DPA 309 Voluntary Sector Management. A report on the status and development of the voluntary sector in public administration and society

1. Prepared By:
MARIA VENUS S. TORIO
DPA - 1st
SEMESTER, SY 2018-2019
Status and Development
of the Voluntary
Sector in Public
Administration and
Society

2. DPA 309-VOLUNTARY SECTOR MANAGEMENT
II. Status and Development of the Voluntary
Sector in Public Administration and Society
A.The Significance, Power and Scope of Volunteering
B.Legal Framework of Volunteerism in the Philippines
C.Overview of the Historical Development of the
Voluntary Sector
D.Valuing Volunteerism: The Role of the Voluntary
Organizations in Development Management and
Social Transformation

3. II. Status and Development of the Voluntary
Sector in Public Administration and Society
C. Overview of the Historical Development of the
Voluntary Sector
The history of NGOs is traced to humanistic service and the philosophy attached
to it. Even in the most ancient societies, it grew from the basic obligation of
family, clan, and tribe (Smillie, 1995). This humanism dominated many
philosophies and its origins were based on benevolence , giving, tithing, and
sharing. In Europe, during the middle ages when poverty abounded with the rise
of capitalism and affluence, medieval charities put up the fight against poverty,
which was considered a sin. In those times, reformers and reform movements as
well as charitable societies more than governments, brought about changes in
working conditions and public health. The threat of the revolutionary class
pressured governments to take responsibility for welfare (Simillie, 1995:24)
Today, many voluntary organizations in the North and the South assume
similar responsibilities on the same ground. The failure of the government and
the market to address the demands for services paved the way for voluntary
action and philanthropy. As times passed, differences emerged in the manner by
which these voluntary organizations exist and operate.

4. NGOs are organized by individuals who band together
for common goals. In the Philippines, the NGOs symbolize the
Filipinos’ altruism through service to communities. The NGOs
are to a certain extent, part of the local culture to extend
assistance or service especially when others are in need. The
essential character of the NGO is its being organized on the
basis of the voluntary will of members who come together for a
common purpose. NGOs or voluntary groups do not originate
out of compulsion. They exist primarily for a purpose:
development, assistance, charity, socio-political cause, and so
on. Although, some may be engaged in economic endeavours
especially where they help specific groups to improve their
economic lot, NGOs or voluntary groups do not exist primarily
to generate profits as the business sector does.

5. D. Valuing Volunteerism: The Role of the
Voluntary Organizations in Development
Management and Social Transformation
1.Representation of the Citizenry
2.Welfare and Service Provision
3.Education and Information
4.Advocacy

6. 1. Representation of the Citizenry
The Voluntary Sector represents its members or
represents the cause on behalf of many others.
Thus, it can be the voice of those who have no
access to services, or the voice of “conscience” so to
speak.
It is a negotiating force between bureaucratic
power and those who have non (poor), or between
those who have the power to make decisions
within the formal structure of policymaking and
those who lie outside of it. The voluntary sector is
central to communication action.

7. 2. Welfare and Service Provision
Many NGOs began as welfare organization and charities. In some
countries, NGOs are seen as agencies providing emergency services.
During the war or thereafter, NGOs extended assistance to victims of
war. Welfare, charity and social service are among the early and still
the more common purposes of voluntary groups . A number of them
emanated from the initiatives of the church, understandably because
of the humanistic and altruistic mission of churches towards the poor
and the underserved. The NGOs maintain the role as service provider,
either independent of government or in collaboration with it.
3. Education and Information
4. Advocacy

8. III. Management of Voluntary Organizations: Towards
Development and Social Transformation
A. Auditing for Social Change
B. Challenges in the Management of Voluntary
Organizations
C. Management Practices in Voluntary Sector
Management
D. Enabling Mechanism for Voluntary Sector
Management

9. Management of Voluntary Organizations: Towards
Development and Social Transformation
A. Auditing for Social Change
The Voluntary Sector is a representation of the
citizenry. It represents its members or it represents the
cause on behalf of many others. Thus, it can be the voice of
those who have no access to services, or the voice of
“conscience” so to speak.
It is a negotiating force between bureaucratic power
and those who have non (poor), or between those who have
the power to make decisions within the formal structure of
policymaking and those who lie outside of it. The voluntary
sector is central to communication action.

10. Management of Voluntary Organizations: Towards
Development and Social Transformation
B. Challenges in the Management of Voluntary
Organizations
There is a range of dilemmas and challenges
which voluntary sector practitioners and scholars
recognize. These are identified as follows:
1. ACCOUNTABILITY
2. APPROACH
3. PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS

11. Challenges in the Management of Voluntary Organizations
 1. ACCOUNTABILITY
Not a few voluntary organizations are faced with problems of
accountability. Firstly, there is accountability problem related to
internal governance accountability of staff to the Board and the
authorities of the organization. , accountability of staff to managers,
and accountability of the organization to volunteers or non-paid
staff. Secondly, there are issues related to financial accountability
such as the norms that govern decision-making, expenditures,
allocation and accounting. A number of donor agencies have raised
concern about how weak financial accountability remains to be in
one of the better-trusted sectors such as the voluntary group.
Thirdly, there are persistent concerns regarding program
accountability issues such as effectiveness of the design and
implementation,, real outputs and performance, and the overall
contributions of those efforts to the community, target groups, and
to society in general. Program accountability also includes cost-
effectiveness.

