Risk Management and Expert Opinion Assessment at Non-Profit Organizations: the case of UNESCO

Abstract

Non-profit organizations play an increasingly important role in contemporary society. The fact that they are not profit-oriented, however, does not guard them against the need to manage resources efficiently. Still, due to their specific goals and organizational environment, non-profit organizations require appropriate tools to manage their projects' risk. With this in mind, we chose to study the case of Monumenta - a project that is being implemented by United Nations for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) in Brazil. Specifically, we propose an approach to assist the Brazilian arm of the UNESCO in estimating project risk by quantifying expert opinion. Then, we discuss generalizations of this experience to other projects at UNESCO. Furthermore, we believe the conclusions drawn from this experience could be extended to the management process of other non-profit organizations.