"We are waiting to receive, to give” : A case study of the organizational sustainability of Local Non-Governmental Development Organizations in peri-urban Lusaka & Kitwe, Zambia

Sammanfattning: This study explored the alternative visions and innovative strategies of Zambian local non-governmental development organizations (LNGDO) in their attempt to improve their organizational sustainability with the purpose to understand and analyze the organizational sustainability of LNGDOs in peri-urban Lusaka and Kitwe, Zambia. A case study approach was used to both delimit the scope of the study and acquire an in-depth, practical and context-specific understanding of the “why and how” of sustainability. Data was collected through interviews, documents, observations and a survey. Data was analyzed through a framework consisting of key findings from previous research and central concepts inherent in the partnership discourse, organizational sustainability theories, civic innovation approaches that emphasize local capabilities and civic action as well as the components of organizational capacity. LNGDOs primarily understood organizational sustainability as financial sustainability, i.e as the process towards financial independence from donors, enabling LNGDOs to set their own development agenda and focus their accountability towards staff members and beneficiaries. Another common understanding was the ability to secure consistent and diverse externally mobilized resources. The continuation of benefits stemming from an LNGDO intervention was central to the understanding of organizational sustainability among Donors. The two most prominent strategies to improve organizational sustainability among LNGDOs are the use of volunteers and diversifying external resources. Given the primacy of financial autonomy, LNGDOs also focused on strategies that increased the self-generation of income. One of the fundamental challenges facing LNGDOs in their work towards organizational sustainability is that they employ a different definition and understanding of the concept than Donors. Perhaps the most prominent and difficult challenge to overcome is the mindset and pervading culture of reliance on external support among LNGDOs. This may limit innovative new strategies from being articulated, let alone implemented.