1

“Supporting citizens against corruption”

Strategic Plan 2010-14

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Table of Contents

Page
Purpose …………………………………………………………………. 3

Background and Context………………………………………………… 3

 PTF’s Role
 PTF’s Track Record
 PTF’s International Experience
 PTF Vision and Mission
 Categories of Projects that PTF Supports
 PTF Delivery Systems for Grants and Technical Assistance
 Evaluation of PTF’s Impact

The Strategic Planning Process ………………………………………… 7

Strengths, Weaknesses and Risks, Opportunities and Challenges ……... 8

Critical Strategic Issues ………………………………………………… 9

A. What is PTF’s unique niche?
B. Which project type, grant size and ‘delivery model’ should be preferred?
C. Should PTF expand and if so what are the constraints?
D. How can PTF increase and diversify its sources of funding?
E. How can PTF’s governance structure be strengthened?
F. How can PTF become more effective in monitoring projects and surfacing and
sharing lessons learned from projects?

Strategic Goals (strategies, actions, responsibilities, dates, resources)..15

1. Growth and Focus :– Five Year Financials
2. Support of PTF’s Volunteer Advisers, Members and Staff
3. Financial Resources and Development
4. Governance and Evaluation
5. Systems and Knowledge Sharing
6. Communications

Appendix
 Organization Chart
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Purpose
This purpose of this paper is to provide the PTF Board of Directors with a comprehensive
presentation of the organization's prospective strategies and to secure the Board's
approval so that the new Strategic Plan can become operational. To this end, the paper
identifies and analyses the options available to PTF, considers its strengths and
weaknesses, defines a set of goals and actions for each key strategic area with deadlines
and proposes Board and management responsibilities for their achievement.
Background and Context
PTF’s Role

Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF)1 was started in 2000 to explore, support and
promote new modalities to meet civil society’s demand for good governance. Improved
governance - greater accountability, responsiveness to citizens and transparency and
honesty in the use of public resources - is seen as critical to achieving improved
development outcomes.

PTF is a not-for profit corporation registered in New York State consisting of 25-30
Members who elect a Board of Directors and appoint a Board Chair. The Board in turn
appoints new Members as needed, a President, Secretary and Treasurer and various
committees to help manage its business. All positions are subject to fixed terms.

PTF provides grants and technical assistance to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that
work to improve transparency and accountability of public agencies. PTF seeks CSO
grantees that are in the front line in generating an internal demand for better governance.
PTF supports projects that give voice to civil society, demonstrate the value of
constructive partnerships between government and civil society, and result in capacity
building through action learning. PTF recognizes that for civil society to play a key role
in holding governments accountable to their public, CSOs must be, and be seen to be,
financially independent both from government and from other powerful vested interests,
including the major donors and international financial institutions (IFIs).2 PTF grants help
make this possible because it is independent, represents no vested interests whatsoever,
and is a minor player posing no threat to public authorities.

PTF’s Track Record

Since it was set up in 2000, PTF has established a strong track record, making more than
150 grants for a total commitment of around $3 million of which 90 per cent has been
disbursed (see Table 1 for data on grants and Annex 1(Pierre are we going to include the
list of projects?) for the list of projects that PTF has supported). The number of grant
approvals has rapidly expanded in recent years with 36 grants awarded in 2009 and a
target of some 40 grants in 2010. The average grant size has remained relatively constant

1
. PTF is registered in New York State as a not-for-profit company with charitable status
2
This need not exclude some government funding provided it is a minor part of the CSO’s funding and does not
compromise the independence of the CSO.
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in nominal terms and declined in real terms. Average grant size in 2009 was US$23,646,
roughly the same as in 2001. About two-thirds of PTF financing has been for projects that
focus on reducing corruption in public sector service delivery, with the remainder for
projects supporting media campaigns, corruption surveys, and legislative work.

PTF’s International Experience

PTF draws on exceptional international experience. Its Chair is Anabel Cruz from
Uruguay, the President/CEO is from the UK and the Secretary and Treasurer are from the
USA. PTF’s Board Directors come from countries across the world -- currently
Bangladesh, Germany, Holland, India, Kenya, Russia, and USA, the UK, and Uruguay –
all with exceptional experience in both running civil society organizations and in
managing development aid. As required by law, PTF appoints Members, who elect the
Board Directors; the Members and Advisers are even more diverse than the Directors.

PTF’s Vision and Mission

PTF has recently conducted an extensive exercise to think through its vision and mission.
PTF’s vision is:

“Citizens succeed in making their government free of corruption”

PTF’s mission is:

“Partnership for Transparency Fund mobilizes expertise and resources to provide

advice and small grants to civil society organizations to engage citizens in actions to
remove corruption in the public sector. PTF strives to support innovative approaches,
learn from its work, and share the knowledge gained.”

Categories of Projects that PTF Support

PTF has two complementary activities: (1) making small grants to CSOs to fund anti-
corruption projects; and (2) providing experienced specialist advice sharing good
practice. PTF operates as a challenge fund inviting qualified CSOs to submit project
proposals that must: (i) be a specific set of time-bound activities designed to have a direct
impact on corruption; (ii) involve direct interaction with public agencies and/or be part of
a media campaign against corruption; and (iii) as far as possible have a measurable and
sustainable outcome. PTF selects less than one in four of the grant concept notes it
receives, and then works extensively with the applicants to strengthen project design in
the preparation of their grant proposals. In selecting projects to support, PTF looks for
projects that innovate, are tightly focused, have a credible chance of having some real,
identifiable and sustainable impact on corruption and that have the potential for
replicability

PTF views the provision of expert advice to underpin its grant funding as the most
valuable component of its activities. PTF operates through a network of development
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specialists who are highly experienced in governance work and willing to contribute their
knowledge and expertise as unpaid volunteers. These ‘staff’ and ‘Advisers’ evaluate,
manage and monitor PTF’s grants and activities. The Advisers donate their own office
resources for their work. Advisers may visit CSOs, often as an extension of other
business travel. Their activities are coordinated by Advisers who serve as regional co-
ordinators.

