The article examines the institutions governing relations between grant using national NGOs and grant giving international donors in three regions of Ghana (Upper West, Northern and Greater Accra Region). Formal procedural rules and professional norms can be viewed as necessary to minimise opportunities for informal patronage, rent-seeking and corruption made possible by the unequal access to resources. However, semi-structured interviews, life histories and observation highlight the positive role informal networks, connections, personal contacts and friendship play in enhancing collaboration between donors and national NGOs. Friendships originating in kinship and ethnicity, school links and past collaboration offer opportunities for influencing and resource mobilisation, but can also weaken NGO sustainability. Informal contacts and face-to-face interactions also build trust and strengthen lines of accountability, with non-adherence to shared norms resulting in sanctions and reputation loss. These findings affirm the positive role of informal relations, and highlight how they can complement formal rules and professional norms governing NGO–donor relations rather than undermining them. It throws a very different light on the role of informal institutions than that fostered by a discourse of clientelism and provides a more nuanced conceptual foundation for assessing ‘formalisation’ as a normative strategy.

本文研究了加纳三个地区（西部，北部和大阿克拉地区）使用国家非政府组织的赠款与国际赠款赠与之间关系的管理机构。可以将正式的程序规则和专业规范视为必要的条件，以最大程度地减少因资源获取不平等而导致的非正式光顾，寻租和腐败的机会。但是，半结构化的访谈，生活史和观察突出了非正式网络，人脉，人际交往和友谊在加强捐助者与国家非政府组织之间的合作方面的积极作用。源于血缘和种族，学校联系和过去的合作的友谊为影响和资源调动提供了机会，但也会削弱NGO的可持续性。非正式的接触和面对面的互动还可以建立信任并加强问责制，因为不遵守共同的规范会导致制裁和声誉损失。这些发现肯定了非正式关系的积极作用，并着重指出了它们如何可以补充规范非政府组织与捐助方关系的正式规则和专业准则，而不是破坏它们。它对非正式机构的作用提出了与客户主义话语所促进的作用截然不同的看法，并为评估“正规化”作为一种规范策略提供了更为细微的概念基础。并强调它们如何补充而不是破坏它们的非政府组织与捐助者关系的正式规则和专业规范。它对非正式机构的作用提出了与客户主义话语所促进的作用截然不同的看法，并为评估“正规化”作为一种规范策略提供了更为细微的概念基础。并强调它们如何补充而不是破坏它们的非政府组织与捐助者关系的正式规则和专业规范。它对非正式机构的作用提出了与由客户主义话语所促进的作用截然不同的观点，并为评估“正规化”作为一种规范策略提供了更为细微的概念基础。