EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• 0.1 - Background
• 0.2 - Literature Review
• 0.3 - Methodology
• 0.4 - Findings
• 0.5 - Conclusions
  

BACKGROUND (back to top)

The study was conducted for Community Volunteers Foundation, an exemplary human services nonprofit organization in Turkey, whose aim is to build social awareness among youth aged 17-25 by channeling their energy into social responsibility projects.  In a few years, the organization demonstrated a successful transition from the inception of an informal grassroots movement to the development of a sustainable formal organization.

To continue and sustain its growth, Community Volunteers Foundation requested evaluation research that identifies the factors that contributed to its early-stage growth as well as the challenges it faced during this transitionary period.  The purpose of this study is to help the organization better understand its success criteria and use this knowledge as a tool to make more informed decisions in order to achieve further stability.


LITERATURE REVIEW (back to top)

Although nonprofits have been studied for many decades, there is a comparatively small amount of research around the management and growth of grassroots nonprofit organizations.  The existing literature points at two essentials that may influence the growth of nonprofit organizations: nonprofit lifecycles and organizational effectiveness or capacity building.  This research also reviews the last decade’s prominent publications that shed light on factors behind high-impact and growth.


METHODOLOGY (back to top)

This is a qualitative study with exploratory and descriptive research.  A face-to-face interview design with open-ended questions was used to assemble primary data from 21 past and present stakeholders who consist of founders, trustees, board members, staff and supporters (donors, volunteers, partners etc.) as well as other community leaders in Turkey.  These in-depth interviews were conducted in Turkish and questions were tailored per constituents’ involvement.  The researcher also collected collateral information from the organization’s annual reports, brochures, and press releases as well as from external sources, i.e. articles in the media.

The researcher is fluent in Turkish and English, familiar with both Turkish and American cultures and knowledgeable regarding the historical and social context of nonprofit organizations in Turkey and the United States.  She, therefore, was able to provide a safe and supportive space for the subjects to describe their experience with this organization and their observations regarding its growth.


FINDINGS (back to top)

The primary research questions intended to identify the factors that enabled the organization’s rapid growth and to describe how the organization achieved its transition from start-up to maturity stage.  In this regard, more than 90 percent of participants pointed out four essential components in building this high-impact organization, explicitly (1) charismatic and visionary leader, (2) commitment to transparency and accountability, (3) inspiring and well-thought out organizational design, and (4) adaptive capacity to manage change.  Additionally, more than 70 percent of respondents highlighted the importance of (5) energetic target population, (6) replicable model, (7) diverse projects, (8) ongoing needs assessment, (9) strategic planning, (10) democratic organizational culture, and (11) empowering trainings, whereas more than 50 percent of subjects emphasized the significance of (12) devoted staff members and (13) innovative fundraising strategies in realizing early-stage growth. 

The secondary research question aimed at describing the past and future challenges.  Unlike primary research question findings, none of the challenges were agreed upon by more than a majority.  In their responses, the subjects predominantly addressed current and future challenges and shared their concerns around a diverse range of issues.  The researcher grouped these as (1) leadership succession, (2) external circumstances, (3) volunteerism-related, and (4) communication issues, in addition to past challenges.  Brief lists of various other challenges as well as various other factors were also provided as references in this section.


CONCLUSIONS (back to top)

To fulfill the purpose of this study, the researcher suggests that the organization continue investing in its success factors to sustain performance and achieve further stability.  All of these factors, with the exception of leadership, can be continued without critical change.  Even though the founding leader’s contribution was one of the key elements of early-stage growth, it can be stated that in moving from maturity to stability stage, this factor can be replaced with a shared leadership model requiring an active and engaged board in partnership with an effective management team.

Regarding the challenges, the researcher recommends that the organization allocate time and money to invest in further capacity building activities to empower its volunteers, staff, and board members.  The organization can also benefit from further research and evaluation efforts to collect measurable data and analyze its effectiveness on a regular basis.  Additionally, examining other high-impact organizations serving a similar target population may provide further insights.