Increased accountability Voluntary sector organizations have sometimes been accused of serving private special interests rather than public interests. To counter this and reinforce their legitimacy, CSOs need to more visibly apply standards such as codes of conduct. They must also be seen to be working with those whose lives they mean to affect, says Van Rooy. Also needed is greater competence throughout the voluntary sector. Increased professionalism is hampered by CIDA's limited contribution to NGOs' administrative costs, however, as well as by the public's expectation fed by the charities themselves that an inordinately large percentage of individual donations will reach developing-country beneficiaries directly.
Evaluation is also vital.
However, evaluation is not a systemic part of Canadian NGO culture, notes Smillie. The reasons include the difficulty of assessing social development, empowerment, and participation, as well as CSOs' limited financial and professional means. Evaluation is essential, however, if organizations are to learn from past experience and thus increase their effectiveness. As noted earlier, an increasing number of CSOs work in partnership with domestic and foreign partners, or join broad coalitions. Problems also arise when Northern governments fund Southern NGOs directly, cutting out the Northern CSO intermediary.