Factors influencing the performance of projects in non-governmental organizations in Kenya: a case of Ujamaa Africa

Abstract

Non-Governmental Organizations need to measure whether the projects they implement are successful and they therefore need an effective system of managing and managing their performance. Performance is measured in different perspectives taking into consideration different stakeholder interests such as donors, beneficiaries’ interests and internal effectiveness. Managing and measuring performance in Non-Governmental Organizations can be used as a tool that assists organizations to evaluate impact, outcome and output of projects. Moreover, it can also be used both as strong inward feedback mechanism and as a learning tool. This study sought to find out the factors influencing the performance of projects in Non-Governmental Organization in Kenya. The study’s specific objectives were to determine the influence of project team capacity on project performance. It was also to determine the influence of community participation on project performance as well as the influence of donor funding and project planning on project performance. This study adopted a descriptive design. The target population comprised of 80 respondents from Ujamaa Africa. Due to the small number of respondents, the census approach was used on all the 80 employees. Primary data was collected by administering a semi-structured questionnaire. This type of questionnaire used had both closed and open ended questions. Quantitative data collected was analyzed using SPSS and presented through percentages, means, standard deviation and frequencies. The data was presented through tables and figures. The findings on project planning and project performance revealed a positive but insignificant relationship between project planning and NGO project performance,(β=.273, P<0.05;R2=.175). This implies that indeed NGO performance is slightly influenced by project planning. The results with regards to project team capacity revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between project team capacity and project performance (β=.301, P<0.05; R2 =0.324). Which was significant implying that performance of NGOs is influenced by project team capacity. Additionally, the findings on community participation and performance of NGO projects revealed that there is a positive significant relationship between community participation and NGO performance, (β=.305, p<0.05; R2 = .595) which was significant implying that indeed NGO project performance is largely influenced by community participation. On donor funding, there was a positive significant relationship between donor funding and NGO project performance (β=.654, P<0.05; .R2= .724) which was significant. An indication that indeed NGO project performance is largely influenced by donor funding. This shows that all the variables were significant (P<0.05) with donor funding being the most significant and project planning being the least significant. These findings are expected to benefit NGOs to curb current challenges such as insufficient donor funding, enhance community participation as well as develop policies and procedures that will govern NGOs in Kenya.