What are the specific accountability challenges for umbrella CSO organisations?

The Civil Society Accountability Toolkit gives specific attention to CSO umbrella organisations, recognising that their distinct structure requires specific accountability considerations.

Accountability to member organisations:

• Are member organisations involved in governance and decision-making?
• Do they have meaningful representation on your board or governing committee?
• Are you transparent about your finances, strategy, and activities to your members?
• Do you have a clear membership agreement and grievance process?

Accountability for the sector: Umbrella bodies can “play an important role in leading on accountability within the sector and supporting members to do the same.” You have a unique opportunity to model best practice and share tools and templates.

Umbrella organisations in T&T are in a strong position to drive NAF adoption across the sector by championing it among their member organisations.