CSO projects supported by PTF have fallen into one of seven categories:

• Monitoring of public contracts for procurement, public auctions for the sale of
public assets, and privatization of public companies;
• Public expenditure tracking and initiatives to strengthen systems of financial
accountability;
• Monitoring service delivery (e.g. school text book distribution, public health
service delivery, public works, etc.);

• Monitoring activities of public agencies related to transparency and

accountability; (e.g. official anti-corruption offices, citizens’ charters, and the
protection of whistle blowers)
• Contributing to the preparation of draft legislation and regulations related to
fighting corruption and the regulation of party political financing;
• Promoting transparent government (e.g. freedom of information laws);
• Media campaigns and strengthening the in-country capacity for investigative
journalism to expose corruption and ensure maximum transparency and
accountability in the use of public funds

PTF’s website (www.PTFund.org) provides details of the projects which PTF has
supported, as well as the criteria for initial appraisal of requests; and the evaluation of
completed projects, together with full background information about PTF and its
operational guidelines. These guidelines have been recently revised and will guide our
grant giving activities over the period of the Plan. We will continue to focus on the areas
listed above.

PTF’s Delivery Systems for Grants and Technical Assistance

PTF has established a credible delivery system to achieve its mission. Initially, PTF
operated across the world without intermediaries, identifying, appraising, and then
assisting its partner CSOs to ensure a project is well conceived and based on best
practice. Once a grant agreement is signed, PTF monitors implementation and finally
arranges in as many cases as possible for an independent evaluation to review project
implementation and assess outcomes and impact.

While we have continued this ‘delivery model’ in a number of countries, we have

increasingly recognized that PTF needs better local knowledge and have therefore
systematically explored ways to work with local partners. In 2006 PTF established a
partnership with a Uruguayan NGO, Instituto de Comunicación y Desarrollo (ICD), to
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launch a new initiative called FONTRA in the southern cone countries of South America,
based on the PTF model. ICD manages a Regional Fund for the Promotion of
Transparency, FONTRA, to which PTF contributes and also provides the technical
expertise and oversight. FONTRA has received funding from IADB’s Multilateral
Investment Fund and from private companies. This arrangement terminates at the end of
2010.

PTF has been experimenting with other delivery mechanisms, building on its experience
with FONTRA, and to seek opportunities to create a critical mass of CSO interventions in
selected countries. As a result PTF currently employs four delivery models:

Model 1. PTF makes direct grants to credible CSOs who submit project proposals that
meet our criteria relating to objectives and design without involving any local
management partners – the original approach.

Model 2. FONTRA/ICD.

Model 3. PTF works through a local partner to jointly mount a program supporting CSOs
in a particular region. In this case PTF secures the funding, is responsible for its
administration and evaluates the grant proposals. The local partner helps identify and
assess the competence, suitability and bona fide of the applicants, and helps appraise,
monitor and evaluate projects, based on its comparative advantage of geographic
proximity and local knowledge of the CSO sector. PTF provides technical advice to the
local partner and management oversight. In South Asia, PTF is partnering very
successfully with the Public Affairs Centre3 (PAC) in Bangalore.

Model 4. PTF works through a local partner to jointly mount a program supporting CSOs
in a particular country. The aim would be to support complementary and potentially
reinforcing CSO projects in a single country with a view to achieving a critical mass to
make a significant impact on corruption. PTF’s role would be similar to Model 3. PTF
has successfully piloted this arrangement in the Philippines and Uganda.

Evaluation of PTF’s Impact

PTF has been the subject of two independent evaluations, the first by Alexander Shakow
in early 20054 on behalf of UNDP and the second by Catherine Gwin and Silvia Saborio
in 20085 on behalf of the World Bank. Both evaluations were highly favorable. Shakow
concluded that PTF had evolved a sound business model to support small but often
important anti-corruption projects. Gwin and Saborio found that 85 percent of PTF
supported projects had been successfully carried out and that the planned activities and a
majority had achieved the outcomes sought. Overall the impact was assessed as
significant; in some cases both measured and very substantial. In addition, an informal
3
See www.pacindia.org
4
An Evaluation of the Partnership for Transparency Fund (2000-2004) by Alexander Shakow, March 2005.
5
Fighting Corruption and Promoting Transparency in the Public Sector: An Independent Evaluation of the
Partnership for Transparency Fund By Catherine Gwin and Sylvia Saborio, May 2008.
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internal assessment of 47 projects in 2006 concluded that over 60% achieved a moderate
to significant impact6. However, the absence so far of any systematic measurement of
impact has led recently to PTF establishing a more concerted effort to derive more robust
measures of impact7 through better monitoring and evaluation. This will be carried
forward during the period of the Plan.

Although project completion reports contain anecdotal incidents of successful outcomes

we can only truly know whether PTF is succeeding in its mission to reduce corruption if
we have in place a robust monitoring and evaluation arrangements. In practice we have
found that the impact of the projects PTF supports is often hard to measure. Some have
had outstanding success with measurable ‘savings’ of public funds as was the case of the
Karachi Water and sewerage Project (some US$3 million saved on a contract originally
estimated at US$8 million), or US$1 – 2 million saved on the distribution of school text
books in the Philippines or action to stop toxic pollution in some mining areas in
Mongolia. But the majority of projects deliver less obvious benefits in terms of reduced
corruption – for example, projects that have raised awareness (e.g. YSD or CUTS in
India) or introduced a code of ethics (e.g. Mongolia judiciary). It has been PTF’s
intention that PTF’s project M&E should start with well defined goals, activities, and
outputs that can lead to measurable, or at least identifiable, impact. To achieve this
objective, PTF has required each grantee to put in place a logframe or results framework
that clearly identifies each of these elements. The grantees are then required to produce
quarterly progress reports and a final completion report which assesses both outputs and
impact by reference to the logframe/results framework. In a large sample of completed
projects, PTF then arranges for an independent Project Completion Assessment.

The independent evaluations made clear, and PTF has accepted, the need to: (i) put in
place a core administration less dependent on volunteers; (ii) develop local partnerships
to enable PTF to benefit from enhanced local knowledge of the CSO sector, and (iii)
make greater efforts to share the lessons of experience among grantees and advisers. To
implement these recommendations and reinforce PTF’s core management, in January
2009 PTF appointed a Chief Operations Officer who receives a monthly honorarium.
Financial management and key administrative services are contracted out on an hourly
basis.

