Read this paper. Read it carefully. Take the time to think about what it says. This paper has been commissioned by operational agencies because it’s time to think ahead. The message of this paper may be gracefully delivered, but it contains a fundamentally challenging question: for how long will NGOs remain a legitimate humanitarian actor? This paper explores just how much NGOs will need to adapt in the coming few years. No organisation survives without changing. The average life expectancy for a multinational corporation Fortune 500 Company is less than 50 years. Many international NGOs are reaching that age. Those readers who are unwilling to contemplate a dramatic scenario should be at least asking some hard questions about the viability of today’s NGO business model.
