We can also assume that interlocking membership fosters collaboration between organizations. Unfortunately, we cannot test this hypothesis directly because it is really difficult to get membership bases from NGOs. Nevertheless it is possible to assume that membership-based organizations are more likely to collaborate with others. Makhmutova and Akhmetova (2011) assert that significant part of citizens is members of many civil organizations, however their assertion seems doubtful, since findings of other scholars demonstrate extremely small membership base of Kazakhstani NGOs (Luong & Weinthal, 1999; see also comparative data presented in Schofer & Longhofer, 2011).