NGO consolidation in Denmark
At the end of 2017, the 15-year-old Danish branch of Plan International merged with another Danish child sponsorship organisation BØRNEfonden - Child and Youth Foundation to form a greatly enlarged new entity, Plan BØRNEfonden. This marked the third major international NGO merge in Denmark in five years. The new Plan BØRNEfonden is the result of two local branches of international federations joining forces. In the other two cases, however, global NGO brands - Oxfam and ActionAid - acquired national organisations that are now affiliates of these international NGO families.
The arguments in favour of joining forces are compelling: effectiveness, political clout and new access to financial resources and expertise. But crowding out of Southern civil society remains a recurring theme.
Two Danish NGOs merge. Huge new child sponsorship actor targets public funds
Ulla Tørnæs reverses planned NGO cuts. Danish IPPF doubles grant size
Interview: A Danish NGO goes global. The merge of MS and ActionAid
Oxfam gains a new Nordic member
Swedish NGO newcomer ActionAid questions status quo at Sida
Opinion: ActionAid’s global network. Risks to African civil society
MS weighs pros and cons of joining ActionAid