This study examines Irish nonprofits (small and large) that receive funding from the Irish government. It considers how they develop activities and services in an environment of various and multiple influences from founders, funders, users/beneficiaries and other stakeholders. I worked on this with Professor Gemma Donnelly-Cox from the Business School of Trinity College and co-director of the Centre for Social Innovation.
The study is distinctive in breadth and depth – with a sampling frame extending across the Irish NP sector – and in its conceptual grounding in organisation theory. A sampling frame of state-funded nonprofits was derived from a review of 20+ programmes across 13 government departments and agencies. In the first stage of the research funded organisations were identified, and then stratified and randomly sampled. Following this data on over 500 organisations were examined using the Benefacts database. In the second stage of research these 500 organisations were surveyed with a request to supply further information, principally:
- Data on governance, identity and resources to supplement Benefacts data
- The extent of the stakeholder base
- Views on the development of activities and services, specifically in relation to innovation, proactive action and risk-taking.
Respondents needed to be senior staff in the target organisation with an understanding of the organisation’s strategic development. In very small organisations, a board member or company secretary might be the best respondent.
This research was governed by the research ethics standards of the Trinity Business School and has been reviewed by the school’s ethics committee. All data was held securely and was GDPR compliant, and the results anonymized. More on this subject is available here.
This has been a concise account of the research project – follow the links provided to individual posts learn more about specific aspects. Some links are currently private, either because they are pre-publication or because the content is still in draft form. Some pre-publication results are being made available to survey respondents – they should contact byrned49@tcd.ie for the passwords and re-visit for updates. Following analysis of the data obtained, a third phase of research was undertaken involving a small number of interviews with a sample of respondents.
Social Economy Investigator 