Abstract
The Research Problem: Identification of factors influencing self-sufficiency and
sustainability of donor funded projects in small social enterprises in Georgia. A possible
scenario could be that donor organisations do not provide enough training and guidance that
ensure development of proper set of skills for sustaining the business after donor
disengagement. In order to examine this issue, over fifty academic sources were reviewed
and used; two research questions with their assumptions were thought out based on the
practical experience from working previously in the NGO providing grants to small
enterprises; actors playing important role in building sustainability were identified; factors
were studied; findings were summarized; and solutions were provided.
Methodology: The SME/Social Enterprise manager sample size was four and two project
managers from donor organizations took part in the qualitative research. The research was
conducted using separate set of interview questions for donors and SE project managers and
cross-sectional qualitative analysis of current stance on sustainability was performed.
Conclusions and Recommendations: Both research questions are addressed and
assumptions for them are tested successfully in these parts of the research paper. Perspectives
of the three actors: government, donors and beneficiary organisations are described; weak
sides of their activities performed for sustainability are reviewed; and preconditions for
drafting recommendations are identified in the conclusion part. Recommended six steps were
(1) Sustainment Vision and Strategy Building, (2) Priority areas for Sustainability, (3)
Collaboration, (4) Strategies and Methods for Sustainability, (5) Developing Action Plans,
and (6) Documenting and Communicating Success. Sub-activities under each step were
suggested and sample table of Division of Responsibilities was developed for applying when
reasoning at capacity building and long-term self-sustainability.
Supplementary documents will be submitted as separate files. These documents include:
PowerPoint – Poster, E-thesis Submission Form, and Deposit Agreement Form. Author keywords: Sustainability, capacity building, qualitative analysis, stakeholders
