Challenges in donor-NPO relationships in the context of corporate social investment
As an integral part of corporate governance and citizenship, corporate social investment (CSI) forms part of both the business and social development landscapes of South Africa. In a developing society, like South Africa, this manifestation of the responsibility of the private sector in the fight against social ills and for sustainable development is increasingly important....
The purpose of this article is to highlight challenges in the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs within the context of corporate social investment (CSI) in South Africa and to link the relational challenges to problems NPOs face in general. It is theoretically argued that CSI forms an important part of sustainable development and NPOs in turn form an integral part of many organisations’ social investment. The challenges faced by them need addressing for the sake of the NPOs, the donors and society on the whole. It was found that although the stakeholder relationship generally shows both positive and negative perceptions of the parties involved, the challenges that exist can be traced to challenges in the everyday functioning of NPOs. These everyday challenges include resource limitations and dependence, staffing problems and strategy, management and environmental challenges. These challenges faced by NPOs manifest in their relationship with donors and can be seen in the power imbalance in the relationship that favours donors, the lack of transparency by NPOs, divergent views on commitment, questioned competence of NPOs, time constraints in the execution of activities, a perceived incomprehension by NPOs of the realities of the business world and an unwillingness from donors to allow NPOs some decision-making power. Understanding the link between contextual challenges and problems in the donor relations could assist donors in making their CSI practices, expectations and evaluation more effective.