PTF staff and advisors have increasingly shared project successes and this has helped
them to guide CSOs to strengthen project proposals. Due to administrative constraints,
this process has been somewhat ad hoc.

The Strategic Planning Process

PTF’s activities have been guided by a five year Business Plan that was approved by the
Board in 2007. Since then there has been a considerable expansion in PTF’s activities
beyond that envisaged in the business plan made possible by a five year £2 million GTF

6
Partnership for Transparency Fund, Secretary’s Report to 15th Board Meeting, December 2006
7
PTF has established a M&E working group led by William Eckert
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grant from UK DFID in 2008 and World Bank DGF Window 1 support in the form of an
annual grant of US$400,000. Also, the World Bank DGF provided a US$150,000 grant to
undertake a study of the Bank’s support for the demand for good governance. In addition,
very recently the Japanese Social Development Fund has approved a US$3 million grant
to fund third party monitoring of selected World Bank projects in South Asia.
These growth opportunities pose an exceptional challenge to PTF’s business model
which depends mainly on volunteers. The purpose of this document is to lay out the
options now facing PTF, assess its strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities,
challenges and risks, and recommend a new Strategic Plan for the five year period 2010
to 2014.

As a first step, PTF management team submitted a Strategic Plan Issues Paper to its
Board in April 2010 identifying the key questions that the Strategic Plan needed to
address. The Board established a Strategic Plan Working Group8 with the responsibility
of conducting wide consultations with stakeholders. An extensive first round of
consultations was held via PTF’s ‘basecamp’ internet site9. Subsequently, a first draft
Strategic Plan was prepared. The Working Group then held a one-day consultation
meeting in Washington DC on June 26 at which the draft Plan was discussed. This
revised version takes account of the inputs from the June 26 meeting.

Strengths, Weaknesses and Risks, Opportunities and Challenges

Taking into account PTF’s independent evaluations, PTF’s main strengths are seen to be:

• Independent – enabling it to constantly hold true to its vision and mission;

• Transparent in its governance with a Board and Membership drawn from women
and men of outstanding development experience from across the world;
• Exceptionally experienced and diverse professional management group;
• Small, fast, flexible and free from bureaucracy;
• Able to mobilize a unique cadre of highly experienced and dedicated volunteers
• Ability to combine flexible funding with high quality technical advice via its
unique access to expertise available from its cadre of experienced volunteers at
almost no cost;
• Capable of financing small-scale and innovative activities;
• Able to fund local CSOs without the ‘political baggage’ of the large official
funders that may be seen to compromise the independence of the CSO;
• Willingness to work with small and relatively inexperienced CSOs;
• Willingness to take risks;
• Very low overheads (under10% to date) by reliance on expert volunteers;
• A remarkable track record in terms of project implementation success rate.

The following have been PTF’s main weaknesses and areas of risk:

8
The Working Group included: Pierre Landell-Mills (leader), Vinay Bhargava, Daniel Ritchie, Catherine
Stevulak, Gerry van der Linden, and Frank Vogl. The WG subsequently co-opted Jeff Kass.
9
https://ptf.basecamphq.com/login
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• Unsure medium and longer term funding;

• Inadequate local knowledge and insufficient site visits with one-on-one contact
with grantees;
• Insufficient liaison with other donors at country level;
• Insufficient flexible core funds for development, administration, communications;
• Too great a country spread; but at the same time PTF has had too few projects in
Africa
• Reliance on volunteers for core implementation functions; this is mostly an area
of strength, but also a managerial challenge as volunteers sometimes fail to
deliver and there are strict limits to the demands that can be placed on volunteers;
• Too little sharing of experience among grantees and advisers and insufficient
dissemination of lessons learnt;
• PTF is insufficiently well known ( notably in the development/anti-corruption
field and among potential sources of funding) - PTF’s communications and
dissemination performance has been poor; and
• Insufficient independent project completion assessments.

A major challenge faced by PTF is to adapt to the evolving international development

context. In particular, recent efforts to spread the message about the importance of
supporting the ‘demand for good governance’ have been so successful that official donors
are now flooding the ‘market’ with funding without having a coherent ‘harmonized’
strategy for this new type of activity. This is having two negative consequences. First, in
a number of countries the ‘demand for good governance’ coming from CSOs is now
being donor driven and CSOs are being established to tap into donor largesse by
opportunistic local ‘social entrepreneurs’ who view this aid as a source of income and
employment, but have no strong commitment to take risks to fight corruption. Second,
aid in this area is becoming bureaucratized in the same way as other official development
assistance, encouraging recipient country public officials to develop strategies to
undermine the goals of the ‘demand for good governance’ approach. This development
presents PTF with both a new opportunity. In responding PTF needs to be very clear
about its niche and to focus its efforts in ways that exploit its comparative advantage
derived from its strengths listed above. In this context, PTF needs to keep abreast of in-
country donor dialogue on supporting CSOs in demanding good governance.

Critical Strategic Issues

Critical issues were surfaced during the strategic planning process. The planning process
evaluated options for each issue in order to determine the best direction for PTF.

A. What is PTF’s unique niche?

B. Which project type, grant size and ‘delivery model’ should be preferred?
C. Should PTF expand and if so can it ensure that its progress is not undermined by
management and administration constraints and what should its geographic focus
be?
D. How can PTF increase and diversify its sources of funding?
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E. How can PTF’s governance structure be strengthened to enable the Board and
Membership to play fuller roles?
F. How can PTF become more effective in monitoring projects and surfacing and
sharing lessons learned from projects?

A. What is PTF’s unique niche? PTF’s grant making experience comprises a range of
projects, geography and a variety of CSOs. It is important to define the areas in which
PTF can contribute uniquely (or more effectively than other players) in supporting civil
society in fighting corruption. And, it is important to develop criteria that will help PTF
determine when it is appropriate to support other types of activities that will help PTF
achieve its vision.

