This article argues that although the Paris Declaration is an important step in establishing an international consensus on aid, its ability to make aid work in the long term is questionable without the availability of publically available, reliable, qualitative and quantitative information on civil society organisations (CSOs). This type of transparency and accountability it is argued will serve to increase democratic ownership and accountability as well as provide a useful tool for donors, gov more...

This article examines the ways in which the charitable sector can be strengthened through some degree of income generation. However, it also argues that new ways of giving such as ‘philanthrocapitalism’ can ensure that the work being done by nonprofit organisations is not overshadowed because it can help socialise for profit activity. It also highlights how GuideStar can assist in this respect.

The Hungarian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MSAL) has published its database at http://www.civil.info.hu/modules/Orgs. It is the most comprehensive state database online at this moment and it collects and presents data from the following sources among others: the registry information from the ONJC, 1% allocations received by that organisation, grants and other financial supports coming from state institutions. The database in its current form is unfortunately not really valid, or compre more...

On April 8 the “DZI Spenden-Siegel Forum” was held in Berlin. This was the German team's mid-term event according to the eTEN requirement list for each participating country. Representatives from some of the biggest welfare organisations (Deutsche Welthungerhilfe), foundations (Bertelsmann Foundation), umbrella organisations (VENRO for the development organisations) as well as government representatives were among the more than 100 attendees.

Besides a presentation of the current progres more...

The August edition brings you some information on recent partners which utlise GuideStar information. This includes The Office of the Third Sector recent announcement that the forthcoming National Survey of Third Sector Organisations will be based on data provided by BMG Research and GuideStar UK. Birmingham University and Southampton University have been selected to run the new Third Sector Research Centre, with GuideStar UK which will deliver a number of programmes to help develop a robust bas more...

The World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO) is an international organization uniting NGOs worldwide in the cause of advancing peace and global well being. WANGO helps to provide the mechanism and support needed for NGOs to connect, partner, share, inspire, and multiply their contributions to solve humanity’s basic problems.

The July edition of the GuideStar International newsletter is now available. It gives some information on what GuideStar has been up to and features some interviews and information on what has been going on in the civil society realm

GuideStar International Mapping Project
03/07/08

GSI believes that certain characteristics of a particular country’s civil society sector are important in determining the likely success and/or level of difficulty of implementing a GuideStar-type system.

We are currently researching the civil society sectors in countries around the world and the support of national civil society experts is vital to ensure this work is well-informed and accurate. We would be really grateful if you could more...

An interview with Lewis Temple, Director of GuideStar UK which was featured in the July issue of Charity Finance. The interview conducted by the magazine’s editor, Ian Asllop, gives a personal insight into what led Lewis to his position at GuideStar UK, as well as the role he will play in the development of GuideStar UK. He also talks about the way in which GuideStar UK is providing a model for the development of GuideStar overseas. Read the full Interview.

GuideStar recently interviewed Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive at the NCVO who is also on the board of GuideStar International as well as a member of the Advisory Council for GuideStar UK. In the interview he spoke about:

Why the Office for the Third Sector should be changed to Office for Civil Society
The role GuideStar is playing in the development of the charitable sector in the UK and overseas
The way in which UK civil society compares with the rest of the world
How NCVO values more...