This book has provided an in-depth look at the dynamics of organizational change in two prominent Southern NGOs. It has sought to demonstrate that NGO behavior is both a result of local experience and a response to much broader global forces. Throughout the book, I have stepped back from the rich particularities of the cases in order to discuss larger questions concerning the international context in which NGOs emerge and operate, the structured nature of information struggles between NGOs and funders, and the circumscribed and slow nature of organizational change through learning. The task of this concluding chapter is to weave together these preceding analyses into a wider discussion on the fabric of organizational change and the future of NGO-funder relationships.

Although the populations of NGOs around the world have exploded over the past two to three decades, these numbers tell us little about what these organizations do or how they interact within an ever globalizing development setting. We do know that the proliferation of NGOs has been partly fueled by increases in international funding to them.