Perceived Benefits of Habitat for Humanity

Abstract

Non-governmental Organisations are increasingly being scrutinised and have been the target of frequent criticism about their impact on reducing levels of poverty, which seemingly have failed to decrease since the formal identification and rise of non-profit organisations in the 1950s. In the highly competitive world in which these organisations develop – internationally operating NGOs are numbered at 40,000 (Anheier et al, 2001), while national numbers are even higher, in many instances in the millions – they are increasingly required to promote their programs and vision through effective, transparent and accountable marketing and communication frameworks and tools that reflect the reality at ground level and not some naive vision of a better world. To enable such a culture of transparency and ethical correctness, organisations need to grapple with their identities and fully understand what their objectives, their vision and mission are to become more effective instruments of development. And in turn be able to clearly translate and communicate that message to their partners, be it communities, donors, partner organisations and government institutions. The purpose of this research report is to investigate factors affecting the perceptions of stakeholders within one program offered by Habitat for Humanity, the Global Village programme. These perceptions and attitudes all have implications for the successful communication of the organisation’s mission and its objectives in creating such a program. Although the scope of this report was limited to one country, the results of the research were supported by the perceptions of professionals managing such a program both at the level of another country and at regional level. Propositions were made that the program although delivering on certain aspects of its marketing, did not in fact address the gap between volunteers and communities through effective education on the mission and objectives of the program. Recommendations include the incorporation of systematic and monitored advocacy on the mission of the organisation to all its stakeholders; strongly communicating its identity as a partner instead of a charity; and balancing the expectations of all its stakeholders through processes of education, communication and control.