Non-government organisations (NGOs) are special kinds of organisation which focus on serving the common good in society. Historically they have helped the needy, disadvantaged and vulnerable people and communities. The view that society had of NGOs has changed: they are no longer seen as charity and welfare organisations but as valuable partners in the context of sustainable development. Although many different non-profit organisations exist, all strive towards development, betterment and upliftment. These organisations are dependent on funding, yet need to be sustainable, which creates the challenge of obtaining funding in order to render services. This research explored the current funding context, using Bramley’s Children’s Home as a case study, in order to identify the challenges experienced by NGOs in obtaining adequate funding. It also investigated the perceptions of management regarding the impact of these challenges on the sustainability of the organisation. The research findings indicate that funding is seen as a common dilemma in this sector, and that there is a lack of sufficient long-term investment from donors. The effect is that NGOs struggle to implement much-needed services and therefore improving services in order to address the constantly changing needs of people remains a challenge. Emphasis has been placed on the importance of collaboration between the NGO sector, the business sector and government. By establishing partnerships each sector can benefit when contributing to sustainable development and can possibly also address the challenge of funding within NGOs. This research strives to showcase the important role of NGOs within the context of sustainable development, with specific reference to Bramley Children’s Home in addressing the social problem of caring for and protecting vulnerable children. / Master of Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Non-government organisations (NGOs) are special kinds of organisation which focus on serving the common good in society. Historically they have helped the needy, disadvantaged and vulnerable people and communities. The view that society had of NGOs has changed: they are no longer seen as charity and welfare organisations but as valuable partners in the context of sustainable development. Although many different non-profit organisations exist, all strive towards development, betterment and upliftment. These organisations are dependent on funding, yet need to be sustainable, which creates the challenge of obtaining funding in order to render services. This research explored the current funding context, using Bramley’s Children’s Home as a case study, in order to identify the challenges experienced by NGOs in obtaining adequate funding. It also investigated the perceptions of management regarding the impact of these challenges on the sustainability of the organisation. The research findings indicate that funding is seen as a common dilemma in this sector, and that there is a lack of sufficient long-term investment from donors. The effect is that NGOs struggle to implement much-needed services and therefore improving services in order to address the constantly changing needs of people remains a challenge. Emphasis has been placed on the importance of collaboration between the NGO sector, the business sector and government. By establishing partnerships each sector can benefit when contributing to sustainable development and can possibly also address the challenge of funding within NGOs. This research strives to showcase the important role of NGOs within the context of sustainable development, with specific reference to Bramley Children’s Home in addressing the social problem of caring for and protecting vulnerable children. / Master of Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In recent years the ideas of good governance and the responsibility of corporate South Africa to contribute to the society in which they operate have become an undeniable part of organisational conception. Indeed, South Africa is considered to be a leader in the field of corporate governance internationally. Forming part of governance practices is Corporate Social Investment (CSI) whereby corporate organisations contribute to causes and societal groupings in need of financial and other assistance. Among these societal groupings that receive support from CSI activities are non-profit organisations (NPOs) that rely on funding from their corporate donors for survival. Based on the exchange of funding and a shared attempt at social development, a relationship between the two parties emerges. From the perspective of the stakeholder theory, corporate organisations, through their CSI activities, and NPOs are stakeholders of each other and a positive relationship between them could strengthen their individual and collective goals. This study explored and described the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs in order to understand the state of the relationship and to critically consider the way in which the relationship is defined, described and measured. First, the relationship was explored by means of partially structured interviews based on well-known relationship indicators where it appeared that the relationship is not only fraught with negative perceptions from both sides, but also where the relationship indicators used to explore the relationship were not entirely suited for the specific context of this relationship. The negative perceptions and inappropriate relationship indicators formed the basis of a theoretical inquiry of literature on CSI, stakeholder relationships and participatory development communication. Subsequently, the partially structured interviews and the literature review informed the design of two corresponding survey questionnaires that could test both findings quantitatively. The results of validity and reliability testing confirmed the qualitative finding that a contextualised measurement is suited for this relationship. A mix of existing and newly formulated items grouped in contextual elements and redefined relationship indicators was used to describe the relationship. A combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative results indicated that the relationship is not as negative as the qualitative research might have suggested (possibly a result of contextualised measurement); but that very specific relational challenges are present and it is suggested that these challenges need a realistic approach of which accurate description is a starting point. The research contributes twofold with the first contribution being a clearer understanding of the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs and the second being a set of redefined and contextualised relationship indicators with which to define and measure this relationship. / PhD (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In recent years the ideas of good governance and the responsibility of corporate South Africa to contribute to the society in which they operate have become an undeniable part of organisational conception. Indeed, South Africa is considered to be a leader in the field of corporate governance internationally. Forming part of governance practices is Corporate Social Investment (CSI) whereby corporate organisations contribute to causes and societal groupings in need of financial and other assistance. Among these societal groupings that receive support from CSI activities are non-profit organisations (NPOs) that rely on funding from their corporate donors for survival. Based on the exchange of funding and a shared attempt at social development, a relationship between the two parties emerges. From