The NGOs and Covid 19 Pandemic: A New Challenge for Charitable Giving and NGOs’ Mission Models

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2019 all organisations, including non-profit organisations, have had to learn how to deal with completely new challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our paper aims to show to what extent the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the mission models of NGOs in areas such as types of beneficiaries, type of services, channels of communication, funding streams, key activities, and key partners. In order to reach this aim, we conducted a theoretical analysis of the charitable giving and models of NGOs activity and adopted a questionnaire survey methodology. A total of 575 NGOs from Poland, Croatia, and Lithuania participated in the study. Our study has found that the impact of the pandemic on NGO mission models varies and that pandemic can have a dual effect on the financial situation of NGOs. Despite the difficulties, some organizations gained from the pandemic (mainly those operating in the health and social care), and others lost.

The ability of non-governmental organizations to overcome crises: the case of NGOs in Slovakia during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…In case of Slovakia, the pandemic hit hardest NGOs, which are dedicated to social and health services or production of events in culture. The activities in the field of education and awareness building, or climate change and natural conservation, were the least affected in line with literature [21].…”

“…As in the conditions of other Central European countries, the majority of investigated community-led non-governmental organizations in Slovakia were not existentially threatened due to the negative effects of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic [2,21]. The impacts of the pandemic on the ability of NGOs to survive, to maintain their activities and to pool resources appear to be similar to the conditions of European and third countries [17][18][19][20].…”

“…The literature discussing resilience-building and adaptation strategies of NGOs during the pandemic brings diverse and often contradictory conclusions. It appears that the challenges faced by NGOs are to some extent institution-specific, have a local-specific context and depend on the scope of NGO action, its ability to maintain income from own activities and identify opportunities that arise in times of crisis [2,21]. Studies of NGO resilience in times of previous global crises (see [22]) have already shown that some NGOs are more sensitive to crises than others.…”

“…Some studies came up with the hypothesis that NGOs can be divided into those benefiting from the crisis and those harmed by the crisis. Results of Waniak-Michalak et al [21] suggest that NGOs operating in health and social care gained from the pandemic, while others lost. However, other authors of empirical studies did not identify significant transformation of NGOs during the COVID-19 pandemic [2].…”

Nonprofits’ Marketing Challenges and Opportunities After the COVID-19 Era

“…All the sectors are facing the brunt of the pandemic, and NPOs are no stranger to these challenges. NPOs have been affected by multiple financial crises throughout history (Waniak-Michalak et al, 2022). For instance, in a survey conducted by CAF America in 2020, 9.9% of the responded nonprofit enterprises were forced to close their business due to the pandemic.…”