Evaluating Sustainability in Non-Profit Organizations: An Approach for Sustainability Evaluation of Project Implementations

Based upon the fact that the crucial role of sustainable development in building a common future is widely accepted in the meantime, considerable research has been conducted on the actual programs, initiatives, policies and measures taken, both in profit and non-profit organizations, in order to decrease the respective actor’s environmental, economic and social impact. In contrast, the topic of the sustainability of those very structures, processes and means – essentially the question of how things are being done as opposed to what is being done – has received less attention to this day. This paper aims to contribute to the latter by presenting the current results of a module of an ongoing research project at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and the University of Basel, providing an evaluation system for sustainable project implementation and reporting for non-profit organizations. By offering a tool consisting of a comprehensive overview of potentially relevant issues and aspects as well as an extensive guideline for laypersons, it enables non-profit organizations to plan, evaluate and report on the sustainability of their project implementation steps, increasing the overall sensitivity towards sustainability and its role in the future of mankind.