NGOs often excel at high quality delivery on-the-ground. Yet a common criticism is that NGO struggle to scale. How can NGOs better scale with and through government systems? 

Our work at Youth Impact has tried to connect the dots between high-quality execution on the ground with large-scale policy ambitions by governments. A clear lesson from our work is that NGOs are an essential part of improving government systems. But NGOs need to work differently – they need to operate within the system rather than operate in isolation. NGOs, when connected to the system, can demonstrate success, spark the system into action, and provide a site for ongoing innovation and learning. Consider an analogy: balancing the boat. 

Balancing the Boat

Caption: Bangka the Iconic Outrigger of the Philippines

The boat in this picture is a traditional boat from the Philippines called a “Bangka”, which balances particularly well even in choppy open waters. The boat’s main body resembles a canoe, with bamboo extensions on either side, called “katig”. These boats in many ways symbolize the symbiotic relationship between NGOs and the government. 

The government acts as the body of the boat – providing stability, direction and essential infrastructure. But the main structure is unable to navigate the waters alone. The flexible bamboo arms offer support, helping to keep the boat on course. And when there are rougher waters, the bamboo arms are especially crucial to maintain balance. Turbulence doesn’t just strike on the choppy seas; turbulence also strikes seemingly stable governments – despite being large bureaucracies, governments are often buffeted by political winds, requiring balance and support to maintain continuity and connection over time.

These two parts of the boat — the body and the arms — are not separate or working in isolation; they are intertwined, moving in tandem. 

Our approach to “balancing the boat”: a few principles and examples

The question is “not whether to work with governments for enduring impact but how”. Over the past decade, we have built partnerships with five national governments and dozens of subnational governments. Some principles have emerged that guide our work:

Just as the katig helps stabilize and guide the bangka through changing waters, NGOs can play several specific supporting roles alongside government systems. We think of these roles as the “3 Ss”: (a) Spark the system through demonstration effects and showing what is possible (b) Support the system by providing ongoing needed balance and (c) Study the system by systematically improving and optimizing programs for maximum scalability.

• Spark: Like the katig helps the boat gain momentum and move forward, NGOs can help spark the system by demonstrating what is possible and building early momentum for change.

  
  

By “spark”, we mean demonstrating early success and showing that a new approach can work within the government system. Early demonstration sites can build confidence among teachers, school leaders, and government officials, and help create champions who drive wider adoption. In the Philippines, hands-on NGO support in Puerto Princesa enabled the municipality to become an early demonstration site for delivering mobile educational tutoring (called mEducation in the Philippines) and to become a regional leader in the Mimaropa region. The quick and visible improvement in children’s learning helped build strong local ownership and leadership. As a result, other School Division Offices have visited Puerto Princesa to learn from the approach, and the region now serves as a benchmark for what is possible within the government system. In this way, early demonstration sites can help spark broader system change.

• Support: Just as the katig helps keep the boat balanced when the waters are rough, NGOs can help keep programs on course as leadership, priorities, and conditions change.

  
  

By “support,” we mean providing ongoing technical and operational support that helps government programs maintain quality and continuity over time. Government systems often face staff turnover, shifting priorities, and resource constraints, and consistent technical support can help programs continue despite these challenges. For example, in Botswana there have been six Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Basic Education over just a few years. By embedding field teams in regional offices for a national scale-up of a Teaching at the Right Level education reform and supporting local mentoring and monitoring personnel, NGOs can help maintain continuity in program delivery despite leadership changes. This ongoing support helps ensure that implementation continues steadily even during periods of transition. NGOs help provide stability and continuity so programs can survive political and administrative changes.

• Study: Just as small adjustments to the boat’s direction can help it reach its destination more efficiently, NGOs can help governments study and improve programs to make them more scalable and cost-effective.

  
  

By “study,” we mean systematically testing and improving program models so they can be delivered more efficiently and effectively at scale. This often involves testing operational changes to understand what works best in real-world government systems. For example, in Botswana, we have run dozens of A/B tests, reducing program costs substantially, making programs more scalable and facilitating widespread government adoption. In the Philippines, we collaborated with the Department of Education and the World Bank to study a flagship policy reform prior to scale-up. Ongoing experimentation and learning can help governments improve programs, and understand their impact in real-time, as they scale. In this way, NGOs can help to serve as “learning labs” with government partners.

For lasting change we need to balance the boat 

Across countries and contexts, one lesson is clear: improving outcomes at scale can’t be done by any single actor. Governments offer reach, infrastructure, and guidelines. NGOs – when they spark, support, and study – bring inspiration, targeted and flexible support, and leveraged R&D. The partnership, when designed deliberately, can be greater than the sum of its parts.

When government and NGO work in tandem, they can better navigate the complex and choppy waters of successful scale-up.