Government-Funded Sustainable Development and Professionalisation of NGOs

Abstract

This paper addresses the first financial initiative of the Slovenian government for the professionalisation and development of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to promote sustainability in the third sector. The measure was the result of the Non-Governmental Organisations Act, adopted in 2018, and was followed by the Development strategy of non-governmental organisations and volunteering until 2023 (DSNGOV). The state’s contribution to an increased level of professionalisation was welcomed by NGOs because, compared to other EU28 states, which have an average employment rate of 4.18%, Slovenia is far behind, with only 0.82% of its active working population being employed in the NGO sector. In May 2018, the Ministry of Public Administration released invitations to fund projects for the development and professionalisation of NGOs and voluntary service, providing grants for 100 NGO jobs. The final project results were compiled in March 2020, and the findings were evaluated in 29 survey reports in April 2020. The research focused on the occupations for which employees were sought, legal forms of the applicant NGOs and recruitment methods. The results demonstrate that the state measure was successful, as 69% of the funded jobs were sustained. However, most of the retained jobs were filled by those who were previously employed in the NGO sector (84.6%), so the employment rate has barely risen.

Endogenous Determinants of Innovation in the State of Duration and Organisational Change. Research of Silesian NGOs

“…Wherever the presence of elements of social capital is indicated for sustainable socioeconomic development and the building of long-lasting and depersonalised networks of relationships based on generalised trust or a culture of trust [46]. Its existence in a given context helps eliminate tensions and social distances resulting from strong and exclusive social bonds [18,19].…”

Financial Resource Mobilisation Strategies and Sustainability of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs): Evidence from Nigeria

“…Government funding constitutes an important funding strategy for NGOs (Herzer & Nunnenkamp, 2013;Kangiri, 2015;Khieng, 2014;Liu et al, 2015;Stremfelj et al, 2020). Khieng (2014) described it as "national budget allocation or development assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors, which is channelled through government ministries or sub-national government to NGOs.…”

“…Besel et al (2011) viewed government funding as the most dependable funding source for NGOs' survival. Many NGOs depend on government funding (Stremfelj et al, 2020), and this financial dependence on public money has increased in recent decades as more government-funded services are delivered through grants and contracts (Kerlin & Pollak, 2011;Ali & Kilika, 2016). Government funds have certain advantages because they can be used for a variety of activities, whether joint activities or events (Herzer & Nunnenkamp, 2013;Batti, 2014).…”

The Financial Aspect of Non_Governmental Organizations:

“…The NGOs only fill the gaps, and consequently play a marginal role, having problems with financing and voluntary work. However, all of those problems (low level of professionalisation, dependence on volunteers, and lack of resources) are typical for NGOs in the CEE region (Rojc Štremfelj et al, 2020).…”