Mission Synthesis and Organisational Spirituality: Faith-Based NGO Transformation in Ghana

Faith-based organisations (FBOs) across the Global South are increasingly challenged by declining donor funding, changing aid landscapes, and growing demands for accountability and sustainability. In response, many are transitioning from traditional grant-dependent NGO models towards faith-based social enterprise (FBSE) approaches that combine social impact with financial sustainability. This article investigates how organisational spirituality mediates the tensions that emerge during this transformation within the Ghanaian context. Drawing on a 36-month action research study involving three iterative cycles of diagnosis, intervention, and reflection, the research explores how spiritual, social, and financial logics are negotiated and integrated within faith-based organisations. The findings introduce the concept of mission synthesis, a triadic model of hybridity in which spirituality acts as an organisational logic that aligns social purpose and financial sustainability. The study contributes to scholarship on organisational hybridity, organisational spirituality, and social enterprise in the Global South while demonstrating the value of action research as a spiritually congruent methodology for organisational transformation.