ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT
"Let us then see what love can do." ‒ William Penn, a 17th century Quaker
The Board of Right Sharing of World Resources recognizes the need to be accountable in love to
our donors around the world and to our partners in India, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. As donors
give money, they need to be assured that their gift is used well and wisely, and partners receiving
grants need to be treated in ways that do not diminish their sense of worth and ultimate equality.
Donors often come from a perspective that accounts and figures provide assurance that dollars
sent to partners are well used. However, facts and figures are not at the heart of accountability as
this term applies to RSWR. We see three aspects of accountability: that of RSWR staff, field
representatives, and volunteers to donors and partners, the accountability of those with financial
resources to the poor, and the accountability of partners who receive grants to the donors who
provide the funds.
How does RSWR hold itself accountable to donors and partners? It is our prayerful intention, as
board members, staff, field representatives, and volunteers, to hold ourselves to the highest level
of ethical behavior, fiduciary responsibility, and commitment to our mission. Board members are
expected to make generous contributions to RSWR and, when consistent with their means, to pay
their own way to meetings and even to travel to project countries at their own expense. As a
Board we strive to embody the Quaker value of simplicity by keeping our organization strong
and accountable and our overhead low. In this way we work to make wise use, for the betterment
of lives, of the funds so generously offered by our donors.
Those who have financial resources are accountable to the poor. This is the accountability, the
sharing of resources, we need to model and spread throughout the world. Jesus asked us to share
with the poor. Jesus did not ask the poor to change, nor should we as givers require the recipients
to behave according to our standards. Rather we are called to give freely. People with resources
are the ones who must be accountable to the call of need. In responding to that call, we will often
find that it is we who learn from our partners about the nature of sustainability, cooperation, and
empowerment as they operate within the realities and constraints of a different culture.
Our return on funds is the building of enduring relationships with project partners as we embark
together on common enterprises of improved lives. Our hope and expectation is that over time
we will see: women empowered to feed their families and provide education for their children;
women working together with other members of their local community on small steps of
economic advancement supported by grants and micro-credit; and ultimately, women whose
joint efforts create opportunities for all residents of their community. As we work together with
our project partners, we will come to a greater understanding of their cultures and needs and a
joyful sharing in the passion and hope which, with God’s help, our joint efforts may unleash.
Partners who receive grants must also be responsible to donors, but how is this responsibility to
operate as it passes through the lens of a different culture and the constraints of severe poverty?
RSWR believes that the foundation for accountability of grant recipients to donors lies in
RSWR’s selection of and relationship with local field representatives, all of whom are citizens of
the countries hosting RSWR projects. As a grass roots organization, we contract with local
persons whose understanding and shared vision can help us make wise decisions and effective
use of our funds. In addition, partners are expected to complete written reports of their work and
the use of the grants they receive. Continuation of a grant depends on their doing so
With good field representatives in place, what might further measures of accountability look
like? First, we need to encourage project partners, through experience and training which RSWR
is providing, to develop skill at articulating their own processes and goals and evaluating their
progress towards those goals. These skills will enable partners to be more successful in carrying
out their RSWR project and in reporting effectively to RSWR. Ultimately project partners may
strengthen the ability of their NGO to prepare and implement proposals for grants and loans from
entities other than RSWR and to prepare and implement their own independent projects. Second,
we need to provide adequate support and training of local field representatives. Through regular
communication with the RSWR General Secretary by phone and email, field representatives
report to RSWR on training programs they conduct and on their formal visits with potential or
current partners. Support and training ensure that field representatives have the skills needed to
assess and report on potential and current projects, enhance performance of current projects, and
provide information on the viability of new project proposals. RSWR must also make its
performance expectations clear in the contracts we make with field representatives. Third,
RSWR must follow up by evaluating field contractor performance. Evaluation is facilitated not
only by such formal process but also through on-going personal visits of RSWR staff and
knowledgeable volunteers with field representatives and local project managers. Fourth, projects
need to be kept small in size as well as manageable in number, consistent with the abilities and
resources of RSWR to oversee them.
While the foregoing measures are important components in the accountability of partners to
donors and donors to partners, as a Quaker organization the foundation for all such measures,
and the spirit in which they are implemented, must rest in our Quaker testimonies – peace,
equality, honesty, community, simplicity and stewardship, all of which have their foundation in
love.
In conclusion, let us remember that the Bible tells those with many material riches to give to the
poor. This sharing of material resources helps us to live more freely in the Spirit of God, in a
right order of living, in the right sharing of the world's resources. We are joyfully grateful for the
ability to participate in such projects and to build community that reaches across the world in
both large and small ways.
May 2012, revised April 2013