Factors affecting the sustainability of developement projects of non-govenmental organization in Kenya- a case of NGOs in Nairobi

Abstract

Kenya like other developing countries all over the world has experienced an emergence of many NGOs both local and international in the recent past. All of these NGOs implementing various projects in the country, the question that ranges is, how sustainable are these developmental projects? Do they last or these projects collapse as soon as the donor pulls out? The objective of the study was to investigate the factors that affect the sustainability of NGOs in Kenya. In this respect the study focused on the NGOs in Nairobi.

The research design was descriptive and a survey method was employed using structured questionnaires that were completed by the employees of the sampled one hundred and fifteen NGOs in Nairobi. These NGOs were selected randomly from the 384 registered NGOs in Nairobi. The data derived was then be analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of tables and figures. The independent variables are: project conceptualization, financial systems and funding while the dependent variable is the sustainability of NGO development projects.

The major findings of the study as per the specific objectives of the study were: firstly that during project conceptualization the general leadership of the NGO is involved although the level of involvement varied as was evidenced by the scores as per the questionnaires in the project conceptualization section. The second finding was that a majority of NGOs had in place stringent accounting measures but needed to improve on controls and especially on control of project assets. While thirdly that NGOs utilize various sources of funding to run the projects.

The study further revealed that dependence on grants was high with low utilization of internal resources and exploitation of the service offered to provide a descent return was lacking. The conclusion from the findings was that NGOs do involve their staff through their leaders in conceptualization of projects and that the NGOs had inadequate control systems especially with regard to project assets. It was further concluded that there was a high dependence on external funding with little effort at offering project services and near market rates to generate adequate revenue streams. The overall conclusion therefore was that project conceptualization, financial systems and funding had an effect on the sustainability of developmental projects of NGOs.

It is recommended that the NGOs encourage the development of ventures based on the needs of the surrounding environment. Further, financial controls according to best practices should be emphasized at all levels of the organization and internal sources of funds should be developed and harnessed in order to yield consistent and growing revenue streams.