Rain is not Enough: Simple Principles for Strong Governance in African CSOs
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“You do not wait for the rain before you sharpen your hoe.” – African proverb
Across africa, civil society organisations (CSOs) are doing important work, helping people, speaking up for justice, improving lives but many of these organisations face big challenges. There is never enough money, staff are overworked, and communities are depending on them more than ever. In such times, good leadership and strong boards are not just helpful, they are necessary. A board of directors should help guide the organisation, make important decisions, and support the staff but this only works when the board is active, committed, and understands its role. Passion is good, but it is not enough.
Many African CSOs invite people to join their boards just because they are passionate or because they are respected elders, friends, or donors. While love for the cause is important, it cannot carry the organisation alone. Think of it like planting a community farm. Passion is like the rain, it helps the crops grow but without good planning, strong tools, and people who know how to farm well, rain alone will not give you a good harvest. A board must bring more than feelings. it must bring skills, responsibility, and direction.
Three Principles for Strong Boards
- Clear roles and shared responsibility: Every member of the board should understand what their job is, like knowing your role in a family or your task on a farm. Do you look after the finances? Are you advising on programmes? Are you helping raise funds? Board members should, attend meetings regularly, know their responsibilities (legal and financial), be honest and open and help the organisation stay on the right path. If someone is not doing their part, they must be held accountable. A family cannot thrive if one person eats but refuses to cook or clean.
- Diversity is a Strength: In african tradition, wisdom comes from the whole community, not just one person. A good board should include people of different backgrounds, ages, genders, and skills. Youth voices, elders, people from the communities served, everyone brings something valuable. If a CSO serves women in rural Guinea, but all the board members are men from the capital city, something is wrong. Diverse boards make better decisions because they see issues from many angles. Just like a strong compound has farmers, traders, elders, and youth all playing their part, an effective board needs many types of wisdom.
- Prepare for the Future: Many african csos struggle when a founder leaves or a long-serving chair steps down. This is often because there was no plan for leadership transition. Every board must think about the future, who will take over key roles? are we mentoring younger board members? And is knowledge being passed on? This is like preparing your farm before the rainy season. You do not wait for rain to fall before clearing the land or fixing your tools. Planning ahead avoids chaos.
Governance is a Two-Way Street
A good board-organisation relationship is like a good marriage or strong family, it requires commitment from both sides.
- The Organisation’s Role: Must support board members with clear information, regular updates, and requests for help when needed. They should also speak up if board members are not doing their part.
- The Board Member’s Role: Must stay active, ask questions, and step aside if they can no longer contribute. Sitting on a board should not be for show, it is work. if you are too busy or distracted, it is better to leave than to block progress.
The Board as a Community FarmImagine a community farm in an African village. It is not just a piece of land, it is life. Everyone depends on it. The board of a CSO is like the council of elders or heads of households who come together to make decisions about the farm, what crops to grow, how to share water, who tends which plot, and how to prepare for the next season. If this group works well, the whole village eats. If they fail to plan or act, hunger follows.
Passion is like rain, essential, life-giving, but not reliable on its own. It may fall, or it may not. Passion without planning won’t feed anyone.
Clear roles are like farming tools, you cannot dig with your hands forever. Every board member must know their role and do their part from managing finances to overseeing programmes, just like each farmer must know when and where to plant.
Diversity is like planting different crops, maize, cassava, groundnuts, okra. If one fails, the others still provide food. A good board includes a mix of voices, youth and elders, men and women, urban professionals and rural leaders to survive and adapt to any season.
Succession is like saving seeds for the next season, if you eat all the harvest and forget to plan for tomorrow, you will have nothing to plant. Boards must think ahead, prepare the next generation, and pass on knowledge before it is too late. If the elders do not plan well or stop showing up, the farm fails. But when everyone works together, the farm feeds the whole community, even during hard times.
Boards that Lead with Purpose
Serving on a board in Africa is not about titles, prestige, or being seen at public events. It is about service, wisdom, and long-term commitment to collective well-being. A board member is not just an overseer, they are a steward, like the elder who ensures the family compound remains secure, or the farmer who prepares the land not just for today’s harvest, but for future generations.
Just like the village farm depends on thoughtful leadership from the elders, a civil society organisation relies on its board for guidance, protection, and vision. When the board is strong, active, and clear in its purpose, the organisation stays focused, manages resources wisely, and adapts to changing conditions. But when boards are absent, confused about their role, or only symbolic, even the most passionate staff will struggle to keep the organisation afloat.
A purpose-driven board, leads with intention, not ego, listens deeply to the needs of the community and staff, guides rather than controls, prepares the ground for new leaders to grow.
In times of crisis, whether financial, political, or operational, a strong board acts like a baobab tree, steady, deep-rooted, and providing shelter. It helps the organisation not only survive the storm but emerge stronger.
When we invest in our boards, we invest in the future of our organisations and our communities. Boards that lead with purpose make the difference between temporary impact and lasting transformation. If your board is active, diverse, and thinking ahead, your organisation will not only survive, it will thrive and continue planting seeds of justice, equity, and hope across the continent.
5 Questions Every Board Should Ask
To spark reflection, consider these 5 Questions Every Board Should Ask Today:
- Do we have a clear and up-to-date understanding of our responsibilities?
- Are we truly representative of the communities we serve?
- How well are we supporting the executive team?
- Are we planning ahead for leadership transitions?
- Do we regularly assess and strengthen our governance practices?
Useful Tools and Resources
Strengthen your governance with these practical guides:
- Effective Board Governance for Civil Society Organisations – WACSI
- Effective NGO Governance – Peace Corps
- 10 Social Impact Tips for Start-up CSOs – WACSI
- Français – 10 conseils pour augmenter l’impact social
- Français – Comment Améliorer votre Efficacité Organisationnelle
About the author
Charles Kojo Vandyck is a dynamic development practitioner and thought leader who is driving transformative change within civil society. As a Founding Member of the prestigious International Consortium on Closing Civic Space (iCon), spearheaded by the renowned Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Charles is at the forefront of transforming citizen participation worldwide. With positions as a Trustee of INTRAC and an Advisory Board Member of Disrupt Development, he is shaping the future from Oxford to Amsterdam. Charles's remarkable contributions continue as a Core Team Member of the game-changing Reimagining INGOs (RINGO) initiative and as the Head of the Capacity Development Unit at the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI). Recognised by the Development Studies Association, Charles is also a certified Change the Game Academy Master Trainer and an IFC-Learning and Performance Institute Trainer. Prepare to be inspired by Charles as he paves the way for a more resilient, sustainable, and empowered civil society.