the perspective of the stakeholder theory, corporate organisations, through their CSI activities, and NPOs are stakeholders of each other and a positive relationship between them could strengthen their individual and collective goals. This study explored and described the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs in order to understand the state of the relationship and to critically consider the way in which the relationship is defined, described and measured. First, the relationship was explored by means of partially structured interviews based on well-known relationship indicators where it appeared that the relationship is not only fraught with negative perceptions from both sides, but also where the relationship indicators used to explore the relationship were not entirely suited for the specific context of this relationship. The negative perceptions and inappropriate relationship indicators formed the basis of a theoretical inquiry of literature on CSI, stakeholder relationships and participatory development communication. Subsequently, the partially structured interviews and the literature review informed the design of two corresponding survey questionnaires that could test both findings quantitatively. The results of validity and reliability testing confirmed the qualitative finding that a contextualised measurement is suited for this relationship. A mix of existing and newly formulated items grouped in contextual elements and redefined relationship indicators was used to describe the relationship. A combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative results indicated that the relationship is not as negative as the qualitative research might have suggested (possibly a result of contextualised measurement); but that very specific relational challenges are present and it is suggested that these challenges need a realistic approach of which accurate description is a starting point. The research contributes twofold with the first contribution being a clearer understanding of the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs and the second being a set of redefined and contextualised relationship indicators with which to define and measure this relationship. / PhD (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In this study it is argued that organisations can contribute to development through their Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives (CSR). Therefore one should consider CSR programmes similar to development programmes and should be managed accordingly. When one communicates in a development context it happens within the extensive field of development communication. In this field the participatory approach to development communication is regarded as the normative approach. In view of this, this study argues that communication in CSR programmes should conform to the principles of the participatory approach. Participatory evaluation is one of the elements of the participatory approach; therefore the evaluation of programmes should adhere to the principles of the participatory approach to contribute to sustainable development. For this reason this study is informed by the relevant principles of the participatory approach to evaluation: dialogue; participation; empowerment and diversity. These principles of participatory evaluation are rooted in the mentioned principles and they are: partnership; participation in evaluation; acknowledgement of local knowledge; empowerment and change. The financial sector in South Africa is one of the largest financial contributors towards CSR. As a result, two financial organisations were chosen to be studied. The research question of this study is: What is the nature of the communication during evaluation of CSR programmes in the financial sector? A qualitative approach is used in this study to obtain the relevant information. Qualitative content analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used as research methods. The conclusion is made that none of the five programmes in this study use participatory evaluation to evaluate their CSR programmes. In two of the programmes a limited partnership is identified between the organisation and/or the program leader and the beneficiaries, while no partnership was found in the other three programmes. Limited participation from the beneficiaries of the two programmes during evaluation was observed; hence limited local knowledge is recognised in these two programmes. It was also found that only two programmes' beneficiaries are empowered through evaluation and only these two programmes changed according to the beneficiaries’ input. These findings that were made through an empirical study indicate that in spite of the limited presence of some principles of participatory evaluation in two of the five programmes, neither of the organisations uses participatory evaluation methods to evaluate their CSR programmes. / Thesis (MA (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In this study it is argued that organisations can contribute to development through their Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives (CSR). Therefore one should consider CSR programmes similar to development programmes and should be managed accordingly. When one communicates in a development context it happens within the extensive field of development communication. In this field the participatory approach to development communication is regarded as the normative approach. In view of this, this study argues that communication in CSR programmes should conform to the principles of the participatory approach. Participatory evaluation is one of the elements of the participatory approach; therefore the evaluation of programmes should adhere to the principles of the participatory approach to contribute to sustainable development. For this reason this study is informed by the relevant principles of the participatory approach to evaluation: dialogue; participation; empowerment and diversity. These principles of participatory evaluation are rooted in the mentioned principles and they are: partnership; participation in evaluation; acknowledgement of local knowledge; empowerment and change. The financial sector in South Africa is one of the largest financial contributors towards CSR. As a result, two financial organisations were chosen to be studied. The research question of this study is: What is the nature of the communication during evaluation of CSR programmes in the financial sector? A qualitative approach is used in this study to obtain the relevant information. Qualitative content analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used as research methods. The conclusion is made that none of the five programmes in this study use participatory evaluation to evaluate their CSR programmes. In two of the programmes a limited partnership is identified between the organisation and/or the program leader and the beneficiaries, while no partnership was found in the other three programmes. Limited participation from the beneficiaries of the two programmes during evaluation was observed; hence limited local knowledge is recognised in these two programmes. It was also found that only two programmes' beneficiaries are empowered through evaluation and only these two programmes changed according to the beneficiaries’ input. These findings that were made through an empirical study indicate that in spite of the limited presence of some principles of participatory evaluation in two of the five programmes, neither of the organisations uses participatory evaluation methods to evaluate their CSR programmes. / Thesis (MA (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013