To investigate the factors affecting and influencing the financial sustainability of civil society organisations in Zambia.
Date
2022
Authors
Chimfwembe, Lombe
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Many corporate entities have relied on financial sustainability drivers such as income generating capacity, income source diversity, financial planning and management, and the potential for geographical spread and product diversity; however, there is limited information on how CSO's respond to financial sustainability challenges in Zambia. Inconsistencies have been found in studies of factors influencing the financial sustainability of local CSOs, with some suggesting that the factors include income diversification and sustainable levels of income from local and external donors, as well as own income generating activities to the extent that the organizations continue to grow and operate after external donor funding is withdrawn. As a result, the purpose of this study was to investigate and comprehend factors correlated with financial vulnerability of CSOs in Zambia, the institutional conditions that enable CSO’s to mitigate the impact of a decrease in revenue on programmes and the alternative sources of income available to CSO’s in Zambia. The research was guided by Resource Mobilization Theory and employed a mixed methods approach. The survey drew 80 responses from 10 non-governmental organizations. Program managers and finance managers were among them. In order to collect data, a saturated sampling survey was used. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data, while data schedule sheets were used to collect secondary data. Expert review and test-retest methods were used to determine instrument reliability, and Cronbach's alpha was used to achieve data validity; it provided a coefficient of 0.930, which was sufficient for further analysis of the study data. Correlation coefficients range from 0.188 to 0.556, with p0.05 for each variable. The data demonstrate that CSOs' goals of reducing financial vulnerability and financial sustainability have significant coefficients. The regression results revealed that financial variables contributed R2 of 0.613 to good financial sustainability. This simply suggests that the steps taken by organizations to reduce their financial susceptibility contribute greatly to their long-term viability. Although alternative sustainability practices are important, the effectiveness of these practices appears to be dependent on other factors. Alternative sustainability strategies, on the other hand, are proven to be inconsequential to CSOs' ability to sustain themselves.These findings may be useful to CSOs in enhancing their growth, as well as to academics and industry players in the public in investigating the significance of contributory factors to the growth of CSOs.
Keywords: Financial sustainability, funding, growth, income.
Description
Graduate school of Business
Keywords
Civil society organizations--Zambia. , Civil society organizations--Financial vulnerability.