Case Study
Apex Study of the Asociacion de Grupos Solidarios de Colombia
Is creating apex organizations a good strategy?
51 pages
This paper reports experiences of the Asociacion Grupos Solidarios de Colombia. AGS co-ordinates the activities of 17 private voluntary organizations implementing microenterprise development programmes in Colombia using the ACCION methodology. It examines its potential replicability in the creation of apex organizations.
The author concludes that an apex organization can best serve when:
- Created around organizations that share common objectives, programmes, and methodologies;
- The number of members is limited to those with the highest potential, avoiding multiplicity of partners;
- Members are selected according to well-defined eligibility criteria, such as "commitment to self-sufficiency" and "scale-up".
The paper also suggests that an apex organization should concentrate its efforts initially on strengthening administrative structures of the implementing organizations in order to manage the program.
[Adapted from author]
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