Investigating corporate governance practices and their impact on sustainability of NGOs in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This is an investigation of corporate governance practices and their impact on sustainability on non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The main objective of this study was to investigate corporate governance practices and their impact on sustainability of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Zimbabwe. The major research question was formulated arising from the gaps identified in the literature.

An interpretivist paradigm was adopted due to the nature of the study and subsequently the study followed an inductive approach. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews of sixteen participants from nine organisations. Content analysis was employed to analyse the data resulting in the development of themes from which conclusions were made.

The findings indicated that NGOs are finding it difficult to implement good corporate governance practices such as internal controls and audit,mainly due to funding constraints. The study showed that bad governance leads to collapse of NGOs. However, it was also clear that governance is multi-faceted and contextual issues such as changing donor funding mechanisms, the political and economic climate impact on the ability of local NGOs to access funding directly. Thus the objectives were achieved as far as determining the impact of governance practices on financial viability.

The key recommendation is that local NGOs must explore self-financing strategies instead of being reliant on donor funding only. Income sources need to be diversified in order to improve governance and enhance financial viability and sustainability.