The importance of governance is widely recognised in disaster relief but the concept of project governance has not yet been examined. To address this, the response of an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) to the 2010 Haiti earthquake is analysed from a project governance perspective. The aim is to assess the understanding and applicability of project governance to NGOs operating in disaster relief situations. Drawing on an extensive review of extant literature, the dimensions of project governance are identified and a conceptual framework is developed as a basis for the investigation. The findings indicate that while the NGO does not explicitly recognise project governance as a concept, nine of its dimensions are particularly evident in the NGO's oversight of its project work. The research also reveals that effective project governance not only fills the governance gap between corporate governance and project management, but also between disaster relief and project management. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd, APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.