Sustainable social entrepreneurship and motivation: a case study of two non-profit organisations in the UK

This paper presents the findings of a case study on motivation in non-for-profit (NFP) organisations in the UK with particular reference to two organisations providing services to people with learning disabilities. Quantitative data was collected from 88 respondents (68 from Company A and 20 from Company B), through questionnaire based-surveys. Interviews were used to triangulate the data and for validation purposes. The sample used entirely falls into the employees’ category and includes: permanent, temporary, full time and part-time staff but not volunteers. Findings indicate that many individuals are attracted to work in NFP organisations because of their characteristics diversity factors. Other key motivational factors include training, and flexible working arrangements. Overal l findings show that people are intrinsically motivated (64% of respondents, and over 85% enjoy this kind of work and feel listened). Company motivation was found to be low, as employees were not satisfied with the pay, still staff was motivated by intrinsic factors to remain. The findings conform to earlier studies on employees' motivation in social organisations and on pay and motivations.