Vouchers for freedom and quality
Pact’s UNITER Project has been helping to strengthen the organizational capacity of Ukrainian civil society organizations for more than two years. These efforts center on the introduction of a radically different approach to capacity development (CD) through the use of a voucher system. The vouchers (in the form of a micro-grant) are the currency of the Pact-nurtured Capacity Building Marketplace which builds on the belief that CSOs are capable of recognizing their CD needs. The Marketplace allows CSOs to purchase services offered by Ukraine’s many domestic CD providers. The key feature of the voucher is that it gives CSOs the freedom to drive their own organizational growth. By encouraging healthy competition and attracting non-conventional capacity builders, the voucher also allows CSOs to demand quality services by “voting” with their own money.
Last year, one of UNITER’s young artistic CSO partners, Garage Gang Kollectiv (GG), was struggling with to effectively manage its finances. With a UNITER voucher in hand, GG turned to a business consulting firm for support in establishing sound financial systems. The vouchers also helped GG bolster its organizational productivity: When GG found that conventional exercises did not fit with its artistic character it turned to psycho-drama activities conducted by a group of professional actors whose tools were perfectly fashioned to unleash the team’s inner creative potential.
Another Pact partner, the Kirovograd Institute for Socio Cultural Management (ISCM), was well-established after many years of operation, but with the arrival of new energetic staff members the institute decided to redefine its organizational vision. ISCM engaged a trainer who helped them renew the organization’s strategic plan, using a voucher provided by Pact to choose the CD provider it believed to be the best in Ukraine.
The custom trainings offered by many donors are indeed useful, but they may trap CSOs in a one-size-fits-all box of CD services. However, the same CD service can be of varying quality and the approaches taken by one trainer may fit one organization but not another. The use of vouchers in Ukraine proves that when CSOs can to deliberate on their needs and use vouchers to choose the most appropriate CD services, they are more likely to make the best use of the opportunity to improve their organizational strength.
