Determinants of funding access for non-governmental organisations: a case of Moshi municipality in Tanzania

Access to funds by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) remains a major concern to many NGOs in the globe and developing countries such as Tanzania. NGOs access funds through donations which are unreliable to sustain their great roles. The objectives of this paper were to analyse factors determining access to funds for NGOs and to examine the relationship between the identified factors on access to funds for NGOs. A cross-sectional research design was adopted whereby 48 respondents were interviewed. Descriptive data analysis was done with the aid of IBM SPSS Version 20. Qualitative data were analysed by thematic content analysis. The study found that education level of staff, capabilities and achievements of NGOs, nature of NGO involvement and size and coverage of an NGO had a statistical significant relationship with access to funds for NGOs (p< 0.05). Moreover, diversified networking effects of an NGO were associated with access to funds and an important predictor of access to funds for NGOs. It was concluded that; education level of staff, size and coverage of an NGO, capabilities and achievements of an NGO and nature of an NGO involvement are important predictors of access to funds. The study recommends to NGOs that although there may be other factors which may influence access to funds for NGOs; they should focus on these factors that were found to be important