published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Concerns have long been raised about the conduct and accountability of charitable organisations, particularly the adequacy of reporting and oversight mechanisms. Consequently, charities and the institutions that monitor the sector are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their legitimacy. This thesis focuses on the ways in which risk is operationalised by the Scottish Charity Regulator and experienced by charities. In particular, it examines the nature, extent, determinants and outcomes of four types of risk: complaints concerning charity conduct, regulatory action in response to a complaint, financial vulnerability, and triggering accountability concerns. The thesis begins with a detailed review of the overlapping literatures of risk, regulation and charity theory, and the development of a contextual framework for guiding the empirical work. The thesis draws on contemporary large-scale administrative social science data derived from the regulator, supported by modest use of primary social survey and qualitative data. Findings from the four empirical chapters provide evidence that the risks explored in this research are uncommon for individual charities but are a persistent feature of the sector as a whole, and vary in predictable ways across certain organisational characteristics. The results also reveal the concern of charities with financial risks, their willingness to demonstrate transparency regarding their actions (particularly in response to complaints), and the perceived lack of regulatory burden. The thesis makes an original contribution in the form of new empirical knowledge about the charity sector, in particular through the use of large-scale administrative social science data to ‘peer under the hood’ and shine a light on aspects of charity behaviour that are often overlooked. The thesis concludes with a reflection on the key findings and comments on potential areas for future research.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past two decades the Dutch Reformed Church, a typical mainline church in South Africa, encountered radical challenges, as was the case with many similar churches worldwide. The DR Church had to face global societal shifts such as the emergence of postmodernism, the intensifying of secularisation and the growing impact of globalisation on the religious community. In addition, the members of the DR Church were exposed to radical challenges due to the dismantling of the apartheid system in South Africa. This dismantling was a particularly traumatic experience for the DR Church, seeing that this church did not only support the apartheid regime, but also legitimized it on theological grounds. It is therefore understandable that the publishing of the document Kerk en Samelewing (“Church and Society”) in 1986, which first signalled the rejection of apartheid in the DR Church, evoked a major reaction, not only among the church membership, but also within the ranks of white Afrikaners as social group. With the dawn of the post-apartheid era in South Africa in 1994, the issue of the church's relevance was already on the agenda of the ecumenical church. In recent times suddenly this theme also became critical to the church in South Africa and especially to the DR Church. The present study proposes that a missional diaconal ministry which focuses on the society as a whole will provide a modus to the DR Church by which it can function as a relevant church within the South African society. The rationale of this investigation is a follows: The DR Church is currently (2014) not in a position to impact significantly on the societal needs of South African citizens. The reason is that this church's current ministry of compassion is still based on an ecclesiocentric and specialist approach, which was typical of the Corpus Christianum. As a result, a new, unique praxis is needed for the diaconal ministry of this church. The present study argues that missional theology provides a new paradigm according to which an applicable missional diaconal praxis can be developed for the DR Church. Such a unique diaconal praxis can only develop when it is guided by a spirituality that leads to a diaconal attitude and sensitivity towards the poor and destitute. This diaconal spirituality, in turn, is activated and fed by a missional theology that builds on the triune God as origin, basis and final purpose of the diaconal ministry as such. Furthermore in this study it is shown that the concept of missio Dei implies that the diaconal ministry forms an integral part of God’s mission and is thus not an isolated church ministry besides other ministries. It is further argued in the present study that a multi-dimensional missional-diaconal practice should be developed for congregations and the various structures within the DR Church. To facilitate the conceptualisation and operationalisation of a missional diaconal ministry in this church, the study proposes that a specific research focus, namely “Missional-diaconal Studies” should be developed for the South African environment. For this purpose a research and teaching institution should be established to provide in such needs of the church. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die NG Kerk, ’n tipiese hoofstroomkerk in Suid-Afrika, het die afgelope 20 jaar – soos vele ander kerke wêreldwyd – voor ingrypende uitdagings te staan gekom. Hierdie kerk moes globale samelewingsverskuiwings verwerk, soos die opkoms van postmodernisme, ’n verskerping in sekularisasie en die impak van globalisering op die geloofsgemeenskap. Daarbenewens is die NG Kerklidmate blootgestel aan ingrypende veranderings wat gevolg het op die aftakeling van die apartheidstelsel in Suid-Afrika. Hierdie aftakeling was veral traumaties vir die NG Kerk omdat hierdie kerk nie slegs apartheid ondersteun het nie, maar dit ook op teologiese gronde verdedig het. Dit is gevolglik begryplik dat die verskyning van die dokument Kerk en Samelewing (1986), waarin die eerste tekens van ’n wegbeweeg van die apartheidsideologie in die NG Kerk sigbaar word, hewige reaksie ontlok het – tussen die kerklidmate, maar ook in die blanke Afrikaners as samelewingsgroep. Met die aanbreek van die postapartheid-era in Suid-Afrika in 1994 was die vraag na die relevansie van die kerk reeds wêreldwyd op kerklike agendas. Skielik het hierdie vraag nou ook vir die kerk in Suid-Afrika, en veral die NG Kerk, ’n kernsaak geword. In hierdie studie word voorgestel dat ’n missionaal-diakonale bediening wat op die samelewing in geheel fokus, ’n moontlike modus vir die NG Kerk kan verskaf om vir die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing relevant te funksioneer. Die rasionaal van die ondersoek behels die volgende: As gevolg van die historiese ontwikkeling van die NG Kerk se diens van barmhartigheid, veral die verbondenheid aan ʼn volksteologie en nasionalisme die afgelope paar dekades, kan hierdie kerk binne die postapartheid-era tans (2014) nie werklik ʼn verskil aan die nood in die samelewing maak nie. Die bestaande barmhartigheidsbediening van hierdie kerk is steeds gebaseer op ʼn model wat nog spruit uit ʼn ekklesiosentriese en spesialisbenadering wat eie is aan die Corpus Christianum. Gevolglik is ʼn nuwe, eiesoortige praxis vir hierdie kerk se diakonaat nodig. In die huidige studie word betoog dat die missionale teologie ʼn nuwe paradigma voorsien waarvolgens ʼn toepaslike missionaal-diakonale praxis vir die NG Kerk ontwikkel kan word. So ʼn eiesoortige diakonale praxis kan egter slegs ontwikkel wanneer dit gerig word deur ’n spiritualiteit wat lei tot ’n diakonale gesindheid en houding teenoor die armes en noodlydendes. Hierdie diakonale spiritualiteit word aangewakker en gevoed deur ’n missionale teologie wat bou op God Drie-enig as oorsprong, basis en einddoel van die diakonaat. Verder word in hierdie studie aangetoon dat die missio Dei juis veronderstel dat die diakonaat ʼn wesenlike deel uitmaak van God se sending en gevolglik nie ʼn losstaande bediening van die kerk benewens ander bedienings is nie. In die studie word verder betoog dat ʼn multidimensionele missionaal-diakonale praktyk vir gemeentes en die onderskeie kerkverbande binne die NG Kerk ontwikkel behoort te word. Om die konseptualisering en operasionalisering van ʼn missionale diakonaat in hierdie kerk te bevorder word in die studie aanbeveel dat ’n navorsingsfokus, naamlik “Missionaaldiakonale Studie”, vir die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks ontwikkel word. Hiervoor behoort ʼn navorsings- en opleidingsinstelling in die lewe geroep te word om aan sodanige kerklike behoeftes te voldoen.

