ICTs for development
E-business for NGOs
What can NGOs learn from the commercial sector about e-business?
Authors:
A. Sleurink
Publisher:
International Institute for Communication and Development , 2002
This report examines the relevance of e-business ideas for NGOs. Written for development NGOs, it introduces e-business notions from the for-profit sector. It examines their relevance for NGOs, and outlines the first steps an NGO could take when adopting an 'e-business' approach. It demonstrates that the NGO sector is on the edge of a major transformation.
The paper demonstrates that one challenge is to learn from business lessons and to apply e-business principles and paradigms in ways that enable NGOs to become more efficient, effective, and integrated.
Pros of e-business approaches for NGOs:
- Image: e-commerce helps with marketing, communication, and branding strategies
- Efficiency: clients can look for and purchase information, products and services without physical contact. The same goes for suppliers, and partners
- Effectiveness: ICTs and the Internet enable a more proactive approach. NGOs can engage in ‘personal’, one-to-one relationships with their clients, resulting in a detailed client profile
- Innovation and Creation: ICT developments and competitive pressures really force companies to re-think their assumptions about who they are, and what their role is
Cons of e-business approaches for NGOs:
- High investments with uncertain returns
- Can the organisation cope with the information explosion? More important; is the data used intelligently?
- Relationship management is difficult without personal face-to-face contact
- Joint e-commerce activities can result in difficulties of dividing revenues among the various partners
