Building the Capacity of Business Membership Organizations

Entrepreneurs need reliable infrastructure, efficient regulations, and a range of financial and business services for success. In the developing world these amenities and productive communication channels to policy makers can be hard to come by. Business membership organizations (BMO) can help, by providing select services to small and medium enterprises and giving them a collective voice in the policy making sector.

BMOs’ unique placement and strengths make them natural catalysts for private sector development. By nature, their extensive networks provide them with first-hand knowledge of the challenges businesses face. As intermediaries, they can channel important economic and regulatory information to the public and private sectors through direct advocacy, public relations and grassroots campaigns, and dialogue platforms. Many BMOS are also self-regulating, performing standard setting and business arbitration functions, driving efficiency and progress within the private sector and saving public regulators time and money.

This toolkit provides project managers with relevant case studies and step-by-step information on how to design, implement, and evaluate projects that build capacity in business membership organizations.

Download the toolkit (PDF, 1.8MB).