Civil society organisations can help to ensure good governance over natural resources as members of global multi-stakeholder initiatives like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Yet a good number of resource-rich countries have legally restricted civil society organisations’ independence and ability to operate, challenging organisations’ contributions to these initiatives. This has led to initiatives shutting down in some countries, undermined their intended effects, and resulted in the appointment of government-friendly civil society organisations. Donors can counterbalance this backlash against participation rights by supporting efforts to improve the evidence base about organisations’ involvement in resource governance, emphasising the value of their involvement in multi-stakeholder initiatives, and by supporting organisational capacity building as well as information alternatives like media organisations and technological initiatives.