1. Going forward, PTF will maintain a tight focus on its core mission – assisting
CSOs to fight corruption. PTF will not try to tackle broader governance
issues, but rather keep corruption firmly in its sights. PTF will not limit its
support to poor countries, nor will it adopt poverty alleviation as one of its
goals, even though it is clear that reducing corruption is central both to
achieving better governance and to reducing poverty.

2. In addition, PTF in appropriate circumstances will use its competencies to

support other activities that contribute to achieving its vision. For example,
the decision in 2009 to undertake a study to assist the World Bank to help
define the Bank’s role in supporting the demand for good governance allows
PTF to contribute its experience in this area. PTF will thus be prepared to
undertake special projects so long as they fit well within its vision and
mission. In taking on these assignments PTF may hire consultants using donor
funding ear-marked for this purpose.

More broadly, PTF has generated considerable institutional knowledge and

experience of how CSOs may be assisted and encouraged to fight corruption
and this knowledge provides a basis for it to take on research assignments or
even propose research studies to funders. So doing will help enhance PTF’s
institutional capacity, raise its profile and further enrich its knowledge base.
(In each case where PTF is invited to take on a new such assignment, it will
need to examine carefully the risks and burdens this may impose with
negative impact on its central mission relative to the perceived benefits.)

Note: PTF will seek to maintain a bias in favor of its ‘core’ business to ensure that
special projects do not overwhelm its capacity to the detriment of its ‘core’ business.
PTF will also ensure that it only takes on special programs that are both fully funded in
terms of their management and contribute positively to PTF’s core overheads.

B. Which project type, grant size and ‘delivery model’ should be preferred?
Demand side proposals for PTF grants have been increasing in number in recent years
and opportunities for supply side projects are growing as PTF becomes more visible. In
this environment it is essential for PTF to select the project types most deserving of
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support, to determine the appropriate grant size and to choose the most effective delivery
model to employ in order to maximize reduction in corruption.

1. Project Type and Grant Size. PTF will sharply concentrate on proposals
that clearly identify the corrupt acts to be targeted and that propose actions to stop
those acts. PTF’s experience points to a preferred project design where the focus
is on a specific instance or type of corruption and proceeds from analysis to
diagnosis to identifying specific measures likely to reduce the corruption in
question. PTF believes that working constructively with pro-reform officials is
likely to have a more significant and lasting impact on corruption than
confrontation after corruption has occurred. In future, PTF will be guided by these
considerations in working with CSO grant applicants to develop credible
proposals; this would not rule out focused media campaigns judged likely to have
a significant impact.

2. PTF is uniquely specialized in managing small grants with large outcomes

and impact. PTF will now progressively raise the average size of the grants from
an average of $25,000 over the past three years to $50,000 in 2014 and continue
to provide a high level of technical assistance. This will mean supporting more
substantial projects which may extend over two years compared to the current
goal of one year and actual experience of 18 months and thereby further reduce
the costs of grant administration. Where feasible PTF will support follow-up
grants to successful projects designed to carry forward the achievements of the
first grant and consolidate the results with reinforcing actions.

3. Delivery Models. PTF, while continuing to employ the various delivery

models discussed above, will emphasize Model 4, the single country model with
local partner, where feasible. That combines the administrative simplicity of
Model 1 (where PTF makes direct grants to CSOs without local assistance) with
the advantages of drawing on the knowledge of the local partner. Although the
arrangement with PAC has been categorized as Model 3 (regional partner), in
practice it is much closer to Model 4 as the vast bulk of the projects are in India.
A weakness of the PAC arrangement, compared to Model 1, has been that PTF’s
expert advisers have not engaged directly with the grantees; in filtering our advice
through the local intermediary, the impact of the PTF Advisers has been diluted.
This outcome is not satisfactory to either the grantee who could gain considerably
from direct contact with the PTF Adviser or the Adviser who misses the hands on
experience. This problem will be addressed by changing the procedures relating to
the Advisers’ input. The great advantage of Model 4 is that the local partner is
genuinely local with the specialist local knowledge that that implies. It is also
more cost effective; travel outside a single country generally adds considerably to
the cost. Consequently, this is the preferred model for the future, implying greater
geographical concentration and hence greater selectivity in the countries where
PTF will work.
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C. Should PTF expand and if so what are the constraints? PTF has a number of scale
options ranging from consolidation at the current level of activity to significant growth.
PTF faces some significant constraints that could limit growth. And, growth has
implications for the management of PTF. PTF’s operations span a broad group of
countries today; going forward it is important to have criteria to guide PTF’s
geographical balance and selection of countries.

1. Growth. As PTF has grown, its management and delivery system has
been challenged; it must be adapted to deal effectively with a range of risks
related to due diligence that could put into question the quality of our grants and
the effective oversight of their implementation.10 Accordingly, it is suggested that
PTF aim in the period of the strategic plan for a doubling of grant giving
activities. This assumes an average grant size of US$34,000 permitting us to
make around 50 grants a year. This would fund 10 country programs and require
30 Advisers. There would be US$300,000 available to meet the costs of
management and the administrative overheads and other program activities,
supplemented as before by the special programs. This would fund a full time
CEO, an administrative assistant, and a part time Finance Manager. When
adequate funds become available, PTF will begin to expand beyond the currently
proposed doubling to a level consistent with its capacity to ensure quality results.

2. In expanding our activities, PTF will simultaneously seek funding to allow

the hiring of more core management capacity and dedicated program staff. In
taking on new programs outside of its ‘core’ mission, PTF will ensure that they do
not detract from the efficient delivery of ongoing commitments.

3. PTF will continue to operate primarily as a ‘virtual’ organization.

Communications are by email or Voice-Over-Internet at low cost to the
organization. Board meetings and the annual members meeting all take place by
teleconference. PTF’s documents, facilities and activities are disseminated
through the internet (www.PTFund.org, basecamp and googlepages) and by links
to other websites concerned with corruption. We plan to keep it that way.
Nonetheless, face-to-face meetings of Advisers and staff are important to build
commitment to a shared culture and we will continue to make use of meeting
space provided for this purpose through our partnership with Results for
Development Institute.

