a few government pointers from a Latin American non-profit

If you want to hear some good information about the growth of an effective development and health organization, one that really helps individuals by working in local groups, listen to this whole talk by Lynne Patterson of Pro Muher. One piece of it is so touching that I put it in my other blog. But there were a couple of thoughts about working with governments that I feel are worth mentioning:

• "In Mexico they have very good regulations (for NGOs)." I'll have to look into this; I'm always skeptical of government trying to solve a social problem, so I'd like to see what constitutes "good" regulations.
  
• A good principle is to work with governments to create alliances but do not take very much of their money. It's tempting, but governments tend to use that as political leverage, and people aren't as willing to repay if they know the government is the credit source.
  

(She gives both of those thoughts around minute 27 in her talk.)