A study of competitive strategies used by non governmental organizations to attract funds in the ngo industry: a case of NGOs in winam division, kisumu district, Kenya

Abstract

This research project looked at the Competitive strategies used by Non Governmental Organizations to attract funds in the NGO industry. It studied 64 NGOs that operate in Winam Division, Kisumu District, Kenya. The study sought to find out what competitive strategies are used by these NGOs to compete for funds from donors. Traditionally, NGOs relied on the goodwill and generosity of "others" (collectively called "donors") to cover for the costs of their activities. Today, unfortunately, NGOs in third world countries find that such traditional funding sources are insufficient to meet the growing needs and the rising costs of their operations. Poverty, corruption and social problems facing many third world governments have made many donor funding organizations to reorganize their financial strategies, leaving many NGO without adequate capital to provide those services that are badly needed by the poor. The study identified the main strategies that these NGOs use to source funds to be comprising of proposal writing, engaging in income generating activities, searching for sponsorships and proposing activities that attract humanitarian concerns like poverty eradication, HIV and AIDS, health and sanitation among others. It established that NGOs in Winam division compete among themselves to implement activities that attract funding and that the INGOs seem to be having a greater competitive edge/advantage over the others, followed by National NGOs, then local NGOs down to the CBOs and the FBOs. These NGOs also face competition from the government and local authorities. The study established that the strategies that NGOs use to win competitive advantage over the others were related to efficiency and effectiveness in implementation of proposed activities and these included quality training of the staff, effective advocacy and fundamental principles. Other strategies are related to proper utilization of resources and these included accountability and transparency in resource control among others. These NGOs also have specific strengths that attract funding. The most prevalent strength of these NGOs originate from the highly qualified staff (30.2%) that they employ in their organizations, followed by support frOlln the community (18.6%). The ability to network and empowerment approaches are also strengths that enabled the NGOs to attract funding. The other competitive strategies that NGOs have are the missions that they address, clear visions they focus on and the core values that guide the conduct and to which donors give top priority when considering funding disbursement. It emerged from the study that many NGOs in the area are involved in various activities such as capacity building, HIV/AIDS campaign, environment conservation, entrepreneurship, Human rights campaign, among others to attract funding. On the challenges facing NGOs in Winam, the study established that stiff competition, low community participation, environmental degradation, limited resources and HIV/AIDS. The greatest challenges experienced were low community participation and lack of funding (55.2%).