4. Geographic balance. As PTF moves forward, an extra effort will be made

to develop country programs in selected African countries – Cameroon, Ghana,

10
For the purposes of analysis three scenarios were considered: 1) consolidation at the
present level of activities; 2) modest growth (a doubling of grant giving activities); and 3)
a leap to a larger organization with a five-fold increase in grant giving activities (i.e. $5
million per year). Historically 10% of the budget has been available for allocation to
management and overheads, but even with the strong emphasis on volunteer support that
percentage will need to grow in order for PTF to continue to be effective.
 13

Uganda, Zambia, and possibly Kenya seem promising candidates – selected

mostly on the basis of our experience to date and the prospects of greater success
in these countries than elsewhere.11

5. Criteria for the selection of country programs. So far PTF has country
programs in Uganda, the Philippines, India and Nepal and Mongolia. These have
emerged as the countries of concentration in response to demand and good
performance. Thus, the countries of concentration are partly self-selected and
partly because the circumstances in the countries have been supportive. In future,
the selection of countries of concentration will be based on the following factors:
1) favorable conditions for local CSOs to work with public agencies in
strengthening procedures that make corruption less likely; 2) the identification of
a strong local partner (individual or CSO) who can provide reliable local support;
3) the availability of sufficient competent and reliable potential grantees; and 4)
geographical spread.

D. How can PTF increase and diversify its sources of funding? Funding is one of the
critical limiting factors to PTF’s growth. Currently, PTF’s funding is highly
concentrated with a small group of important funders and that funding will wind down
over the plan period. It is important for PTF to reduce its dependence on the World Bank
and UK DFID. PTF needs to replace current funding and in addition secure funding to
support growth and internal capacity building.

1. The challenge for PTF is to engage volunteers in fund-raising. Our goal is

to secure additional sources of funds and we will explore new ways to achieve
this goal. Our target for the next five years is to find at least three new significant
sources of funds; our Fund-raising Working Group is tasked with achieving this
target.

2. To strengthen the resource base it will be necessary to encourage Board

Directors and PTF Members to participate fully in building the networks and
outreach to a range of funders (a) development agencies; (b) foundations; (c)
corporations; (d) high net worth individuals.

3. PTF will also explore opportunities, consistent with its vision and mission
and its independence, to partner with others in joint ventures.

11
PTF has supported projects across the world, but with a focus on less developed and
transitional economies in response to the preferences of our main funders. Recently a
large proportion of PTF projects have been located in South Asia, Eastern Europe and the
FSU countries, and in East Asia. Taking into account FONTRA, then Latin America has
been well served, too, though the activities have been concentrated in the southern cone
countries at the request of IADB. The main gap has been Africa and the Middle East. In
both these areas CSOs are less well developed and the public agencies often give them
less space to play a role. There is almost no scope at present for PTF activities in Russia,
China or Vietnam for the same reason.
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E. How can PTF’s governance structure be strengthened?

PTF’s effectiveness depends on the engagement of its Members and volunteers. PTF
operates with limited staff in order to run a lean organization. PTF needs to continue to
increase the engagement and effectiveness of its volunteers from Advisors to Members to
Directors.

1. PTF has committed to continually increase the effectiveness of its Board

Directors, its Members and volunteers by providing them with more
ongoing information on developments, encouraging their participation in
strategic discussions via the website/basecamp, considering more meetings
that might focus on particular issues in addition to the twice yearly Board
meetings. Board Directors and other Members will be better utilized to
evaluate and resolve substantive policy issues, address issues of
sustainability and the risks of the business model and assist in fund
raising.

2. A new Nominations Committee has been established to strengthen the

identification of new Members and Board Directors, working towards an
ideal geographic and gender balance. Consideration will be given to the
introduction of term limits for Board Directors.12

3. A new Development Committee will be established to dedicate itself

principally to identifying new funding sources and to mobilize Directors,
Members and Volunteers to undertake energetic fund raising.

4. The Board will assign individual Directors and/or Members with specific
responsibilities for leading goal areas and for completing specific tasks
within the goal areas (e.g. Frank Vogl has been asked to take the lead for
PTF’s Communications Strategy)

5. The Audit and Governance Committee will pursue assessments on an

annual basis of the effectiveness of the Board and procedures.

F. How can PTF become more effective in monitoring projects and surfacing and
sharing lessons learned from projects? PTF needs to institutionalize project
monitoring, both internal by staff and advisors and that which utilizes external
evaluators. It is important for PTF to strengthen its processes to identify and
communicate lessons learned, which assists grantees and enhances PTF’s impact.

12
PTF has some 40 active volunteers of these 27 are retired World Bank staff. While this has advantages
of a close bond of trust, accepted working methods, and a common professional culture, it has obvious
disadvantages – of narrowness and image. PTF therefore plans to diversify this core cadre on which PTF so
heavily depends but without endangering its effectiveness. PTF will steadily expand the number of non-
Bank volunteers aiming especially to recruit those with a strong CSO background and to improve the
gender balance.
 15

1. An important goal of the plan is to ensure that robust processes are developed and
implemented for capturing project data and successes and making them readily
accessible. Virtual and in-person meetings of Advisers are also important on a
regular basis to continue to share experience and evaluate good practice and
obstacles. At the same time, PTF needs to focus on communicating successes to
the stakeholders.

2. PTF has recently strengthened its operational guidelines. So far these have been
only partially followed. In the period ahead special efforts will be undertaken to
strengthen its implementation.

