The Impact of Strategic Planning on Egyptian Non-profits' Performance: An Assessment Using the Balanced Scorecard

The relationship between strategic planning and organizational performance has rarely been examined in the public and non-profit sectors. Moreover, most of the existing researches have been confined to examining the non-profit sector in the Western society and very little has been conducted about strategic planning in non-profits in developing countries like Egypt. This study empirically examines the effect of strategic planning on Egyptian non-profit organization’s performance effectiveness. An assessment of performance effectiveness was made using the multiple perspectives of the balanced scorecard (BSC). A fifth dimension was added to the BSC, developed originally by Niven in 2008, which was volunteers’ development. A retrospective cross-sectional survey research design was used to compare the performance of strategic planning non-profits versus that of non-strategic planning non-profits. A purposive sample of 40 Egyptian non-profit organizations was selected for participation in the study. Results have indicated a statistically significant difference between the mean composite scores of strategic planning activities versus non-strategic planning non-profits along four out of five domains of the BSC performance effectiveness scale. These domains were namely customers’ processes, internal business processes, employees’ learning and growth, and volunteers’ development except for financial processes. Results however do not show that most of the Egyptian non-profits are fully aware of the BSC as a tool for assessing their performance effectiveness.