Pathways to Change: Explaining the Effectiveness in Community Based Development Organiztions

Abstract

In recent years, nonprofit organizations have come under increasing pressure from funders and other key stakeholders to prove they are "worthy" of significantly expanded support and cooperation. One area in which nonprofit activity has been increasing is in the delivery of community based services. Since the late 1960s, community based development organizations (CBDOs) have been recipients of public and private funding aimed at stabilizing and improving living conditions in inner city neighborhoods. To some extent, policy makers have recognized the value of supporting CBDOs, because of their ability to mobilize local initiatives to address local priorities. CBDOs engage in various economic development activities for a wide variety of community and economic objectives. Nonetheless, developing standards to capture their performance is more complex compared to private enterprises and other nonprofits such as human service organizations. This distinctiveness points to the need to develop a more inclusive model which captures organizational characteristics and environmental factors as correlates of organizational effectiveness. This study attempts to add to the theoretical framework of CBDO effectiveness by developing testable hypotheses. Moreover, this study offers a two-staged approach 1. Through a perceptual measure, based on self-reports gathered through a survey of CBDO leaders, and 2. Through an objective measure based on census data indicating the city-level change in vacant housing. The findings from ordinary least square regression models suggest that performance indicators, political capacity, board governance, and CBDO expenditures are important predictors of CBDO effectiveness. This study concludes with an in-depth discussion of findings and avenues for future research.