article seeks to share perspectives on the relevance of direct project or program support and the need to refrain from homogeneity in aid research by assessing the contribution of the Government of Ghana/European Union (GoG/EU) Micro-Projects Programme in the Nadowli District of Ghana from 1997–2009. The findings acknowledge positive impacts of the program in the district. There are sector consistencies between the donor interest and local development priorities in health, education and the water and sanitation sectors. However, selectivity of project within and among sectors brings potential conflicts of interest and tradeoffs between the program and local community needs. The results imply a reexamination of decentralized development through a lens of new partnership between donors’ interest and local needs. Stepping up community awareness to ensure full participation in project design, execution, operation, and maintenance could serve as a start-up platform for new partnerships. It is imperative to align donor interest with local realities, which prompts a rethinking of adoption of new project approaches such as co-development, design, and implementation.

Foreign Aid and Development: Throwing Off the Shadow of the Past

The determinants of foreign aid allocation have shifted significantly. In the post-2001 period, aid allocation is consistent with donors pursuing a strategy of targeted development. Industrialized states are increasingly unable to insulate themselves from spillovers caused by underdevelopment abroad. Donors attempt to use aid to decrease these spillovers, targeting developing countries where the effects on the donor are anticipated to be large. Once a recipient is chosen, concerns for recipient government capacity guide the composition of aid. Targeted development emerges as an important, additional framework for understanding donor motivations, alongside traditional explanations of “donor interest” and “recipient need” that have dominated the aid allocation literature since the 1970s. Empirical analysis of aid allocation from 1973-2012 demonstrates that, while explanations based on security and economic ties to the donor explain allocation well in the cold war, the post-2001 period is best understood by incorporating a role for targeted development.

Green Microfinance in Europe

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are alternative financial providers offering financial services to people typically excluded from the standard banking sector. While most MFIs are active in developing countries, there is also a young and developing microfinance sector in Europe; however, very little literature exists on this MFI segment. In this paper, we analyze the environmental performance of 58 European MFIs. Our results suggest that the size of the MFI, investor concern for environmental performance and, to a lesser extent, donor interest, are closely related to the institution’s environmental performance. Moreover, providing loans larger than microcredits is linked to better environmental performance. This could suggest that the additional revenues generated from these loans, also called cross-subsidies, could help MFIs to strengthen their environmental bottom line. Finally, no evidence suggests that profit status explains environmental performance.

Critical Junctures and Missed Opportunities: The Case of Lebanon's Cedar Revolution

This article addresses three shortcomings in the path dependency literature on critical junctures: the neglect of negative cases, non-state actors and of power asymmetries. The 2005 Cedar Revolution had the makings of a critical juncture. Yet despite the rise of alternative non-governmental organizations (ANGOs) seeking to change the sectarian political system, a public ready for change, renewed donor interest and funds, little came of this juncture; Lebanon's ANGOs are now inactive. This paper questions why. Building on fieldwork conducted between 2006 and 2010, it argues that the Cedar Revolution was a critical juncture and that this critical juncture was marked by a substantial power asymmetry between ANGOs and Lebanon's sectarian political actors. Nonetheless, the renewed donor interest in promoting a stable and democratic Lebanon could have reduced this power gap; however, the politics of Western democracy promotion ultimately reinforced the hold of sectarian leaders on Lebanon's political scene.

Aid Categories that Foster Pro‐Poor Growth: The Case of Sierra Leone

AbstractThis paper examines the effect of different categories of foreign aid on poverty reduction. It uses a country case study for Sierra Leone to explore the impact of different aid types on pro‐poor growth as a dimension of poverty reduction. Using annual time series data spanning from 1970 to 2007 and employing the bounds test approach to cointegration by Pesaran and Shin (), the study finds strong evidence to suggest that only aid in the form of grants do have a pro‐poor effect. This result is more obvious in the long run than in the short run. Aid in the forms of loans and technical assistance could not prove signficant for fostering pro‐poor growth in the country. Thus, even though total aid reveals a highly significant long‐run impact in improving pro‐poor growth in Sierra Leone, when disaggregated, only aid in the form of grants shows strong evidence of reducing poverty in the country. The implication of these findings is that for reducing poverty in typically poor and fagile states, aid in the form of grants should be encouraged. The increasing donor interest in technical assistance aid in recent years should be reconsidered as there is no strong evidence that it reduces poverty.

Aid darling and the European Union’s aid allocation policy: the case of Vietnam

This paper analyses the motivation determining the European Union’s (EU) aid allocation to Vietnam. Existing literature and EU official documents are used to build upon four models with respect to new aid allocation: donor interest, recipient interest, recipient capacity and potential donor influence. The paper concludes that the EU’s aid policy in Vietnam has a long-term objective in conformity with Vietnam’s development strategy—poverty alleviation. Moreover, the EU’s political and economic interests, a successful economic reform and development strategy, a high level of ownership (good governance) and potential donor influence are identified as contributions to make Vietnam an ‘aid darling’.

