Organizational resilience : Nonprofit organizations’ response to change

BACKGROUND: Organizational resilience refers to the ability to respond productively to significant disruptive change and transform challenges into opportunities. There is a gap in the literature about resilient nonprofit organizations and its application for identifying organizational conditions for successful adaption to external variables that threaten their existence.OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify organizational characteristics that point to the resilience of nonprofit behavioral healthcare organizations as they successfully adapt to funding changes.METHODS: A multiple case study of two behavioral health nonprofit organizations was conducted. Data was collected through interviews and focus groups, and analyzed through a qualitative content analysis.RESULTS: Using the framework of resilience, six themes that equipped these organizations to successfully adapt to funding changes were identified. They included: commitment to the mission, improvisation, community reciprocity, servant andtransformational leadership, hope and optimism, and fiscal transparency.CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that incorporating these qualities into an organizational system equips it to systematically adapt to funding changes and other disruptive challenges. Using resilience as a process and not simply an outcomeafter recovery, nonprofit organizations can have the capacity to continuously respond to challenges and provide uninterrupted and valuable services to society