Accountability and Sustainability in Education Nonprofits: How Funding Models Shape Development Processes in Sub‐Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

The researchers conducted qualitative case study research of two education‐related nonprofits in sub‐Saharan Africa in order to better understand their processes for sustainability and accountability, particularly in the context of dependence on international funding sources. Considering development and accountability theory, this work has resulted in an analysis of the processes of nonprofits in Zambia and Tanzania that provide sponsorships or scholarships to children and youth. We asked: How do these organizations attempt to be responsible to local communities and sustainable over time while remaining dependent on funding from abroad? Findings include the strength of a scholarship model over a sponsorship model, maintaining accountability that is upward (board and donors), downward (community), and inward (organizational values), and balancing community empowerment with international funding models that structure accountability relationships. Ultimately, this study suggests that sustainability in education nonprofits is not achieved through a single model but through a continuous negotiation of accountability within complex and unequal systems.