Affiliations: [a]
Urban Studies Department and Centre for Work Life and Evaluation Studies (CTA), Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
| [b]
School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Hope Witmer, Ph.D, Urban Studies Department and Centre for Work Life and Evaluation Studies (CTA), Malmö University, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden. Tel.: +46 040 665 8689; E-mail: hope.witmer@mah.se.
Abstract: 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 and transformational 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 outcome after recovery, nonprofit organizations can have the capacity to continuously respond to challenges and provide uninterrupted and valuable services to society.
