What are the steps to take when opening an office in a new country? 

How do I go about finding local legal representation? Accounting expertise? Payroll advice? Setting up bank accounts?

How do I help the office decide on their technology plan and get it running? 

The donor has just terminated our grant. How do I go about closing the office? 

If we lose our funding, what obligations does our organization have to our local staff? 

What are some of the problems my colleagues have experienced and lessons learned in opening and/or closing an office? 

Although organizations open and close offices in different ways, there are common elements that all must have and common issues they must confront. InsideNGO’s Opening and Closing a Field Office Workshop answers the questions above as well as covers many issues associated with this topic. This one-day workshop is facilitated by Engenderhealth, a member organization. Attendees will walk through opening and closing a field office based on processes Engenderhealth has developed with their global staff over a five-year period. Workshop participants will be provided templates, checklists, and procedural documents.

Topics will include Approval for the Office, Budgeting, In-Country Resources, Legal Representation, Staffing, Payroll, Technology Needs, Insurance, Training, Post Opening Review, Project Closing, Office Shutdown Procedures, Disposition of Fixed Assets, Severance, Termination of Leases and more. 

Participants will share lessons learned and challenges overcome. They will be invited to share their best practices and pose questions to fellow attendees and presenters on issues faced by NGOs and private voluntary organizations in the field. All participants will receive EngenderHealth's “Office Opening Manual” and CDROM which members are free to edit and redistribute under the guidelines provided.

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is designed for staff members who have operational responsibility for opening and/or closing a field office. The course level is intermediate. No advance preparation is required. No prerequisites.