Although donor discourse on international development policy places less emphasis on civil society than formerly this paper present evidence from Tanzania, Ethiopia and Central America that aid for civil society has had a positive effect on the capacity of Southern civil society. As a result of international pressure, civil society in these developing states now face a more open environment for both advocacy and service provision, while financial support has allowed a much greater level of activity than would otherwise have been possible. This article is drawn from a larger study funded by the Advisory Board for Irish Aid, which examined the potential role of civil society in poverty reduction. It identifies the current threat to the continued development of civil society as coming from the narrowing of the potential role of civil society in the OECD aid harmonisation agenda and management and capacity constraints on the part of donors that curtails their engagement with this type of support.