Determinants of Sustainability and Organisational Effectiveness in Non-Profit Organisations

Chux Gervase Iwu, Lloyd Kapondoro, Michael Twum-Darko and Robertson Tengeh
Additional contact information
Chux Gervase Iwu: Department of Entrepreneurship & Business Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa
Lloyd Kapondoro: Graduate Center for Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa
Michael Twum-Darko: Graduate Center for Management, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Corner of Tenant & Keizersgracht, Zonnebloem, Cape Town 7530, South Africa

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 7, 1-14

Abstract: This case study investigates the criteria for organizational effectiveness in non-profit organizations (NPOs) with the aim to determine how the elements of sustainability fit within the criteria. To achieve this, the study utilized the research questions: “what criteria do NPOs use to evaluate their effectiveness?” and “how is sustainability embedded in NPO effectiveness?” The research design was interpretivist, adopting focus group interviews to obtain data. Specifically, two focus group interviews were held with the top management of an NPO which revealed that both financial and non-financial criteria were equally essential for NPO effectiveness. This finding is consistent with the literature, although it contradicts the initial assumption of the study that NPO effectiveness was based more on non-financial criteria than financial criteria. The study also found that the effectiveness of an NPO should be viewed in two ways: firstly, “the full achievement of its mandate” and, secondly, “the ability to run business projects to cover cost.” It also emerged that both the ability to cover costs and the achievement of a mandate should be done in a sustainable manner (a sustainable manner is seen as one that is harmonious with the natural and the socio-political environment). The results of this paper present a practical case for the management of NPOs by reiterating that the full achievement of the NPO mandate and the successful running of social projects to generate funds for sustainability are key elements of effectiveness. Given the essential role that NPOs play in developing countries, this study has provided the foundation for more widespread enquiry into the sustainability and effectiveness of NPOs.

Keywords: organisational effectiveness; non-profit organisations; NPO sustainability; organisational performance; financial and non-financial criteria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/7/9560/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/7/9560/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:7:p:9560-9573:d:52745

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().