Strategic Goals

Goal # 1: Growth and Focus

Based on the analysis of different growth scenarios set out above, PTF will seek funding
to make grants totaling $2 million by 2013 which would allow PTF to support 50 grants a
year and program $650,000 for other programs (partnerships, workshops, dissemination
and program support not provided for with the project budgets etc.) and $100,000 for
management and administration overheads. This assumes that most staff and related costs
will be covered under program support. For the longer-term PTF will explore the option
for order of magnitude growth– i.e. 5 times the current $1,000,000 in grants awarded to
CSOs and program supportA separate document to elaborate this possible growth
scenario will be developed by the working committee of the strategic plan in coordination
with the fund raising team.(see Goal # 3) The document is targeted for completion
03/31/11. It will explore the following key areas relative to the longer term order of
magnitude growth scenario:
(i) opportunities to partner with organizations developing alternative forms of
funding to include trust funds
(ii) opportunities to secure new World Bank support,
(iii) opportunities to secure support from new donors – foundations, corporations,
bilateral and multi-lateral donors and individuals of high net worth
(iv) the management model needed to support the organization’s substantially
larger grant dollars to be awarded
a. role of volunteers
b. role of paid staff
c. role of outsource vendors
(v) a road map to transition to the funding and management model that supports
the order of magnitude growth

Goal # 1: Growth
and Focus
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
South Asia (grants) 12 12 12 12 10
 16

East Asia (grants) 6 7 8 10 10

Africa (grants) 8 10 11 12 14
ECE and FSU 8 8 9 10 10
(grants)
LAC (grants) 1 3 4 6 6
Total grants 35 40 44 50 50
Amount ($) 940,000 1,040,000 1,350,000 1,700,000 2,000,000
From GTF 578,056 720,000 330,000
DGF 361,944 320,000
Other 1,020,000 1,700,000 2,000,000
(new)
Av. Grant size ($) 25,000 26,000 31,000 34,000 40,000

For 2011, PTF expects to receive $400,000 from the World Bank DGF and $940,000
from GTF. We will negotiate with the funders to allow PTF to engage in capacity
building involving hiring a full time CEO (for a salary around $80,000) and an
administrative assistant as well as a Finance Manager (on an hourly fee basis as at
present). In addition funding is projected to become available from the JSDF which will
support the proposed special program for local CSOs to monitor the implementation of
World Bank funded projects (The Program for Engaging the Poor in Good Governance
and Fighting Corruption in South Asia) which PTF has been asked to manage. This will
include a contribution to PTF overheads and administrative costs. At the same time a
major fund raising initiative will be launched to achieve the 2012 income target (see
below).

PTF will not accept any new programs without funding to meet the management and
administrative costs as well a contribution to core funding to ensure fully professional
management. Moreover, expansion will take place in way that does not compromise the
informal, flexible and non-bureaucratic way PTF business is conducted, which is
important in attracting and motivating our volunteers. All new initiatives must come with
fully adequate core funding including properly paid management.

Metrics: achievement of regional goals by year.

Dissemination of Experience and Knowledge Sharing

Activity 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Workshops 6 6 6 8 10
Seminars 1 1 2 2 3
Publications (1) 1 2 2 3
Amount (US$) 54,800 100,000 125,000 175,000 200,000
 17

Overall lead responsibility: President/CEO - Responsibility for achieving regional

goals: Regional coordinators

Goal # 2: Support of PTF Volunteer Advisers, Members and Staff

1. Composition of PTF’s Human Capital

The lion’s share of PTF’s human capital consists of volunteers. The Board, President &
CEO, Secretary and Treasurer, the Project Advisors who are in direct contact with the
CSOs that implement PTF-supported projects, the Regional Coordinators and Specialist
Advisors are all volunteers. PTF has been operating without full time paid staff and with
a minimum of outsourced services such as financial management, program management,
website management, and project completion assessment specialists provided by
independent contractors. As PTF continues to grow, careful consideration needs to be
given to whether or not the prevailing approach of relying almost exclusively on
volunteers will be sustainable in the longer-term. And if so, what would be a minimum of
paid staff or contractual service providers to optimize the PTF Volunteer resources?

2. Tasks and activities required to make PTF function

There are seven broad categories of tasks that need to be accomplished to make PTF
function effectively, namely:
1) PTF project portfolio management; 2) Targeted Volunteer Advisers Management; 3)
Financial management; 4) Updating and maintaining website, communications, data base
management & archives; 5) Reporting, Monitoring & Evaluation; 6) Support to Board
and Annual Members meetings; 7) Fund raising, Partnership Development, Networking
and Outreach.

The strategies and action plans outlined below are intended to link PTF’s human
capital with the activities that need to be accomplished to make PTF function
successfully as an organization with a distinct product.

Metrics: actions completed as scheduled

Goal # 2: Support of Completion Responsible

Volunteer Advisers, Members Date
and Staff
Strategy 1 Optimize Volunteer Advisers
a Build inventory of Volunteer Mar, 2011 Pietronella van
Advisors; develop plan to add den Oever/
advisors to fill skill gaps Sarah Drew
Strategy 2 Improve PTF systems and tools
to support Advisers
 18

a Develop terms of reference for March, 2011 Management

Volunteer Advisers, Regional Team
Coordinators
b Conduct a needs assessment March, 2011 Pietronella
amongst Advisers about tools /Sarah
and support Regional
Coordinators,
c Prepare “Induction Kit” for new Mar, 2011 PTF special task
Advisers, PTF affiliates force
d Develop PTF Advisor Dec, 2011 PTF Central Unit
information system (see Goal #
5) link advisors as appropriate
e Upgrade internal Dec, 2011 PTF Central Unit,
communications system for
Advisors and Management (see
Goal # 6)
Strategy 3 Develop tools and strategies to
support Advisers’ work
a Update Operational Manual and June, 2011, PTF special task
distribute ongoing force
Strategy 4 Streamline portfolio
management
a Update standards and deadlines Jan, 2011 PTF Central Unit,
for proposal responses, project with regional
criteria, due diligence Coordinators
Strategy 5 Establish a PTF staffing plan
a Determine which tasks can be Dec, 2010 Management
done by Volunteers, paid staff or Team
service providers.
b Develop organization structure Jan, 2011, Management
for paid staff: positions, ongoing Team
responsibilities
c Develop task requirements for Jan, 2011 Management
service providers Team

