About Us

Operational Excellence for Global Impact

The vision of InsideNGO is to be an international NGO community where operational excellence and professional expertise come together to help change the world.

Our name is based on our premise that inside every international relief or development NGO there are core professionals who provide the structure and expertise to support the reach and impact of their organization.

In 2008 The Association of PVO Financial Managers and The Personnel Co-op merged to become InsideNGO. We are dedicated to strengthening operational teams and fostering leadership in the international non-profit sector and we invite you to join us. The unique value that we have delivered for over 30 years is to support finance, grants/contracts, and human resources staff within international development and relief organizations. As one organization our combined efforts will include fostering stronger relationships and greater integration of international NGO operational staff within and across functions and organizations. We now have a stronger platform to support a wider range of services. Nascent groups for legal and tech staff have begun meeting and holding roundtables and workshops. We look forward to supporting them as they continue to grow and plan activities in their area of expertise.

Sector-specific Training, Benchmarking, and Advocacy

Over 2,000 participants benefit annually from 30+ workshops, two annual meetings, and over 20 peer roundtables. We survey HQ, and expat compensation and benefits; have reports on salary and benefits information for local staff in 37 countries; and compile a field staff employee manual that members can use as a template for their own. An Indirect Cost research and evaluation study is being conducted to identify international development sector-specific issues to facilitate a dialogue with private and public funders around the concept of full cost recovery.

InsideNGO is a forum that links your voice with those of your colleagues to speak with influence when commenting on OMB Circulars and other relevant government regulations as they are proposed. Advocacy efforts to improve the effectiveness of USAID and Department of State policies and procedures continue apace. We are respected by key staff at these agencies and meet regularly to discuss and resolve issues.

There is No Rulebook

InsideNGO is all about strengthening the “inside” staff of international NGOs. Think of the many challenges that you face in your work: training accountants with limited skills, assuring compliance with policies and procedures by staff responding to the latest disaster, protecting your interests in a teaming agreement with a prime contractor under an IQC, dealing with increasingly aggressive tax policies for expatriates in India, or defending your indirect cost rate to private foundations.

As a member of InsideNGO, you and your colleagues can and have benefited from shared information, experience-based training, relevant resources and practical tools, within a unique community known for unparalleled openness and sharing of information. Membership in the InsideNGO community helps you tap into the experience of peers and operational experts who have grappled with and solved the same problems, or who are asking similar questions in managing activities in the most challenging places in the world.

InsideNGO Membership Offers a Solid ROI:
What our members say about us

“While it's possible to find information on staff salaries and benefits in non-profit organizations, InsideNGO is the only organization I know that focuses exclusively on international development organizations, making the results completely relevant” Darcy Wertz, Director of Operations, Solidarity Center

“The content and quality of the workshops and meetings are excellent; the listserv, the round tables, and the website are very valuable; and the alerts on policy stuff and the advocacy role have been great. The amount of information and support in this community is huge. I give a lot of credit to InsideNGO. John Croizat, CFO, The Asia Foundation

“On the finance, grants and HR sides it's a full-on community of practice. We are not just isolated managers trying to figure out how to deal with US government rules. We are colleagues within our organizations and with each other inside the entire community.” Don Allen, Vice President for Administration, Internews

“It's a friendly community and gets you the information you need." Wendy Pobanz, VP HR, AED

“We have a lot of smart people at EngenderHealth. But if there is something you're trying to solve, you can go to InsideNGO and get feedback from someone who has lived through that problem before: with 250 member organizations, there is bound to be someone who had your problem and solved it last week, last month or last year.” Mark Trozzi, VP Operations & CFO, EngenderHealth, Inc.

Membership is not just for one person; it’s a benefit you share with your entire organization. One membership in InsideNGO includes all members of your “Inside Team” -- HR, Finance, Grants, Contracts, IT and Legal.

Our strength is the involvement of our members in all aspects of our work. Our members select programs, set the advocacy agenda, share their learning and expertise, build relationships, work together to develop useful resources, present at workshops and annual conferences, and provide training to one another.

For more information contact info@InsideNGO.org