The business model canvas of NGOs by Judith Sanderse.pdf

In 1999 the global non-profit sector had a turnover of over $1 trillion with 19 million fully paid employees. It was the equivalent of the eighth largest economy (Sustainability 2003). Despite this, it was poorly understood. In 2008 Lambell, Ramia, Nyland and Michelotti concluded that non-governmental organisations (NGO) are still relatively absent from the mainstream scholarly management and broader business studies literature. On the other hand, business models and business model canvas is a subject that has been discussed and much researched since the publication of Osterwalder’s dissertation in 2004.

The importance of the NGO sector and a desire to better understand their business models was the inspiration for this research - the creation of a tool useful for NGOs, academics and practitioners. Hence, the main objective is the development of a specialized business model canvas for NGOs. The central research question of this study is defined as ‘how is a NGO business model canvas structured?’

A business model canvas for NGOs was conceptualised utilising Osterwalder and Pigneur’s (2010) third party funded model as the foundation. The building blocks and definitions were initially based on literature review sources (business, social business and NGO management literature). Following interview responses and analysis of annual reports of NGOs both the building blocks and definitions were adapted to align better to NGO terminology.