A Conceptual Model of Foundations’ Leadership Capacity in Times of Change: Lessons From Egypt

Abstract

In the wake of the January 25, 2011 Egyptian uprisings, local private and community foundations responded divergently to civil society’s calls for political change. Egypt’s community foundations quickly positioned themselves as leaders of democratic political reforms, while private foundations remained focused on their pre-2011 activities in the economic development realm. To explain the foundations’ different responses to the uprisings, the article draws upon extant literature to develop a conceptual model of foundations’ capacity to lead change. It then applies the model to the Egyptian case, arguing that community foundations’ high levels of political independence and low levels of financial and civic independence facilitated their leadership efforts, while private foundations’ low levels of political and financial independence and high levels of civic independence hampered their ability to lead reform initiatives. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Can service providing NGOs build democracy? Five contingent features

“…In such settings, the central government often lacks the capacity and resources to implement public policy and therefore often relies on NGOs to deliver public services (Brinkerhoff & Wetterberg, 2016). The NGO sector in the three countries is dynamic as a space is created for NGOs to operate, sometimes collaboratively with the central government but sometime at odd with the authorities, and in most cases with heavy financial reliance on international donors in the absence of local philanthropic incentives (AbouAssi, 2014; Atia & Herrold, 2018; Herrold, 2018).…”

“…The NGO sector in the three countries is dynamic as a space is created for NGOs to operate, sometimes collaboratively with the central government but sometime at odd with the authorities, and in most cases with heavy financial reliance on international donors in the absence of local philanthropic incentives (AbouAssi, 2014;Atia & Herrold, 2018;Herrold, 2018).…”

Snuggling Together or Exploring Options? A Multilevel Analysis of Nonprofit Partnership Formation and Evolution in an Unstable Institutional Context

“…However, strong personal relationships or professional ties could mitigate the potential negative impact of intense inter-organizational competition for government and donor funding on collaboration (O’Leary & Vij, 2012; Qian et al, 2020). The developing country context may find greater use of the personal social capital for managing conflicts and competition, due to the unstable institutional context and the elevated importance of personal and informal relationships (Herrold, 2018). Indeed, scholars (AbouAssi & Tschirhart, 2018; Koch et al, 2009; McCarthy, 2004) highlight the impact of donor ties on the formation of coherent social structures.…”