Traits of Leaders of Rural Non-governmental Organisations as Predictors of Collaboration Between NGOs and Rural Gmina Offices: Voices from Central Poland

Katarzyna Karolina Zajda,Slawomir Pasikowski

doi:10.1007/s11266-018-9999-5

Abstract

Collaboration between non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public institutions, in accordance with the new public governance model, may contribute to actions by such organisations on behalf of both the co-production and co-construction of social services. The aim of this article is to assess the role of selected traits of NGO leaders in determining the chances of collaboration between NGOs and rural gmina offices in central, post-socialist Poland. The authors present the results of studies on selected subjective determinants of such collaboration, in which 104 leaders of NGOs from 29 rural gminas participated. Five independent research tools were implemented. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the role of selected traits of NGO leaders in determining the potential for collaboration between NGOs and rural gmina offices. The final model indicates that the potential for collaboration between an NGO and a rural gmina office increases alongside higher levels of education, social competences and locus of control and decreased control ideology among NGO leaders. On this basis, the authors formulate practical conclusions concerning the education of leaders of rural NGOs in post-socialist Poland.

Highlights

Over the last 40 years, a change has occurred in determining the role that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can play in constructing and providing social services to inhabitants of various territorial units (Lindsay et al 2014, p. 193)
The overall good fit of the models to the data confirms the validity of the theoretical assumptions, which means that all the models tested during these analyses can be considered valuable in the scope of predicting the odds of cooperation between rural NGOs from the selected region of central Poland and rural gmina offices
The key role in determining cooperation with rural gmina offices, consisting of the co-construction and co-production of social services, is played by education, social competences and locus of control. Among this set of traits, we need to highlight the education of NGO leaders, the increasing level of which was the most decisive for establishing cooperation between these organisations and rural gmina offices

Summary

Introduction

Over the last 40 years, a change has occurred in determining the role that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can play in constructing and providing social services to inhabitants of various territorial units (Lindsay et al 2014, p. 193). Over the last 40 years, a change has occurred in determining the role that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can play in constructing and providing social services to inhabitants of various territorial units According to Banyan: ‘At the heart of new public governance (NPG) is the notion that partnerships, collaboration and engagement produce qualitatively better outcomes for communities.

Objectives

Results

Conclusion