Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Peter Anthony

Abstract

AbstractIn the post-2008 Great Recession era of a highly volatile global business environment of increased competitiveness, diminishing predictable revenues, and depleting philanthropy, many nonprofit leaders struggle to sustain their organizations. Volatility is important to nonprofit leaders because such fluctuations create unpredictability, which threatens their organizations' financial stability for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. Grounded in Elkington's triple bottom line conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore nonprofit leaders' strategies for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. The participants comprised 3 senior leaders in a nonprofit located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States who used successful short-term survivability and long-term sustainability strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, the organization's archival documents, and GuideStar. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, yielding themes of strong ethical governance and leadership, systemic strategies, robust programmatic processes, and proactive revenue generation. A key recommendation is that nonprofit leaders adopt an entrepreneurial leadership mindset and use social entrepreneurial activities as alternative revenues to increase income streams by creating added value to sustaining supporters. The implications for positive social change include leaders of nonprofit organizations directly sustaining opportunities for the most disadvantaged citizens to receive services.

Download

Share

 
COinS