NGOs and innovation: Organizational characteristics and constraints in development assistance work in The Gambia

Innovation is frequently claimed to be a key attribute of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of development. Evidence from interviews with four northern and two local NGOs implementing childcare programs in The Gambia suggests that these NGOs did indeed possess many of the organizational characteristics associated with successful innovation. Why then were their potential innovative capacities not reflected in project outcome? This paper examines some of the internal and external factors that may constrain NGO innovative activity and looks at what the innovation process can tell us about NGOs as organizations, and about the environment in which they operate.