1

Partner satisfaction surveys have been a core part of Oxfam Australia’s (OAU) approach to improving

our relationship with partners in South Africa. These have been conducted since the inception of the

Joint Oxfam HIV and AIDS Program, to the most recent No Longer Vulnerable (NLV) Program when

all programs were integrated under one umbrella. The surveys were administered on a regular basis

and allowed Oxfam to monitor its relationship with partners overtime against clear outputs. The

surveys provided Oxfam partners with a confidential mechanism to report back on how it perceived

Oxfam was doing against these outputs.

During NLV, the surveys were carried out in 2013 and 2015. All of the surveys were conducted online

and included an average partner response rate of over 50%. During this time, the survey results were

shared internally with Oxfam staff in order to improve the delivery of support to partners. They were

also shared with partners as part of the biannual program reports. As we lead into the closure of the

OAU operations in South Africa we felt it would be useful to share a consolidated report on the

partnership satisfaction trends over the course of the NLV program with staff as well as partners.

Throughout the program there were key areas which Oxfam consistently excelled in according to

partners. These areas were the frequency and nature of the visits by Oxfam staff, and Oxfam’s

partnership approach. Across the two surveys (2013 and 2015), over 80% of respondents on average

chose the highest category for these indicators.

86% said the frequency of

visits was just right

82% found Oxfam visits

supportive 86% described Oxfam as

a supportive partner

81%

de

sc

rib

ed

Ox

fa

m a

s a

n

ap

pr

oa

ch

ab

le

pa

rt

ne

r

No Longer Vulnerable

Partnership Satisfaction

Learning Note July 2015

BACKGROUND

STRENGTHS

2013/15 averages:

2

According to partners, there were a number of areas where Oxfam improved in its quality of

support. Firstly, overall satisfaction in the partnership improved with 20% more partners rating that

they were ‘Very Satisfied’ in 2015 compared to 2013. Other areas which saw progress were

efficiency in responding to queries, frequency and relevance of communications, and interest in the

content of Oxfam publications.

It is very encouraging to note increases in the quality and nature of Oxfam’s support which gives

some indication of the hard work from both partners and Oxfam in maintaining openness,

addressing weaknesses, and deepening working relationships. The improvements represented by

the increases reflect Oxfam’s commitment to its relationships to partners and to providing quality

services that are relevant and timely. Oxfam will continually strive to maintain these standards

during the exit phase.

40%

70%

68%

87%

64%

87%

52%

65%

64%

74%

Re

sp

on

se

Ef

fic

ien

cy

Ov

er

al

l s

at

isf

ac

tio

n

Co

nt

en

t i

nt

er

es

t

re

le

va

nc

e

fr

eq

ue

nc

y

communications

2015

2013

PROGRESS

3

One particular arena which was rated slightly less by partners in the ‘Excellent’ category in both

2013 and 2015 was the quality of feedback and input from staff to partners. Oxfam did score highly

if we combine this with the ‘Very Good’ category in both of these surveys, but as Oxfam wishes to

maintain a level of excellence, the organisation has noted this to ensure it improves the quality of

feedback given to partners during the exit phase.

Oxfam’s partnership approach plays a key role in its theory of change and its sustainability strategy.

For these reasons, and that it is currently in an exit phase, this year Oxfam decided to use the survey

to dig a little bit deeper with partners into the way the Oxfam partnership works. To do this Oxfam

chose three principles which it felt demonstrated a strong partnership; these were mutual respect,

trust, and collaboration. Results from the survey showed that, from a partners’ perspective, these

principles were being practiced across the Oxfam partnership by the different organisations with the

vast majority rating in the ‘Good’ category and above. However, partners often viewed themselves

as demonstrating these principles more than they saw them in their peer organisations. For Oxfam,

this means that there is still some work to do to encourage Oxfam partners to work together more

during this exit phase and beyond. A challenging area as reflected by partners was the principle of

collaboration among partners. Here only 19% of partners rated the practice of this principle among

themselves as ‘Excellent’, and 24% rated it poorly. However, even in this space, the majority of

partners (57%) rated one another as either ‘Very Good/Good’. Oxfam will seek to build on this

relatively strong foundation of partnership during its exit phase and will provide spaces for partners

to find areas of collaboration post-Oxfam Australia.

Quality of input

49%

28%

44%

35% 2015

2013

Excellent Very Good

CHALLENGES

A FINAL NOTE ON PARTNERSHIPS

collaboration

Pa

rt

ne

rs

hip

tr

us

t

Working together change

strong

principles Mutual respect

Challenges

progress

communication

No longer vulnerable

fo

un

da

tio

n

quality

su

pp

or

t

If you have any questions/comments/thoughts regarding these results, please contact

Caili on CailiF@oxfam.org.au and/or 031 277 0352.