12. Challenges in the Management of Voluntary Organizations
 2. APPROACH
Over the years and under the decentralization policy of the
Philippines, the voluntary sector has seen the importance of
collaborating with the government in community work and social
development projects. There are opportunities for NGOs to expand
their work with other groups including the public sector. With this
are attempts to engage with others, the habitual ways of doing
things have remained a burden in pushing the frontiers of
collaboration and establishing sustainable networks. The
partnership with the public sector for example, remains tactical.
Many local government units affirm the lack of substantial and
sustainable relationships with NGOs. Similar, the NGOs continue to
plan and implement projects basically by themselves or with little
partnership with the public sector. With token coordination, results
tend to be duplicated, resources are not optimally used, and impact
is diminished.

13. Challenges in the Management of Voluntary Organizations
On another plane, advocacy remains another challenging
aspect of the NGO and government development work. Lack of or
improper understanding of the processes, operation and
structure of the public sector leads to ineffective advocacy claims
and advocacy work of the voluntary sector. Analysis of public
policies for example, is not well focused and weakened partly
due to the lack of information and understanding on the nature
of the policy or on the system and structure of policy process. As
a consequence, some policy demands raised by the voluntary
sector advocates become realistic.
The lack of coordination and partnership refers not only to
the voluntary sector but also the public sector. Partnership
and coordination should be a mutual concern.

14. 3. PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS
The bottom line of both public and voluntary sector
initiatives is the results that accrue to the largest groups.
Although it is perceived that relative to government, the
voluntary organizations are more effective in delivering results,
donors and NGOs themselves continue to raise concern about
the outcome and impact of their work. Measurable results and
quality outputs are a persistent matter to deal with during
evaluation and assessment. Moreover, sustainability of positive
outcome is also a nagging concern. The concentration on
process has sometimes caused less attention to results and
outcomes. However, there is an increasing demand on voluntary
organizations, by donors and target groups, for a more
systematic way of assessing results and outcomes.

15.  Public and Voluntary Sectors: The Twain that Meets
The biggest common ground for the public and voluntary sectors is
probably accountability-accountability to the public in general, and
accountability for program results in particular. As both sectors do
claim to be institutions or agencies of public service. The ultimate
barometer in the publicness of these two sectors. The public sphere
is central to their mission. The target groups and the clients in the
development language are not only similar in most cases, they are
the same communities, thickly populated but undeserved areas,
poor and marginalized , and ill represented. In this sense, the
common ground is the public sphere. The nuts and bolts of public
management are relevant to the both sectors. The methodologies of
public service delivery and public management are a shared lot by
the public and the voluntary sectors.

16. The program results are another point of conflation. Both
share the concern for effectiveness of service :
 how many benefit from the service?
How is quality of life changed?
What meaning to life does the service bring?
Are the services available when people need them most?
In this case the methods of the administration of services
are of interest to the public and the voluntary sectors, even while
the voluntary sector originates from a totally different arena
namely, non-statal, non-governmental.

17. Internal governance, a long standing matter that bothers the
public sector, is increasingly a question that the voluntary sector faces.
Accountability to the Board and the leaders and the accountability of
the leaders and managers on matters and program and decision-making,
and fund accountability within the organization must be addressed. The
NGOs are usually led by personalities who are luminaries in their own
rights , or become prominent by their involvement in organization that
they join. The result is often a strong leadership that stifles the initiative,
growth and potentials of middle-level leaders and managers. As
luminaries lord over the organization , mindset and strategies tend to
identify with those in the leadership. This prevents fresh insights and
strategies tend to identify with those in the leadership. Strategies do not
grow and change. This feature of the NGO leadership is similar to the
political leadership of the public sector. The political leadership
manifests the will of the public bureaucracy that may not be consistent
with the technical and competent views of the members of the public
bureaucracy.

18. Human Resource Development (HRD) is another shared concern.
Managing paid and voluntary staff , nurturing them and sustaining them are
the questions addressed in HRD offices of NGOs. The public sector is equally
engrossed with organization management : refining, reengineering the
system , and reinventing the relationships and functions within the
organization.
The political dimension of public management is the politics of
decision-making . Politics of decision-making is also the advocacy and the
political responsibility of the voluntary sector. An old but persistent dilemma
of the two sectors is indeed political decision-making and advocacy. On both
ends, there is a challenge to deal with participatory processes, with divergence
and plurality, and with negotiated solutions. These concerns of public policy
make for an interesting , mutual learning for the public and voluntary sectors.
It is important that both voluntary sector and public sector management deal
with the common ground , namely; the political responsibility of decision-
making or what the voluntary sector refers to as advocacy. More than human
resources management , political decision-making seems to be the substantive
common concern of the public and the voluntary sectors.

19. Given the issues cited above, the public and the
voluntary sectors must address common challenges:
accountability, effective performance, efficient and
effective methodologies of service administration and
internal governance. Working in the public realm
demands that both sectors must meet and tackle these
challenges well.

20. Thank You