Use the NSGO benchmarking tool yourself and compare with previous data
The NSGO tool was developed in 2017 following years of research and cooperation between Play the Game and various European universities. This version of the NSGO tool is authored by Dr. Arnout Geeraert, KU Leuven, and managed by Play the Game.
Now, Play the Game is making an online version of the tool available to anyone who wants to benchmark governance in a national sports organisation of their own choice and compare the results to findings from all the previous countries and organisations that have been benchmarked during the NSGO project.
A comprehensive tool with 274 indicators
The NSGO tool was developed by Dr. Arnout Geeraert and is very comprehensive tool that scores the performance of individual sports organisations on 274 indicators of good governance through simple yes and no answers.
The 274 indicators are divided into four different dimensions: Transparency, democratic processes, internal accountability and control, and societal responsibility. For ease of use, the online tool makes it possible to fill in the answers for each dimension individually.
If you need help in understanding the indicators, Play the Game has produced a guide with instructions for how to use the tool that you can download here.
Indicators and instructions for assessing good governance in national sports federations
Compare with previous findings
The tool also makes it possible to compare your results to findings from all the previous countries and organisations that have benchmarked during the NSGO project. Or alternatively: You can just use the tool to make comparisons without your own benchmarking project.
At its launch in November 2021, the database holds data from 189 sports federations from 24 countries. All these results are produced through extensive research by experts and have been reviewed by Play the Game. The plan is to expand the database with new and verified data from official NSGO partners as the project progresses in the future.
The structure of the interactive tool
The interactive tool is presented through the interface of Microsoft Power BI with a number of navigation tabs at the bottom.
- The ‘Home’ tab is the entry page where you find information about the tool and how it works.
- ‘The Index score’ tab shows the overall score for all sports organisations. To the right you can filter the scores on country, organisation and/or type of sport.
If you move your mouse over the bars in the diagram, you will see the scores for the four dimensions and a little information about the organisation, sport and country in question.
- The ’Transparency’, ’Democratic processes’, ’Internal accountability’ and ’Societal responsibility’ tabs show the scores for the dimensions you have chosen using the filter options on the previous page.
- To the right of the page you can access the benchmarking tool with all the indicators for the respective dimension to obtain a score for your own organisation.
- At each indicator it is shown whether it belongs to the level of basic, intermediate, or advanced organisations.
- If you press I in the top right hand corner, you will get access to instructions on how to interpret the indicators.