Overal lead responsibility: Pietronella van den Oever

Goal # 3: Financial Resources and Development

PTF needs to develop a dual-pronged fund raising strategy. Long term, PTF will explore
increasing its grant giving and funding substantially in order to support order of
magnitude growth – i.e. five times the annual $1,000,000 grant dollars awarded to CSOs
 19

for 2010. Short term, PTF needs to raise additional annual grant commitments to replace
World Bank DGF and UK DFID funding. Those additional grants will be needed to
provide a bridge until long term funding is committed.
In the short term, to meet the 2013 goal of doubling annual grant commitments to $2
million by 2013, the PTF will have to (i) diversify its sources of funding from its current
reliance on the World Bank and the United Kingdom, (ii) generate additional revenue of
$1.5 million in FY 12 from new sources, (iii) replace the WB and UK funding thereafter
with an additional $1.5 million annually, and (iv) ensure adequate funding for the core
operating budget of at least $250,000 by 2011.
To meet the longer term goal of $5,000,000 of annual grants awarded to CSOs, PTF will
have to (i) explore opportunities to partner with organizations developing alternative
forms of funding to include trust funds (ii) secure new World Bank support, (iii) secure
support from new donors – foundations, corporations, bilateral and multi-lateral donors
and individuals of high net worth.
There are four immediate priorities: (i) developing a strategy for fund raising that
considers the full range of options, (ii) identifying potential sources of funding for core
management activities, (iii) identifying a volunteer advisor and team to formulate a fund-
raising strategy, and (iv) initiating a program of person-to person contacts with potential
funders. In the intermediate term, the PTF should develop its capability to prepare
funding proposals geared to the interests of specific donors and maintain a regular watch
on resources becoming available for anti-corruption programs.

Metrics: Core funding of at least $250,000 available from 2011: at least $1.5 million in
additional revenue for grant-making obtained by 2012 and $2.0 million annually
thereafter; in-house capacity for fund-raising, grant proposal writing and monitoring of
opportunities developed by 2012.

Goal # 3: Financial
Resources and
Development
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible Resources
Date
#1: Provide Identify lead fund- Dec, 2010 Frank Vogl and
leadership on raising team Richard Stern
fundraising
# 2: Develop Draft a fund-raising Jan, 2011 Development Possible part
short term and strategy and action plan Committee time
long term fund for 2011-2013 and research
raising strategy beyond assistant
and action plan
#3: Obtain Identify and solicit Feb, 2011 Anabel Cruz, Dan
$250,000 potential sources of Ritchie, Frank,
annual core funding for core Richard
management funding and capacity
funds development
 20

Goal # 3: Financial
Resources and
Development
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible Resources
Date
#4: Fully Identify solicitation Feb, 2011 Anabel, Frank, Dan
engage the objectives for
Board in fund- individual Board
raising members with bilateral
aid agencies, high net
worth individuals,
foundations and the
private sector
# 5: Initiate Visit to Nordics, Start Jan, 2011 Anabel (Swedish $20,000 in
contacts with Netherlands, US-based SIDA, Norwegians travel costs
potential Foundations, private NORAD),
funders sector , and ADB. Knud Nielsen
(Danida),
Pietronella/Gerry
van der Linden
(Dutch),
Richard (Google,
Omidyar,
Rockefeller, OSI),
Steve Ettinger
(IDB)
Karti Sadilva&
Khalid Siraj (ADB)

# 6: Evaluate Develop a Concept Jan, 2011 Dan, Sarah,

opportunities Note for possible joint Nathaniel Heller of
for joint fund- fund-raising initiatives GI
raising efforts with Global Integrity
with partner and Results for
agencies Development Institute
# 7: Develop Recruit part-time staff Apr, 2011 Anabel, Dan $30,000
in-house fund- to draft proposals and salary for
raising capacity monitor opportunities half-time
for funding staff

Overall lead responsibility: Frank Vogl/Richard Stern

 21

Goal # 4: Governance and Evaluation

The goal for governance is to hold PTF to the highest accountability standards. PTF
is accountable externally to the CSOs it funds, the funders that provide its financing, and
its ultimate beneficiaries, the public in the countries in which it operates. Internal
accountability refers to the responsible stewardship of the resources put at PTF’s
disposal, using them so as to achieve the maximum impact in terms of PTF’s mission.

The goal for evaluation is to improve the quality and increase the coverage of both
internal PTF and external project evaluations in order to enhance organizational
effectiveness. Providing impartial information about the success rate of PTF projects
serves two important functions. The first is as a source of learning. As one of the
pioneers in supporting demand-side anti-corruption work PTF can play an important role
to help form a body of knowledge about what works in this area and what doesn’t.
Second, evaluation is crucial for PTF’s external accountability.

Metrics: Board action plan, stakeholder accountability mechanisms, evaluations

completed as scheduled

Goal # 4: Governance and

Evaluation
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible
Date
 22

Goal # 4: Governance and

Evaluation
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible
Date
1. Continue to build 1. Define committee structure Dec, 2010 A&GC/ Board
an active, and roles; set timetable for
participative, diverse adding committees A&GC/
Board and Board 2.Review and approve Dec, 2010 Board
committee structure governance procedures: i.e. term
with a clear decision limits, position descriptions and
making process expectations for officers,
directors, members, staff
composition
3. Seek written commitments Board
from each Board Director Jan, 2011 Chair
relating to the work on
committees, outreach, fund
raising
4.Review board balance, gender, Nominating
geography, experience and Jan, 2011 Committee
strengthen board
5.Improve effectiveness of Board Board Chair
meetings: review length and 2011/2012
virtual meeting formats

6. Publish quarterly internal

newsletter seeking feedback Start Mar, 2011

2.Strengthen the 1 Propose new members Mar, 2011 Management

cadre of PTF 2. Update members section of Staff
Members bylaws
3.Reinforce 1.Sign (confirm) INGO December 2011 Board
accountability Accountability Charter and 2012
mechanisms to 2.Design and implement A&GC
different complaints procedure July 2011
stakeholders 3.Develop and implement Management
records retention policy
 23

Goal # 4: Governance and

Evaluation
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible
Date
4.Conduct periodic
external impact 1. GTF MTR June 2011 1. Pierre
evaluation of PTF 2.Develop plan for preparing Jan 15 Landell-Mills
performance and of a PCAs annually 2. CEO
minimum sample of 3.Implement PCA plan Annually Management
33% of projects 4. Review results of PCAs December
supported annually Board

Overall lead responsibility for governance: Barry Metzger

Overall lead responsibility for M&E: CEO

Goal # 5: Systems and Knowledge Sharing

The PTF will put in place improved management systems that ensure efficient and
effective operations while preserving the volunteer spirit and informality that has defined
the unique strength and character of the organization. In particular, the PTF will establish
operating systems for: (i) program management—up-to-date information on project
activities, deadlines and deliverables, (ii) financial management—tracking and reporting
on revenues, commitments, disbursements and generating the necessary information for
the balance sheet, profit and loss statements, audits and financial reporting, (iii) records
management—maintaining up-to-date records of all important documents and
correspondence, (iv) fund-raising—developing and maintaining information on potential
donor strategic priorities, support for anti-corruption work and contacts, and (v) lessons
of experience—developing and maintaining an information system that captures the
lessons of experience from PTF-funded work, distills these lessons and enables others to
search for information.