The exploration of the four key themes of leadership, spirituality, ethics and values and their relationship between and with employers and employees in human service charitable NGOs in Perth, Western Australian, provided the main purpose for the current research. In addition, the purpose included examining the impact of charities operating as if they were for-profit businesses; the impact of faith and secularity on the work of charities; and possible gender differences arising from the themes within this context. The qualitative research was undertaken using hermeneutic phenomenological methodology; however, feminism, post-modernism and narrative practices were used to elicit additional perspectives from the resulting material. The current research used a broad-ranging, multi-disciplinary approach, thus encompassing a literature review of the philosophical, ethical, psychological, theological and anthropological disciplines as it tracked some of the material’s substantial heritage. Additionally, the research focussed on the experience of charitable workplace cultures which provide the context for the delivery of human services, and discussed the current charitable human services paradigm. A total of 46 individuals from 8 different charities participated through in-depth interviews. They included organisational leaders, management and front-line workers who provided collectively and individually a rich mine of material for exploration and discovery from which to unravel the essence of the responses. / The emerging conclusions provide the capacity to view the charitable organisation from a gendered perspective, as female, thus reflecting the profile of the workforce; while also uncovering substantial discrimination and inequity in employment conditions. Leadership styles were gendered, as were the discourses on ethics, values and spirituality. Organisational size was a key factor in determining values and changing perspectives matched more closely, the business paradigm. The faith and secularity of each NGO also presented opportunities to map organisational intention around leadership, spirituality, ethics and values such that further research opportunities have been highlighted across the results.

