Evaluates CSO's: a contribution to the process of evaluation of the management of Civil Society Organizations

Abstract

This article aims to present the co-construction process of a social technology focused on evaluating the management capacity of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), based on an empirical study conducted in the Itapagipe Peninsula territory, in Salvador, Bahia. This article is anchored in the theoretical frameworks of Political Administration and Social Management and is methodologically structured through qualitative research, with an emphasis on action research, using participant observation as the predominant technique. The development of the social technology—named AVALIA OSCs—involved intense collaboration between social actors and university students, fostering a process of mutual learning and collective construction of evaluation indicators. The results obtained point to the relevance of the instrument as a mediator of organizational processes, contributing to the strengthening of internal democracy in CSOs and to the expansion of connections between universities and civil society. Furthermore, the potential for replicability of the methodology in different organizational contexts was demonstrated, provided that their territorial and cultural specificities are considered. The article also presents critical reflections on the challenges of management in the third sector, discussing the need to overcome managerial models of management.