Practicising what we preach

TNI puts a lot of effort into ensuring it acts internally in ways consistent with its value, and improving its accountability.

1. Fair Employer

TNI’s internal organisational culture is non-hierarchical and highly consultative.

By the end of 2018, the foundation had 24.79 full time equivalent (FTE) employees – a very slight increase on the previous year. The ratio of highest:median salary paid was 2.08, and highest:lowest was 3.45. TNI’s salary rates are comfortably within the norm for the charitable sector in The Netherlands. The average age of employees is around 45 years old, with 28% serving with TNI for more than 10 years. 38% of staff hold senior positions. Of these, seven are female and four are male. 62% of the staff are female. 14 nationalities are represented among the staff. Staff turnover and rates of absence due to illness are very low. TNI contracts other dedicated team members around the world, including in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Denmark, the USA, India as well as a large team in Myanmar. External staff work under the same conditions and at the same rates as Amsterdam-based staff, adjusted for local taxes and costs of living.

2. Socially conscious and green office

TNI owns its office building, originally built in the 19th century as a school. It is zoned for cultural and educational purposes by the City Council, and has B protection status which restricts alterations to the front facade. TNI strives to attract tenants which share TNI’s vision and values. In 2018, it housed a childcare centre, a meditation centre, four non-profit organisations (concerned with human rights law, consumer rights in respect of food, the right to food, a support organisation for animation filmmakers, as well as two companies – an urban planning and architectural bureau, and a Dutch streetwear company associated with the hiphop scene of Amsterdam.

In 2018, TNI continued its efforts to make its office building as energy efficiënt as possible. Following the installation of solar panels in 2016 – clocking 14 tons of CO2 saved and 19.764 KwH of solar energy generated since, a priority was the installation of LED lights. An energy scan undertaken in 2016 indicated that lights were the single biggest contributor to electricity consumption in the building. This was mostly completed in 2018 for the floor occupied by TNI, with more replacements throughout the building planned for 2019. We are also replacing aging boilers with more eco-friendly versions. In addition, a green roof was laid on the first floor terrace which will help with insulation as well as serving as a rainwater buffer, purifying the air, and encouraging more biodiversity in the neighbourhood. We dug and planted a sidewalk garden on the street outside our building too, which also helps green the street, serving social and ecological ends.

3. Fair and green procurement

TNI developed a new Procurement Policy in 2018 in which it privileges small suppliers that share its values, with this being the primary criterion used in procuring supplies and (technical) services. This includes demonstrable commitments to ecological sustainability, fair trade practices and cooperative ownership structures. Some examples of how TNI puts its values into practice in this regard, include:
• a worker-owned cooperative is contracted for cleaning services
• an informal network of artisans and small companies with strong affinity for TNI’s values are contracted for building maintenance
• contracting auditing, salary and financial administration companies specifically dedicated to serving the non-profit sector
• using a non-profit travel agency dedicated specifically to supporting humanitarian organisations. We have also invested in improving our video conferencing facilities to help minimise the necessity for travel, and encouraging staff wherever possible to travel by train rather than fly or drive. None of our staff uses a car to travel to work.
• using only recycled or FSC-certified paper for printing, printing the minimum required, and always double-sided
• buying tea and coffee supplies from a fair trade company which TNI has supported over many decades, and buying other buying organic and fairly produced products as far as possible
• separating our waste (paper, glass, chemical, plastic, batteries, ink cartridges) for recycling purposes

4. GDPR compliant
In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GPDR) came into effect. TNI prepared well in advance. In late 2017, TNI contracted the services of a data protection consultant. He guided a thorough audit of the personal data held, where it is stored and who has access. A comprehensive inventory resulted which was shared with staff and the Supervisory Board, and is to be reviewed and updated at least annually. A workshop for staff and the Supervisory Board was subsequently organised. TNI revised its privacy policy, which was published on our website before the GDPR came into effect. TNI has since worked to document its Information & Communication Technology (ICT) policy, including data protection, data security and data breach policies. This will be completed in the first quarter of 2019, with workshops again for staff and Supervisory Board.

5. Demonstrating Effectiveness
Since TNI created the function of Evaluation & Planning Officer in 2016, there has been considerable progress in the Institute being able to demonstrate its effectiveness. A system for ongoing documentation of verifiable results, detailed quarterly reports, outcome harvests in advance of annual reflection days, which feed into annual planning days, have been institutionalised, as has quantitative data uploaded quarterly to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) open data base in respect of the major Dutch government-sponsored programme. This has given TNI a much stronger evidence base for assessing and communicating its effectiveness, and has proved very useful for refining strategies. Success is evidenced by the increasingly impressive results TNI is able to book. Importantly, it has also helped the Institute sustain the confidence of its existing funders and secure new support, particularly from philanthropic foundations.

6. Outreach results to be proud of
An indicator of TNI’s improved outreach in 2018 is the steady increase, compared to 2017, in social media followers: twitter (16% to 12,733 accounts and reaching an estimated 1.5 million people), and facebook (9% to 16,731) for the official accounts. Specialised programme accounts as well as individual staff accounts also saw significant increases. Subscriptions to TNI’s e-newsletter increased by 13% to 21.535 people. Views of TNI webpages were logged at 1.13 million. TNI publications and articles by TNI staff, researchers and fellows were cited over 3.000 times in recorded academic references. Media coverage was steady, at a conservative estimate TNI reached 19.155.000 readers in outlets across the world. At key moments, global influencers helped to amplify TNI’s messages.

Formal partnerships
In 2018, TNI also entered into more formal partnerships with like-minded (online) magazines, which helped further amplify its messages.
Within the public sphere, significant narrative changes were discernible with respect to most of the issues with which TNI critically engages with. Most notably, drugs policy, investor-state dispute settlement, public ownership, austerity and human rights, and borders and refugees. Incremental shifts in policy are evident in the first two, and a shift in public discourse is discernible in the latter three.