Data science in the NGO sector

Part 1

NGO data collection and data sharing
The NGO sector is increasingly optimizing its practices by using services such as POIMAPPER, Akvo Flow, Viewworld and cartong, which supply data collection and monitoring tools for NGOs. Most of these provide data collection services in the form of mobile apps, which can be used offline and updated online. Such tools allow individual NGOs to more efficiently collect and store data in order to provide more accurate aid. What if modern values of knowledge and data sharing, partnerships and collaborations, and open source models would leave their mark on NGOs’ practices? What if all NGOs would decide to share (field) data with other entities in the NGO sector?

In an ideal world, information about any type of project (e.g. how to initiate the project, which resources are needed, what expertise is needed, which regulations and documentation should be taken into account, which partnerships should be established, what the most common problems and solutions are, etc.) would be accessible to anyone, in order for project initiation, execution and management to be done efficiently and effectively by any NGO or project team. Global efforts are taken in this very direction. The World Bank, for example, provides grants and loans to large-scale projects that aim to end poverty. Since the World Bank values transparency, these projects’ specifications are provided through open databases. Another aggregate data project is the NGO aid map, which aims “to increase the amount of publicly available data on international development and humanitarian response by providing detailed project information through interactive maps and data visualizations.” In addition, the database Encyclopedia of World Problems & Human Potential maps world problems that have been identified, the relationships between these world problems, and potential strategies to face these problems. This resource is publicly available and is an important step towards the correct identification of world problems: a pull approach instead of a push approach.

NGO databases: Possible research angles
NGO databases generally aim to share aggregate information about topics such as the (target) reach, budget allocation and activities of (non-)humanitarian projects/organizations for the sake of transparency and knowledge sharing. In order to find out what these databases can tell us about the overall situation of NGOs’ activities and the results of those activities, we started analyses of the available data of the NGO aid map (an initiative by InterAction, which is an alliance of 180 US-based NGOs), Aidflows (World Bank) and the NGO database (Radboud University).

First of all, with regard to the NGO aid map, we looked at the available information about the budget, duration, number of international/local partners, target groups, sectors and number of donors per recorded project. According to the data, the majority of projects were carried out with the support of 1 local or international partner organization and 1 type of donor[1]. The data recorded 28 unique sectors in which the projects operate[2]. Most projects operate in one sector. Of the sectors that are jointly covered by one project, we recorded the sectors that most often co-occur with each individual sector. For example, we found that health most often co-occurs with education, and agriculture most often co-occurs with economic recovery and development. In addition, the dataset exists of 2,722 humanitarian and 15,358 non-humanitarian projects. Interesting to note is that all projects with extremely large budgets (100,000,000+ USD) fall within the non-humanitarian category. Of the humanitarian projects, there are two notable peaks in duration of the projects, which are 3 months and 12 months. Moreover, still using the dataset of NGO aid map, we investigated whether NGOs consistently spend money on the countries that need the help most. 2009–2010 data on the Millennium Development Goals[3] (MDG) and NGO aid map projects (received budget per country) was investigated. The findings indicate that it seems unlikely that there is a solid relationship between the average MDG score and the amount of help a country receives. This information can be used to stress the importance of international agreements about budget allocations.

Secondly, we are currently conducting research based on dataset Aidflows. Aidflows aims to make aid flows more transparent, which fits into the World Bank’s mission to alleviate poverty. Aidflows visualizes how much development financing is provided and received around the world. We started analyses using parameters such as gross commitments, undisbursed commitments, IBRD/IDA & TF disbursements, IBRD/IDA disbursements by sector in %, commitments for major programs, disbursements for major programs, number of grants approved, grant commitments and grant disbursements — where commitments are official obligations/expectations of financial resources to be transferred and disbursements represent the actual release of funds to or the purchase of goods/services for a recipient. Stay tuned for the findings of these analyses.

Thirdly, the NGO database contains information about the expenses of 81 Dutch NGOs. Similar to Aidflows and the NGO aid map, the NGO database is an initiative that aims to stimulate transparency and knowledge sharing within the International Development sector. The data analysed includes MDG data of all developing countries in 2009–2010, and international development expenses for developing countries from 2002–2009. The former dataset was visualized in the form of spider plots for each developing country, displaying the MDG scores of each country in 2009 and 2010. The latter dataset tells us the amount of aid (in USD) per person per developing country, provided by the Dutch NGOs included in the dataset. In addition, data of international development expenses by Dutch NGOs in the years 2008–2015 was scraped from the website in an attempt to analyse the most recent figures. However, we found too many bugs in the data to draw solid conclusions (e.g. the dataset fails to record the expenses of many important NGOs in the years 2013, 2014 and 2015, causing a drop in the figures in these years. It remains unclear why).

Towards disclosure
The NGO sector — both NGOs or project teams as well as their beneficiaries, and external researchers interested in NGO activities and results — greatly benefit from open knowledge and data sharing. New technologies provide the means to stimulate this movement. Even though existing datasets and data aggregation initiatives are not at all flawless, such means allow the sector to take steps towards transparency and disclosure. If applied and exploited appropriately, technologies such as data collection and monitoring tools combined with the willingness of NGOs to make available (field) information has the potential to disrupt the NGO sector for the better.

Special thanks to researchers Bob Oudejans, Joerian Droog and Suzanne Martens of Young Mavericks for conducting the analyses presented in this article.

[1] The 10 most frequent types of donors of this dataset include, in order of frequency, (1) private donations; (2) corporation(s); (3) U.S. Agency for International Development; (4) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance; (5) UNICEF; (6) Foundation(s); (7) Adventist Development and Relief Agency; (8) Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations; (9) World Food Program; and (10) Bureau of population, refugees and migration.

[2] In order of frequency, these sectors include health, education, agriculture, humanitarian aid, economic recovery and development, water sanitation and hygiene, protection, food aid, human rights democracy and governance, social services, other, shelter and housing, environment, disaster prevention and preparedness, conflict prevention and resolution/peace and security, gender, capacity strengthening for CSOs, mining and extractive resources, energy, communication/technology, refugee resettlement, construction, animal welfare, forestry, trade, fishing, transport/infrastructure and debt relief.

[3] Millennium Development Goals are an important and well-known type of measure in International Development, as they indicate the extent to which countries (1) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve universal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and empower women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve maternal health; (6) combat HIV/aids, malaria and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental sustainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for development.