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An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town

The outbreak of the pandemic had a severe impact on every sector, including the NPO sector. This research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on non-profit organisations (NPOs) in Cape Town. Due to the unprecedented nature of this crisis, there is limited literature on how the pandemic has affec...

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Main Author: Sidimba, Luzuko
Other Authors: Atmore, Eric
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Social Development 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Sidimba, Luzuko
author2 Atmore, Eric
author_browse Atmore, Eric
Sidimba, Luzuko
author_facet Atmore, Eric
Sidimba, Luzuko
author_sort Sidimba, Luzuko
collection Thesis
description The outbreak of the pandemic had a severe impact on every sector, including the NPO sector. This research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on non-profit organisations (NPOs) in Cape Town. Due to the unprecedented nature of this crisis, there is limited literature on how the pandemic has affected non-profit organisations in South Africa or in Cape Town. This research seeks to contribute to closing this gap. The main objectives of this research are as follows: Firstly, to understand the challenges imposed by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, mostly known as COVID-19, on NPOs' access to funding, which subsequently resulted due to the lockdown restrictions. Secondly, to understand the challenges imposed by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the operations and the ability of NPOs to implement programmes. Thirdly, to understand the role of NPO leadership during the lockdown restriction levels. Finally, to understand what strategies were implemented by NPOs to mitigate the challenge imposed by lockdown restrictions. This is a mixed methodology research study, and purposive sampling was used to select participants in this research study. The research study has used quantitative and qualitative research methods when collecting data. Survey questionnaires were emailed to 70 NPOs, 28 of which completed the questionnaire. For the qualitative data collection, 34 NPOs were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews, 12 of which participated. Some of the interviews were conducted virtually using Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and other interviews were conducted face-to-face. All coronavirus regulations were observed. The research has found that the virus lockdown restrictions had a severe impact on the financial stability of organisations. The lockdown restrictions have made it impossible for organisations to generate revenue. On the other hand, the lockdown restrictions have challenged organisational leaders to improve their technological skills, as they were forced to run their organisations through virtual platforms. Employees in all sectors, including the NPO sector, were forced to work remotely as a way of adhering to the lockdown regulations. Be that as it may, organisational leaders who were interviewed for this research study highlighted their staffs' hard work during the initial phases of the lockdown regulations, and for their role in the resilience of organisations since the outbreak of the pandemic. Finally, having strategic plans prior to the outbreak of the pandemic have been found to be effective during the initial phases of the lockdown, especially when it comes to guiding the decision-making process. Organisations were able to use their existing strategic plan to decide which programmes needed to be prioritised.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:31.121Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Department of Social Development
publisherStr Department of Social Development
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38166 An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town Sidimba, Luzuko Atmore, Eric Social Policy and Management The outbreak of the pandemic had a severe impact on every sector, including the NPO sector. This research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on non-profit organisations (NPOs) in Cape Town. Due to the unprecedented nature of this crisis, there is limited literature on how the pandemic has affected non-profit organisations in South Africa or in Cape Town. This research seeks to contribute to closing this gap. The main objectives of this research are as follows: Firstly, to understand the challenges imposed by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, mostly known as COVID-19, on NPOs' access to funding, which subsequently resulted due to the lockdown restrictions. Secondly, to understand the challenges imposed by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the operations and the ability of NPOs to implement programmes. Thirdly, to understand the role of NPO leadership during the lockdown restriction levels. Finally, to understand what strategies were implemented by NPOs to mitigate the challenge imposed by lockdown restrictions. This is a mixed methodology research study, and purposive sampling was used to select participants in this research study. The research study has used quantitative and qualitative research methods when collecting data. Survey questionnaires were emailed to 70 NPOs, 28 of which completed the questionnaire. For the qualitative data collection, 34 NPOs were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews, 12 of which participated. Some of the interviews were conducted virtually using Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, and other interviews were conducted face-to-face. All coronavirus regulations were observed. The research has found that the virus lockdown restrictions had a severe impact on the financial stability of organisations. The lockdown restrictions have made it impossible for organisations to generate revenue. On the other hand, the lockdown restrictions have challenged organisational leaders to improve their technological skills, as they were forced to run their organisations through virtual platforms. Employees in all sectors, including the NPO sector, were forced to work remotely as a way of adhering to the lockdown regulations. Be that as it may, organisational leaders who were interviewed for this research study highlighted their staffs' hard work during the initial phases of the lockdown regulations, and for their role in the resilience of organisations since the outbreak of the pandemic. Finally, having strategic plans prior to the outbreak of the pandemic have been found to be effective during the initial phases of the lockdown, especially when it comes to guiding the decision-making process. Organisations were able to use their existing strategic plan to decide which programmes needed to be prioritised. 2023-07-28T07:45:50Z 2023-07-28T07:45:50Z 2023 2023-07-28T07:45:13Z Master Thesis Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38166 eng application/pdf Department of Social Development Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle Social Policy and Management
Sidimba, Luzuko
An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town
thesis_degree_str Master's
title An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town
title_full An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town
title_fullStr An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town
title_full_unstemmed An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town
title_short An investigation into the impact of COVID 19 on non-profit organisations in Cape Town
title_sort investigation into the impact of covid 19 on non profit organisations in cape town
topic Social Policy and Management
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38166
work_keys_str_mv AT sidimbaluzuko aninvestigationintotheimpactofcovid19onnonprofitorganisationsincapetown
AT sidimbaluzuko investigationintotheimpactofcovid19onnonprofitorganisationsincapetown