Internationalization for voluntary organizations

As it can be easily noticed reading through the previous section of this unit, while the Strengths and Weaknesses depend strictly of our organisation, the other two components do not: neither the Opportunities nor the Threats are in control of our organisation, so our efforts cannot be aimed at changing those environments (such as creating opportunities or fighting threats), but on improving the internal factors provided by the SWOT analysis and conducting a proper external factors analysis, so as then to assess the most suitable countries to go to.

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That is why we went through the SWOT analysis before going into this section, as it is exactly what we have to do in order to decide which countries to go to. Obviously, there are different approaches to this topic, and the specific characteristics of your own organisation (and even your own personal preferences) may influence this decision quite a lot. However, conducting a SWOT analysis (or a similar type of analysis method) can help you decide which countries are perfect for your organisation to bring its activity to

As previously stated, there are two factors to consider here: Opportunities and Threats. We have to try and find the perfect balance between those two factors in order to find the most suitable country for our organisation. Obviously, perfect situations may not exist, with no threats and lots of opportunities in the same country, but comparing these two factors is the key to success in this search.

The first thing that we should do is look for Opportunities outside our country. Depending on the type of organisation that you are managing, its target group, purpose, financial capability and resources, opportunities may appear in countries where others do not find, and vice versa??? What does this sentence mean???. It is recommended that you define your priorities first and then start your search. Opportunities can appear in the form of partner organisations, target groups, language compatibility, governmental aid, financial opportunities. As mentionedas said, it depends highly on your own organisation.

Subsequently,, the most crucial part is to detect potential Threats in that list of apparently suitable countries. We mentioned a few of them before, but you will have to look for economic, political and social stability, a target group willing to get engaged with your project, access to resources, financial capability and a well-designed dissemination plan. It depends, again, highly on your own organisation. But this analysis is even more complex than the previous one, as you will to take into account the existence of unavoidable risks and predict in a long-term future the possibility and impact that they could have in your project.