Recently I listened to a conservationist tell the story of how he had founded a very successful conservation organization, only to be eventually fired by the board he had himself built up over the years. What had occurred was that his organization had established a strong track record of achievement and impact, and resulting growth in its funding, staff, and board. 

Human resources (HR) plays a critical role in shaping organizational culture. African CSOs face a complex internal challenge: how to balance the passion and commitment of individuals with an entire organization whose achievements are greater than the sum of its parts.

What’s needed to achieve conservation impact? In April, Maliasili brought together a unique group of leading African conservation organizations and funders to start talking about just that. Below provides the key recommendations coming out of the participants’ discussions at the Conservation Impact Forum (download the entire conference summary here).

Organizations need money to run, which is why fundraising is one of the foremost challenges and priorities they face. While there isn’t a simple solution to fundraising – unfortunately, it’s always going to be a challenging part of the job – there are ways to approach it to be more effective, efficient, and successful.

Here we lay out a simple set of five questions that provide the backbone of any strategy or strategic plan. If an organization can answer these five questions clearly, it has a sound underlying strategy, even if it is not written down anywhere.

This is a guest post by Maxi Louis, Director of NACSO and Karine Nuulimba, Programme Director of IRDNC - Both organizations are spearheading community based natural resource management in Namibia.

Communications units aren’t innocent in the information deficit dilemma. In fact, communications should play a major role in helping to shape, design, and evaluate an organization’s M&E system. This doesn’t often happen as the two are often considered distinct and separate functions of an organization.

As we frequently find ourselves emphasizing at Maliasili Initiatives throughout all our work with our partners, the single most important question any organization needs to answer is: What do we want to achieve? The key to answering this question, and in building the systems and plans to help an organization achieve its core purpose and mission, lies in setting good goals.

Few places have a more urgent need for vital and dynamic leadership on conservation issues than Africa. Across the continent societies and communities are undergoing a range of changes where locally rooted leadership is critical to solving a host of growing challenges.