The purpose of this study is to investigate whether smart administrative governance (SAG) and smart technical governance (STG) affect sustainable development (SD). Importantly, it explores the moderating effect of human capital training and development (HCTD) on the relationship of SAG and STG to SD. To this end, data was gathered from a sample of 318 respondents from Nonprofit organizations in Saudi Arabia and analyzed using PLS-SEM via SmartPLS. The findings demonstrated that SAG positively affects SD, while STG has no effect on SD. Moreover, HCTD directly and favorably affects SD. Importantly, HCTD negatively moderates the relationship between STG and SD. In contrast, HCTD does not moderate the relationship between STG and SD. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by providing a nuanced understanding of how to enhance SD in nonprofit organizations by highlighting the distinct roles of SAG and STG. Hence, this study enriches the literature on governance and sustainability and has implications for both practitioners and policymakers.