Critical Success Factors and Performance of NGO Education Projects in Rwanda: A Case of USAID Soma-Umenye, Early Grade Reading Project

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to establish the influence of critical success factors on the project performance of a non-governmental organization’s education project in Rwanda USAID’s Soma-Umenye project. This study was carried out using qualitative and quantitative methods because combining both methods provided the necessary triangulation. It has been noted that many projects end up failing in most cases. This issue of poor performance of projects is not a new phenomenon. More often than not, this frustrated project proponent like the stakeholders and their beneficiaries. The literature review does not reflect the relationship between key critical success factors and project performance; this research aims to fill this gap because it is critical for project practitioners to understand the degree of relationships between critical success factors and project performance in order to focus on the right factors at the right time to achieve the desired project success. The study used a sample of 96 respondents from the target population of 2,278 USAID Soma-Umenye employees and clients. SPSS was used to analyze the data, which was then presented in the form of tables and other graphic presentations of frequencies, means, deviations, correlations, and regressions. A strong positive relationship between management support and project performance was discovered, with a correlation coefficient of.850**. Second, a positive relationship between project planning and project performance was observed with a correlation coefficient of.540**; however, a negative relationship between trained personnel and project performance was observed with a correlation coefficient of -.389**. Similarly, the study found that effective communication is positively related to project performance, with a correlation coefficient of.294**, and that all findings are statistically significant because the Sig. (2-tailed) p-value obtained was less than 0.01. The study findings concluded that critical success factors such as management support, project planning, trained personnel, and effective communication have a significant impact on project performance, as evidenced by the strong correlation between the two variables. The research recommended that staff should be trained in the technical aspects of the projects they are working on in order to ensure the sustainability of the NGO's project performance. Keywords: Critical success factors, Management support, Project performance, Project planning, Training