Abstract:
The rising rate of collapsing initially donor funded income generating projects
has escalated interest on sustainability. This study sought to establish influence
of IGAs on financial sustainability of Compassion International Church
Partners. The targeted population was 118 churches in four stratified program
regions across Kenya. Proportionate stratification formula (nh = (Nh / N) * n)
was engaged to select 91 churches from the four regions that had partnered
with Compassion International –Kenya for at least 10 years. Data was collected
online using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results revealed that churches
are effective in communicating the IGAs (65%) and the plans for the economic
activities they are involved in for sustainability. However, the ability to
integrate income generating and fundraising processes into the existing
financial and administrative structures was below average (40%). Correlation
analysis revealed that contrary to people’s expectation, there was a significant
negative correlation between financial sustainability and income generation
activities (r=. -234, p<.05). Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that
IGAs had insignificant predictive abilities for financial sustainability at 95%
confidence, p>.05 (β=- 0.024, t=-.0289, p>.001) of the church partners. Results
indicate high dependency on Compassion International funding which does not
assure sustainability. The findings shall inform practice, rules, grant guidelines,
local resource mobilization and government policy formulation.