Taking Complexity in Food Systems Seriously: An Interdisciplinary Analysis

Summary Motivated by donor interest in innovative thinking on food security, we conducted an interdisciplinary, triangulation analysis of four divergent conceptual frameworks, each relevant to diagnosing food insecurity in developing countries. We found notable tensions as well as synergistic interactions between agroecology, agricultural innovation systems, social–ecological systems, and political ecology. Cross-framework interactions enhance our understanding of how sectoral and macro-economic development strategies impact on livelihoods, availability, and access. Re-invigorated, more profound dialog between divergent conceptual frameworks enables diagnosis of complex food insecurity problems, and context-specific interventions and innovations. Informed use of divergent approaches constitutes a new ambition for research and practice.

Monitoring for learning and developing capacities in the WASH sector

The water sector faces immense challenges, which are characterized by complex interactions between the social and ecological systems. Improving the linkages between sector-wide monitoring, learning and capacity development is of pivotal importance for coping with this complexity. For deciding where to invest, how to sustain and improve water and sanitation services and for understanding which policies and strategies work, both reliable data and critical joint reflection are crucial. In the water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, two developments have the potential to contribute to increased sector capacities to reflect, analyse and act upon lessons learnt. First, the interest of national governments and donors in monitoring and evaluation, which is gradually shifting from counting infrastructure built, towards sustainable development and sector performance reviews. Second, participatory monitoring methods and multi-stakeholder processes are being used to increase transparency and accountability and to facilitate dialogue, learning and joint action. The demand for continuous learning and adaptive management based on sound monitoring data can be stimulated by incentives and supportive institutional settings. The supply – the mechanisms, tools and capacities for monitoring – must also be strengthened, especially the capacity to use monitoring data to take action. Learning-oriented monitoring processes can help identify capacity gaps, while the process of joint analysis, reflection and sharing lessons has the potential to build capacities. Commitment of stakeholders throughout the sector to do things better and differently is a critical element towards building a learning and adaptive sector.

Who wins and who loses? Unpacking the “local people” concept in ecotourism: a longitudinal study of community equity in Ankarana, Madagascar

Tourism in the Ankarana protected area, Madagascar, has increased since the early 1990s, linked to growing national and donor interest in conservation and ecotourism. Using a qualitative and longitudinal approach, this analysis focuses on the social impacts of tourist intensification, comparing and contrasting communities on either side of the protected area. As tourist numbers have increased, infrastructure to accommodate them has developed and tour guiding has professionalized. In this process, the locus of tourism shifted from the loosely organized, “grassroots” tourism of the western side of Ankarana to the organized, externally financed, easy-access tourism of the eastern side, with both environmental and social consequences. The paper argues that a concentration and professionalization of ecotourism services within a region can marginalize neighboring human communities even though not necessarily leading to increased overall environmental degradation. It contributes to tourism studies by engaging a political ecology approach to unpack the concept of “local people” through a multi-community study of the ripple effects of ecotourism within its immediately surrounding areas. This study of community equity acknowledges the need for balanced evaluations of tourism's effects. It also recognizes the value of nuanced empirical studies for planning to meet goals of location-specific environmental and socioeconomic sustainability.

Yao migrant communities, identity construction and social mobilisation against HIV and AIDS through circumcision schools in Zimbabwe

This article examines the practice of male circumcision among the migrant Yao people in Zimbabwe with the goal of showing circumcision's importance as a platform for social mobilisation against HIV and AIDS. The work looks at how the practice has health benefits and creates a new form of identity to fight AIDS. It therefore examines the role of the rite in the creation of a collective Yao identity that facilitates mobilisation against the pandemic within the community. This mobilisation is a complex and contentious process, which involves various levels of negotiation, reconstruction and reconfiguration of Yao identity and the circumcision practice (the surgical act and teachings about it), both within and outside the group. The article argues that the practice can be viewed as a form of an African social movement that is largely driven by a complex but self-conscious collective identity and is also induced by the global donor interest in the circumcision–AIDS debate.

Building national M&E systems in the context of changing aid modalities: The underexplored potential of National Evaluation Societies

Changes in the aid architecture have provided a renewed impetus for monitoring and evaluation (M&E), while simultaneously imposing a major reform agenda on the key players involved. More specifically, since 1999, aid-dependent countries have been facing pressure to strengthen their national M&E systems, while donors have been asked to refrain from using their own parallel systems and to rely instead on country systems. Surprisingly, attempts to strengthen national M&E frameworks have thus far largely overlooked the potential of national evaluation societies (NES). Similarly, NES have also remained off the academic radar. Our study aims to fill this gap by mapping key features of NES, as well as their perceived contributions to country-led M&E. In this effort, we rely upon evidence from our survey of 23 NES in Sub-Saharan African countries with Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PSRP). Our findings show that there is quite some diversity among NES. Overall, NES are active organisations, whose unique membership features a wide variety of national M&E stakeholders who potentially play key roles in country-led and localised M&E development. Major obstacles faced by NES include the lack of financial resources, donor support and political influence. Survey findings also demonstrate that the increasing interest of donors and governments in NES has yet to materialise into strategic support.

