Development of a digital system for the implementation of administration processes in community non-profit organisations (NPOs) in eThekwini Municipality

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic globally, NPOs were under scrutiny with the administration processes. The administration process of non-profit organisations (NPOs) has been a topic of concern, as it has been found to hinder the effectiveness of NPOs in achieving the objectives and delivering services to communities in need. The increasing complexity of administrative tasks within NPOs in eThekwini Municipality necessitates the development of an innovative digital administrative system tailored to streamline administrative processes. Therefore, the main aim of the research was to explore the administrative processes used by NPOs based in eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal and to develop a digital system for the NPOs administrative process to improve efficiency. An exploratory qualitative approach was employed. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Universal Design Principle formed as the conceptual framework for the research study, as guiding tool for the adoption of technology in NPOs based eThekwini Municipality. Purposive sampling was used to select the urban community NPO’s within the eThekwini Municipality for this study. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 NPO owners and 6 managers. Thereafter, focus group discussion with 40 NPO administrative employees. The findings revealed that NPO staff collectively, identified a range of administrative challenges, including resource constraints, the complexity of regulatory compliance, inadequate technology infrastructure, and the need for streamlined processes. Furthermore, the study findings indicate that manual processes were prone to human errors, such as data entry mistakes, misfiling in record-keeping, which could compromise the integrity of information. In summary, the findings highlighted a clear recognition among NPO staff in eThekwini Municipality seek a digital transformation solution. By addressing the identified challenges and leveraging the insights shared by NPO staff, this study led to the development a digital system that enhances efficiency, fosters collaboration, and ultimately supports its mission of serving the community more effectively. The study recommends a tailor-made administrative digital system that the community NPO’s can implement to ensure that the NPOs can assess performance, track compliance, and make informed decisions without manual administrative hurdles. Additionally, the implementation of the change management strategies to ease the transition to a digital system, communicating the benefits of the new system to all NPO staff members and involve them in the implementation process to foster buy-in and minimize resistance. The proposed digital system ‘UbuntuSmart SA’ not only has the potential to streamline operations but also to empower vi staff, improve job satisfaction, and enable the NPO to adapt to an evolving operational landscape.