Decision making criteria to fund civil society organisations

Abstract

Post-1994 civil society in South Africa plays two roles, that of social service delivery and that of social watchdog. The former has civil society organisations providing services government should be delivering but is unable to. In order for civil society organisations to be able to fulfil this role effectively, they require financial resources. These financial resources are sourced from various entities such as government, corporates, foundations and high net worth individuals. Currently this funding environment is considered to be constrained albeit debatable but the civil society organisations requirement for funding has not changed. The purpose of the research is to gain insight into the decision making criteria organisations use to fund civil society organisations. Government and business are critical sources of funding to civil society that allow the civil society organisation to carry out their activities mainly of service delivery. Like most funding organisations management or a committee conducts budget approvals. To achieve the purpose of the research an exploratory qualitative method of study was used, 13 structured interviews were conducted with heads of Corporate Social Investment departments or foundations in selected corporates and state owned enterprises to establish the decision making criteria they use to allocate funding to civil society organisations. The data was analysed and common themes were extracted. The findings highlighted the funding strategies, a list of factors as well as influences of decision making styles and processes as the criteria used to make the decisions in funding civil society organisations and how these criteria are applied.