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Program as a Collective Institution

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), an initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), was developed in response to the neglect of the agricultural sector by African governments as well as donors. The program is also a response to concerns about the ineffectiveness of development aid due to absence of ownership and fragmented development interventions. Similarly to other NEPAD initiatives, especially the African Peer Review Mechanism, CAADP can be understood as an institution by which African countries aim to build a collective reputation regarding their commitment to improve governance and to develop agriculture. Most member states expect improved reputation to be rewarded by increased and superior forms of aid. A number of factors favor a collective strategy for African countries to build their reputation regarding improved governance and commitment to agriculture. These include negative spillover effects of poor governance (for example, obstacles to developing regional markets), improved bargaining power of African governments vis-a-vis the donor community, long-standing political efforts to build a positive African identity, and a donor interest in reducing transaction costs by interacting with African countries though regional organizations rather than individually. While realizing these potentials, the CAADP effort to build collective rather than individual reputation involves the classical free-rider problem of collective action: Countries may not honor their commitments after having received increased aid — a strategy that will harm all member countries since it undermines the collective reputation. Since CAADP involves a collective commitment by the donor community as well, donors face similar problems of collective action. They, too, may fail to honor their commitments or revert to individual rather than harmonized approaches to support African agriculture. The paper discusses the strategies that CAADP can use to overcome these collective action challenges.

Toward a Community of Innovation in Community-Based Natural Resource Management: Insights from Open Source Software

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is an environmental governance approach that deals with complex and interwoven ecological problems through a participatory environmental management framework. Practitioner, donor, and academic interest in this strategy is on the rise, and successful CBNRM organizations are experiencing internal and external pressures to help their knowledge and experiences to other contexts and scales. If organized through the traditional top-down diffusion of innovation approach, many barriers to CBNRM transfer exist, beginning with organizational costs that may outweigh potential benefits. However, reframed as a more open and emergent process, the burdens of transfer may be reduced and benefits increased. We draw on an analogy from the Open Source Software (OSS) movement to suggest an organizational rationale for exchange and principles such as porting, the kernel, copyleft, and forking that can guide CBNRM and for community-based organizations cha...

Racial Differences in Outcomes of the Evaluation of Potential Live Kidney Donors: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: In the USA, the lower rate of live donor kidney transplant among Black transplant candidates may stem from lower rates of donation among potential live donors who are Black. We determined whether outcomes of the evaluation of potential live kidney donors varied according to the potential donors’ demographic characteristics. Methods: We performed a single-center, retrospective observational cohort study of 1,179 potential live kidney donors, who came forward between 2000 and 2007. Potential donors’ intended recipients were first-time transplant recipients who were evaluated between 2000 and 2005. Results: There were 268 (22.7%) potential live kidney donors who were Black, of whom 93.7% were recruited by Black transplant candidates. Donor outcomes included actual donation (38.3%), exclusion due to blood group or crossmatch incompatibility (20.4%), exclusion due to medical contraindication to donation (13.7%), and lack of further donor interest (11.2%). Black (vs. non-Black) potential donors were less likely to actually donate (27.2 vs. 41.6%, p < 0.001). Black potential donors were more likely to stop pursuing live donation (p = 0.047) or be excluded from donation for medical reasons (p = 0.008) or blood group or crossmatch incompatibility (p = 0.01). These racial differences persisted in a multivariable multinomial logistic regression model of factors associated with outcomes of the donor evaluation. Conclusions: Potential live kidney donors who are Black are less likely to actually donate. Future studies should determine whether paired exchange and desensitization programs decrease these racial differences and why Black potential donors appear more likely to stop pursuing live donation.

Reframing aid in a world where the poor live in emerging economies

This special issue of International Development Policy analyses the major shifts affecting traditional development assistance, particularly with regard to global public policy and the emerging economies. In this introductory chapter, the authors examine the changing development landscape and the shifting geography of poverty to question the role of aid organisations in middle-income economies (MICs). They argue that continued donor engagement in these richer countries is warranted for two reasons. First, and in the best interest of lower-income countries (LICs), traditional donors and MICs must cooperate in the design and implementation of global policies to protect global public goods. Second, foreign aid agencies can assist MICs in reducing poverty at home. They must, however, tread lightly in this political endeavour that often implies supporting domestic drivers of change in pushing for tax reform and improved public service delivery. The authors focus in particular on the pivotal role of the emerging middle classes and civil society organisations in MICs. Finally, they introduce policy coherence for sustainable development as a shared framework for MICs and high-income countries (HICs) to effectively address the poverty and global public goods agendas.

Determinants of disaster aid: donor interest or recipient need?

This article examines the motivations behind the provision of disaster aid. Is this aid provision driven more by ‘humanitarian’ variables such as the severity of the political or natural emergency in the recipient state or ‘political’ variables such as the economic or strategic interest of the donor state? Through a statistical analysis of the aid activity of 22 donor states between 1997 and 2008, it is found that, contrary to much of the literature on humanitarian aid in general, humanitarian variables are consistently significant predictors of disaster aid provision. However, certain political variables are also significant, in that donor states provide more disaster aid to trading partners, former colonies, and military allies.