published_or_final_version / Chinese Historical Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This Q study revealed Fort Wayne, Indiana donors' typical attitudes and perceptions toward philanthropy. Participants completed a 55-statement Q sort about 1) perceptions of nonprofit organizations, 2) various fundraising methods, and 3) types of organizations donors prefer funding.The researcher then entered the data into the PQMethod software and determined three factors of donors: Skeptical Givers, Generous Givers, and Untapped Givers.The Skeptical Givers did not trust nonprofit organizations and only donated a limited portion of their money to charities. Skeptical Givers also felt it was more important for them to save their money and support their family than it was for them to donate money to people in need.The Generous Givers held church as one of their top priorities. They were also taught that it was their social responsibility to help those in need. Therefore, the Generous Givers donated their time and over 11 percent of their annual income to nonprofit organizations.The Untapped Givers were business-minded individuals who were also committed to their communities and nonprofit organizations. They trusted nonprofits and considered helping the less fortunate to be a high priority. Although the Untapped Givers gave money to nonprofit organizations, they preferred to donate their time through volunteering and serving on boards of directors. The Untapped Givers were committed to giving financially to charities; however, they only gave a limited portion of their savings to charities.These three factors illustrated that nonprofit development officers should recognize that different strategies might be employed to entice separate segments of donors to give money. / Department of Journalism

This written thesis accompanies three television public service announcement spots. Two of the spots are 60 seconds and one of the spots is 45 seconds in length. I produced this public service television advertising campaign to highlight the issue of child illiteracy in Pakistan and to encourage expatriate and resident Pakistani's to donate to educational charities. A Website created by the filmmaker is promoted in the campaign. This Website provides information about various charities that educate children in Pakistan. Detailed accounts of pre-production, production and post-production of the campaign allow the viewer to comprehend the challenges in producing television campaigns for social causes. Theoretical issues are also discussed, including the causes of illiteracy, the importance and role of social campaigns, the history and uses of propaganda as well as the aesthetic concerns of a public service campaign producer. I discuss the importance of creating the culture of public service campaigns in a third world country like Pakistan, and states that the Pakistani community needs to look inwards to overcome the challenge of illiteracy.

This study modified the Ramanujam and Venkatraman (1987) questionnaire that was used to develop their model of planning system dimensions and planning effectiveness, and tested the model on a sample of private social service agencies. The criterion measures were level of planning sophistication, agency size, perceived environmental uncertainty, and relative competitive position. The sample was randomly drawn from private social service agencies which were members of the Community Council of Greater Dallas. Telephone interviews with fifty executive directors were conducted by a trained, impartial interviewer. Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to predict group membership between informal and formal planners. Of the nine dimensions in the model, three dimensions correctly classified 84 percent of the sample. The three dimensions were fulfillment of planning objectives, use of decision making techniques, and lack of resistance to planning. The level of perceived environmental uncertainty was another criterion set. Directors who perceived high uncertainty paid more attention to the external environment, used more decision making techniques, and relied on functional specialists when planning. Large and small agencies were classified by their annual budgets. Stepwise discriminant analysis using the planning system dimensions failed to reject the null hypothesis. Agencies reporting strong relative competitive positions placed greater emphasis on seeking information for planning from external sources. These agencies also reported less resistance for planning within their organizations, fulfillment of more planning objectives, and a flexible planning system. The discriminant analysis correctly classifed 74 percent of the sample. Finally, the study provided some baseline information on the use of planning techniques by private social service agencies. Just over half of the sample reported having written strategic plans covering at least three years.

No description available.

Marketing and advertising practitioners are currently matching up a brand with a cause and broadcasting the association to consumers in a practice called cause related marketing (CRM). Scholars are building a stream of academic research which seeks to understand the relationship between a brand and a cause (a.k.a., alliance) in relation to the final outcome of a CRM campaign. Ostensibly, both partners benefit from this alliance, although many CRM studies seek to understand how to optimize this relationship for each partner. In professional practice and academic research both practitioners and researchers have focused on established, popular, well-known causes in consideration of successful alliances. Less established, unfamiliar, unknown causes have yet to be considered for possible alliances. This research seeks to build a case for the successful alliance between a brand and an unfamiliar cause with an outcome that will outperform an alliance between the same brand and an established, popular, well-known cause. An experiment was conducted in which familiarity with the brand, familiarity with the cause, and vested interest in the cause were manipulated, and their effects on attitude towards the brand, attitude towards the cause, and attitude towards the brand-cause alliance measured. Results indicated that cause vested interest had a significant influence on attitude towards the brand and attitude towards the cause, regardless of brand and cause familiarity.