A quantitative assessment of organizational capacity and organizational life stages in Sport for Development and Peace

Abstract

The ability of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) organizations to achieve desired outcomes depends on the ability of leaders to develop and utilize a set of organizational capacities. This study provides insight into the current state of capacity in the SDP landscape and the relationship between capacity and key phases of the life of an organization. A sample of 165 organizations from across all six continents rated 65 capacity-related elements. We employ a multilevel analysis to explain variation in capacity within and across SDP organizations. This allows us to identify the probabilities of having low capacity across five different capacity dimensions (human resources, finance, partnership, infrastructure, and planning and development capacities). Results indicate critical capacity strengths and challenges across organizational life stages, the positive influence of size, foundation and government funding, the role of geographical location, and the insignificant or limited effect of earned revenues and interorganizational networks on capacity in SDP.