VENRO: Minimum standards on transparency

Transparency creates trust. NGOs dependent on private donations need this trust. Therefore the German Network of NGOs working development and environmental issues (VENRO) supports a national initiative for a transparent civil society. According to a VENRO press release of June 23rd this initiative brings together nine German networks and organisations and consists of a commitment to publish ten information items.

According to the commitment, these ten items include:

1. The name, address and year of creation of an organisation
2. Bylaws, mission statements and other guiding principles
3. Up-to-date information about charitable tax-exempt status
4. Name and position of people with decision-making responsibility
5. Report about activities
6. Information about personnel
7. Information about funding sources
8. Information about spending and income statement
9. Information about institutional relationships, partner organisations, holding organisations, etc.
10. Name of donors, who contribute more than 10% of the annual budget.

Organisations and associations signatory to this transparency initiative agree to publish the ten  information items on their website or else to make them available upon request. OpenAid welcomes the initiative of VENRO and other organisations to enhance transparency and accountability in the non-profit sector. However the agreed standards of this initiative truly live up to their name - they are minimum standards! Geared towards private donors in Germany, these standards will harness the power of transparency only in a very limited way. The standards do not determine the degree of required detail about financial spending, which would be a necessary precondition to assess cost-effectiveness of activities. Also, the standards do not require any information about outcome, for example the publication of evaluations.

While these standards are an important step ahead for the German context, the minimum requirements for NGOs active in development cooperation clearly insufficient. Transparency is not only about enticing people to donate. Transparency is about accountability and about providing room for participation. If participation in development cooperation is an important value, than reporting requirements should reflect that value. Transparency standards for development cooperation should include the availability of data in the language of beneficiaries, the obligatory access to data online and a sufficient degree of detail at the project level. Accountability in development cooperation should be first and foremost to those, for whom activities are organised. If data is not available at project level, local accountability is not possible.

A final point for consideration - if we really agree that transparency is essential for trust and credibility - why are NGOs working on voluntary commitments instead of encouraging the legislator to become active? Transparency should not be optional! Accountability should not be a "nice-to-have" but a required condition for all organisations collecting funds in Germany - out of respect for private donors and beneficiaries of NGO activities.