Influence of Strategic Management Practices on the Allocation of Funds in Environmental Non-governmental Organizations in Nairobi City County

Abstract

The necessity for advanced Strategic Management (SM) practices by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) is inevitably linked to limited resources and due diligence by the host government and donors. The main goal of this research was to assess the influence of strategic management practices on the allocations of funds in environmental NGOs in Nairobi City County in Kenya. The study took a descriptive survey design approach which was more suitable for gathering information of the selected NGOs in Kenya due to its broad application in planning, monitoring and evaluation policies. From the target of 52 environmental NGOs, 45 responses were received (response rate of 87%). Data was collected via a semi structured online questionnaire, was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and presented in charts, graphs, tables and figures. The outcomes of this research led to the conclusion that over 71.1% (around 32 NGOs) of the environmental NGOs had an established strategic management department and 95% (43 NGOs) of the respondents in the NGOs were aware of the different strategic management practices adopted in their organization. This indicated the importance of strategic management practices for the survival of NGOs. The study also found that the four key aspects of strategic management practices (environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, monitoring and evaluation) were rated as important to a great extent by the environmental NGOs in Nairobi Kenya using a 5 point Likert scale. In terms of allocation of funds from the research it was agreed that feasibility of projects affected the amounts allocated for implementation of different projects for the NGOs, there was an increased demand for accountability of NGOs resources from the donors and the need for strategic management practices when allocating the scarce funds received and NGO program implementation strategies have been redesigned to include constituents of cost recovery, in which program beneficiaries make a contribution if not all, of the program costs. Lastly based on the regression analysis holding other variables at constant zero, a unit increase in strategic management practices lead to a 0.495 increase in the allocation of funds in environmental NGOs in Nairobi Kenya at a 5% level of significance and 95% level of confidence. It is thus deduced that strategic management practices influence allocation of funds in environmental NGOs. Further studies should be done by researchers to determine the effect of donor financing and sustainability of NGOs amidst a turbulent and ever-changing environment and another to evaluate the relationship of pre-funding and post-funding allocation of funds in NGOs.