In September, 2020, I launched the NPO Project No. 9 which offered advice and research assistance to section 19(3) exempted organisations under the Non-Profit Organisations Act, 2019 (“NPO Act, 2019”) that was having difficulties registering or not knowing how to register under the NPO Act, 2019. The services were offered without charge.
Today I am launching another iteration of the NPO Project No. 9. I am launching the NPO Project No. 9 Review Project (“The Review Project”). The Review Project will assist qualified organisations with reviewing their existing Constitution or Governing Rules and make recommendations of suitable amendments. Interested organisations will be required to complete a short means testing form to determine whether they qualify for the free review.
Interested organisaitons can reach the project initially by sending an email to kean@smithkas.com and should include “Inquiry – The Review Project” in the subject of the email for a prompt response.
Please feel free to direct any questions or comments to Kean Smith at kean@smithkas.com
In my post made on 28 October, 2020 entitled “Funding shortfall for your NPO? … then let’s be more strategic” I discussed the importance of building capacity within civil society organisations. Today I wish to share the structure of a project management team and the importance of engaging a project manager.
A project management team is comprised of 1. the project board, 2. the project manager and 3. the team manager.
The team manager reports to the project manager and the project manager reports to the project board. The project board reports to corporate, the programme manager or the customer. This is the hierarchy of a project.
Any project board you put in place will be responsible for the overall direction and management of the project within the constraints set out by corporate, the programme manager or the customer. The role of the project manager will be to plan the sequence of activities, monitor how well the work is progressing and for the day-to-day management of the project within the established constraints. Furthermore, the project manager also monitors and mitigates any and all risk to the project. (Office, T. S. (2017). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 (2017th ed.). The Stationery Office.)
Please make special note that the project manager is not ultimately responsible for the success of the project. The person who chairs the project board, the executive, is ultimately accountable for the project’s success and is the key decision maker. (Office, T. S. (2017). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 (2017th ed.). The Stationery Office.)
I am sure you are aware of directors or programme managers of organisations who develop projects and also act as the project manager. Doing this is not an effective way to run a project. There should be no overlap of the project board and project manager roles. Such overlap will put the project at risk because the executive of the project board, who is ultimately accountable for the project, will lack objectivity since he/she will also be performing day-to-day management of the project.
In order to avoid conflicting roles, you should appoint a project manager that is not a member of the project board. Doing so will also allow adequate focus to be given to deliverables or products and adequate management of risk to the project.
Please feel free to direct any questions or comments to Kean Smith at kean@smithkas.com
On 23 December, 2020 The Nassau Guardian Online reported that the World Food Programme (WFP) will be supplying food vouchers to about 450 to 500 households, survivors of hurricane Dorian, all throughout Abaco and its cays. The benefactors of this programme are reported to have been assessed in November, 2019.
The WFP describes itself as “… the leading humanitarian organisation saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies …” “An estimated 2 billion people in the world did not have regular access to …, nutritious and sufficient food in 2019” – UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Facts and Figured) Now households in The Bahamas will be added to these statistics as people who do not have regular access to sufficient food.
World Food Programme (WFP) logo Source: WFP’s Facebook page
The WFP’s participation in providing residents of The Bahamas with access to food indicates that The Bahamas’ social net to cover access to food has been exhausted. This is the social net that successive Governments of The Bahamas developed and funded through taxes over the years. It is now inadequate. Our government, our business community, civil society and philanthropist have done all they can to provide relief. Their combined efforts are simply inadequate and cannot meet the total need. No doubt the assistance that will be provided by the WFP and their funders through their food voucher programme and the support being provided by their international partner, Samaritan’s Purse, is welcomed.
This WFP proramme provides an ideal opportunity for relevant Bahamas based and registered non-profit organisations and civil society organistions to build additional capacity by working with the WFP and its partner by jointly organising short training programmes and workshops to facilitate the development and transfer of skills. It is likely that such an initiative will be welcomed by the WFP because they partner with more than 1,000 National and International NGOs to provide food assistance and tackle underlying causes of hunger. If you are asking how this can be done then continue reading.
When international organisations enter countries to provide humanitarian support, they do so based on agreed terms and conditions. I recommend that Civil Society Bahamas as the apex body of civil society organisations, formally request of The Bahamas Government that capacity building opportunities for relevant organisations be included in the said terms and conditions. Building increased capacity in these organisations will equip relevant humanitarian organisations with skills that can facilitate prompt disaster relief following any future natural disasters like hurricanes.
I believe that this is an ideal opportunity for us to partner with the WFP today so that we can better help ourselves tomorrow.
Once again, all the best and do well.
Please feel free to direct any questions or comments to Kean Smith at kean@smithkas.com
