Striving for Self-sustainability: Case of a Pakistani NGO

Authors: Zunaira Saqib, Maria Khan, Maham Michael, Roshaan Haleem, Hira Khalid

Abstract: Towards the end of 2013, Edwin Samson, the Chief Coordinator of Adult Basic Education Society Teacher Empowerment Centre (ABES-TEC), a non-profit, non-sectarian NGO promoting quality education in the private and the public schools of Pakistan, began to reflect in earnest over ways to make the organization self-sustainable. ABES-TEC was responsible for implementing different projects initiated by local as well as international donors. Due to a reliance on donor funding, Samson had recently downsized the NGO workforce yet again. This was a course of action that he had been unwilling to undertake as he felt that abrupt downsizing would demotivate all the NGO employees and adversely affect their work performance. In order to retain employees, ABES-TEC had to strive for self-sustainability rather than depending solely on arbitrary project funding.