cause problems of co-operation. For example, an NGO might undermine its bargaining power as an equal partner in a co-operative arrangement due to a lack of independence or having an unclear concept of independence.35
Third, although the NGO flexibility which derives from a loosely and informally organized structure helps an organization be responsive to different situations, too much flexibility can weaken the organization. For instance, some NGOs lack concrete organizational goals and measures for making an assessment of their progress and identifying mistakes. They are consequently unable to achieve self-development by learning from experiences. Some may find it difficult to establish priorities or to focus resources on key areas because they do not adequately identify problems. Some may have difficulties in day-to-day administration and expansion due to their lack of rules and regulations, which they regard as "bureaucratic" and therefore unacceptable. In these circumstances, newcomers perhaps find it hard to fit in to an agency where they do not know the appropriate procedure and "can violate core norms and values with the best of intentions" and then have "difficulty recovering from the initial mistake."36
Fourth, some constraints come from leadership. For example, a charismatic leader whose strength lies in contact with the people might be overwhelmed by the demands of administration until he or she cannot fulfil the provision of service to the people. At the same time, some NGO workers led by the charismatic leader might get used to being so dependent on the leader that they lose creativity and ability to challenge their own ideas. This can undermine the development of organization.37 On the other hand a power struggle can sometimes emerge between competing factions in an organization. This may result in an NGO becoming "organizationally fragmented, subject to ideological and territorial dispute".38 Such a struggle bogs down decision making and makes the organization ineffective. The struggle might end with the departure of officers from the organization.39
Fifth, most NGOs are vulnerable to irregular financial support. NGO financial resources often come through informal personal contact. Financial support from international funding agencies is short-term support, from one to three years and this discourages the NGOs from establishing long-term strategies and administration. As a
35 Brodhead, Herbert-Copley and Lambert, op.cit.. pp. 46-70. 36 Brown, op. cit.. p. 13.
37 Ibid., p. 14.
38 K. Bysouth, "Non-Government Organizations", in P. Eldridge, D. Forbes and D. Porter (eds.), Australian Overseas Aid: Future Direction. London: Croom Helm, 1986, p. 224.
39 Ibid., p. 14. In addition, the NGOs cannot afford to have long-term conflict due to financial constraints which make donors wary o f unstable organizations.
consequence o f being financially vulnerable, some NGOs might unwittingly shift organizational objectives from helping the poor to promoting their own organization, as mentioned above, and might be easily manipulated by other institutions such as political parties and the bureaucracy. Insecure finances can also mean that the NGOs can often not afford to pay experienced and skilled professional workers and therefore, while NGOs may have strong intentions to do something good for society, many of their staff will be young unskilled and inexperienced workers.
However, an NGO which receives large and continuous financial support from a single source may face donor expectation which it would not be able to fulfil. Even where an NGO receives grants from more than one donor its executives may feel uneasy when they face different donor expectations. In these circumstances recipient NGOs may sometimes avoid reporting detailed evaluation of projects, providing more simple and favourable reports acceptable to the donors in order to reduce the potential for conflict occuring with the donors. If the donors are not satisfied, the NGO might find that donors demand more control over the funding which may effectively limit the NGO's w ork.40
On occasion governments might intervene in the affairs of recipient NGOs by putting pressure on a foreign government not to support certain types of NGOs which work in politically sensitive areas. It is often indicated in the official financial contracts that local NGOs must not to disturb the relations between states, otherwise the government-linked donor funding agencies have the right to withdraw the money from the projects supported. Human rights organizations can therefore have a lot of difficulties gaining support from such government-linked funding agencies due to the fact that they sometimes deal with politically complex issues which might be regarded as disturbing the principle of non-intervention between states.
Sixth, while the NGOs are assumed by many to be a bridge for peaceful social change through the support of concerned development parties such as local people's groups, government and non-government organizations, the process of co-operation necessary to achieve change is a very difficult task in many ways.
In co-operation with local people's groups, there may be insistence of villagers to various aspects due to the NGO's lack o f understanding o f the local social environment, lack of sensitivity and basic motivation as well as a lack of belief in the NGO's work by the local people who are involved in the projects. The NGOs may intervene in some projects without consideration for the feeling of people concerned.