Metric: Each system identified, tested, adopted and used by PTF managers and project
advisors. Overhead costs maintained below 15% of the total operating budget.

Goal # 5: Systems and

Knowledge Sharing
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible Resources
Date
 24

Goal # 5: Systems and

Knowledge Sharing
Strategic Goal Action Plan Completion Responsible Resources
Date
# 1: Program Establish a program Dec, 2010 Sarah Drew, Support as needed
Management tracking system for Pietronella van from Global
System deadlines and den Oever, Integrity and
deliverables for projects Dan Ritchie Results for
and donor obligations Development
Institute
#2: Records Ensure the seamless Dec, 2010 Sarah, Pierre,
Management transition of records Executive Pietronella, Jeff
System management to a reliable Assistant Katz,
and easily accessible Possible purchase
corporate system of software or
maintained by PTF annual fee for
management maintaining a
records
management
system, or fee for
third party
maintenance

# 4: Fund Establish donor tracking March, 2011 Brad Herbert,

Raising system (see Goal # 3) Richard Stern
Information and other
System volunteers
#5: Knowledge Create and manage an Dec, 2011 Sarah, Vinay Cost of designing
Management information- Bhargava, and managing a
System management system to Project web-based
capture and disseminate Advisors information
lessons of experience system with
search capability
#6.Country/ Establish an annual Jan. each year PTF GTF/DGF
regional program of Management/R
Workshops country/regional egional
workshops for grantees coordinators
#7. PTF IACC Manage a PTF workshop 2012 and PTF GTF plus new
Workshop at the 15th and 16th 2014 Management funding
IACC

Overall lead responsibility: Jeff Kass

 25

Goal # 6: Communications
A. Summary:
For the period 2011-2015 PTF has two closely related yet distinct communications
goals – external and internal – designed to further the overarching objective of
strengthening the PTF organization itself in many of its facets, while building awareness
of, respect and support for PTF from an increasing array of audiences. As a result, by
2015 PTF’s communications tools will both be highly effective instruments in supporting
the core PTF culture and contributing to PTF’s organizational efficiency and cohesion,
while also securing a key place for PTF among anti-corruption CSOs, public and private
sector donors, anti-corruption researchers and practitioners.

B. Goal & Actions:

Goal # 1: External - securing a key place for PTF among anti-corruption CSOs, public
and private sector donors, anti-corruption researchers and practitioners.

Goal # 2: Internal - ensure that PTF communications provides substantial support to

reinforcing PTF’s core culture and enhancing PTF’s organizational efficiency and
cohesion.

Metric: Each action (below) can be monitored in quantitative as well as qualitative

terms. A review of progress made by June 30, 2011 is proposed, which should include
suggestions for actions for the following 18 months to build on the initial actions
highlighted below.

Strategies and Action Plans

Goal # 6:
Communications
Completion Responsible Resources
Date
Strategy 1
Re Goal#1
 26

Goal # 6:
Communications
Completion Responsible Resources
Date
a Create a full-scale Jun, 2011 Sarah/Frank Contracted web
facelift for the PTF (consistently technical support
website, upload upgrade to (one time charge
news/lessons learned, 2015) for website
views on a timely and upgrade/overhaul
increasingly frequent …modest services
basis, and promote fees thereafter)
awareness of the website
to a wide range of
external audiences;
develop tools to ensure
higher profile for PTF on
Google and other search
engines; secure links
from PTF website to
similar others by CSOs.
b Build an annual PTF Dec, Regional Frank Vogl
seminar 2011(consisten coordinators (volunteer) and
program/speakers tly upgrade to other volunteers.
program, website blog, to 2015) Seek seminar
build meaningful funding from
audiences to promote donors.
PTF’s “lessons learned” - Consider self-
including Landell-Mills publishing book.
PTF book.
c Create special section of Dec, Sarah/Frank Combination of
the website to develop a 2011(consisten volunteers and
“chat room” for actual tly upgrade to young interns
and potential PTF CSO 2015) could facilitate
grantees to exchange chat room,
experiences, discuss develop “stories”
challenges, lessons and “briefs” from
learned and build an lessons learned.
effective anti-corruption Budget costs
community. minimal.
 27

Goal # 6:
Communications
Completion Responsible Resources
Date
d Build on existing, and Dec, 2012 Sarah/Frank Frank Vogl
create new tools to (consistently (volunteer) &/or
develop upgrade to other volunteers.
outreach/awareness of 2015) Contracted web
PTF’s work and that of technical support
grantee CSOs to a broad (one time charge
public, using the press as for upgrading
a key channel, and social aspects of
networking media. website, adding
new tech features,
ensuring iPad
operable, etc.
modest services
fees thereafter)

Strategy 2
Re Goal #2
a Create Basic PTF Mar, 2011, Sarah/Frank Design consultant
identity tools – introduce 2011(consisten (modest one-time
new logo - from PTF e- tly upgrade to template costs)
mail addresses for 2015) &/or other
advisers, to letterhead, to volunteers.
new information booklet,
2009 annual report, and
brochure for potential
donors.

b Develop a web-based Jun, 2011 Sarah/Frank Assistant to PTF

Intranet that can be the (consistently Executive
key tool used by all upgrade to Assistant, plus
within PTF (Advisers, 2015) volunteers.
Partners, Members,
Directors, etc.) to share Costs – should be
information, exchange part of overall
ideas and experiences, upgrading of
discuss challenges, website, thereafter
interact and so reinforce technical
the core voluntary culture support).
of PTF.
 28

Overall lead responsibility: Frank Vogl

 29
Final draft #8 9/18/10

Appendix