Endringer i frivilligheten krever nye strategier: Hvordan bruke strategi som virkemiddel for å oppnå bedre markedstilpasning Casestudie av Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening (N.K.S.)

Abstract

Norway is ranked as one of the best countries in volunteerism. Members is important when it comes to income, execution of tasks and decision-making. After more than 40 years with a decline in membership, Norwegian Women’s Health Association has used strategy since 2015 in order to strengthen their member support. Their project “Snu Trenden – 50,000 i 2021” for better market adjustment is the case of this master. The number of members and activities are critical for the legitimacy and raison d'être of nonprofit organizations. Based on this, statistics for new members and activities from the 600 local units of the organization and empirical findings have been important in my analysis. The analysis builds on an instrumental perspective.

As it appears in my analysis, the change process seemed to have included most of the available instruments of management. When I studied the role of the board, I found that an extensive use of setting goals and indicators seemed to function well as steering mechanisms.. One significant find is the importance of implementing new activities for volunteers in the local units. In the analysis, it appears that investing in supporting the units in their local work has given good results. In 2020, two third of the units had started up with new activities and through the analysis it appears that this has positively influenced member recruitment. The analysis concludes that from an instrumental perspective the strategic work in Norwegian Women’s Health Association has functioned adequately. Examples also show that the organizational culture has been activated. Since 2015, more than 20,000 new members have been recruited. The ambitious goal of 50,000 members is not yet reached, but a negative and long-standing trend has been turned around and the number of member stabilized. This development shows that the strategy has been important and right for the organization in order to carry on its social work.