Riyadh: Suleiman Al-Anzi

A recent study concluded that 79.6% of nonprofit organizations in Riyadh are classified as charitable associations, attributing this to the ease of establishing charitable associations compared to others, while 48% of them do not have their own office, in addition to 11.5% possessing their office through donation or endowment, which may not be suitably prepared for the nature of the organization's work, resulting in 59.5% of organizations lacking their own offices, indicating a material and financial obstacle in carrying out their charitable roles and activities, as part of the support is directed toward paying rent or repairing some parts of the office.

Religious Motivations

This was part of a study presented by researcher Fawaz Ben Ali Al-Ghamdi to obtain a PhD in Philosophy in Sociology at King Saud University in 2019, titled: “The Role of Nonprofit Organizations in Riyadh in Achieving Sustainable Social Development in Light of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030: A Field Study.” The study pointed out that the perception of charitable work is still primarily driven by religious or ethical motivations rather than being viewed as a professional institutional work in the current era. The study also highlighted that there is a shift in this perception consistent with the transformations occurring in Saudi society, yet it is also expected and hoped for a renewal of the cultural framework and the highlighting of the importance of charitable work through organized efforts based on a spirit of specialization and studied scientific planning.

Developmental Organizations

The study's results showed that 62.8% of employees work in organizations that rely on more than one source for funding their programs, indicating weak government support provided to them and their inadequacy to implement their programs and activities, especially since they are organizations that do not aim to make a profit. In this regard, funding is one of the obstacles facing the third sector or charitable sector or nonprofit organizations, also confirmed by the fact that 12.6% of the employees work in organizations that relied solely on government support, which needs to be addressed instinctively, especially if the target is these developmental organizations, so that they can truly support and be an effective partner to the state in achieving sustainable development, which falls within the scope of empowering nonprofit organizations and sharing work with them.

Regarding the Number of Employees

It was evident that 50.2% of the study sample have fewer than 25 employees, and 17.8% have between 25 and less than 50, which is a negative aspect that the researcher sees as conflicting with future requirements, as the desired development in all its elements requires an increase in expanding effective participation options for different social groups, especially since community development today depends on raising citizens' awareness of their issues, and exciting the idea of participation among them, starting from planning, then implementation, monitoring, and finally evaluation. The narrow view that considers development solely a governmental issue still prevails, while sustainable development today relies on effective participation based on social empowerment for all segments of society, especially the poor and marginalized.

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