Knowledge Management in Non-Profit Organizations: A Strategic Planning Initiative for Education and Empowerment for Community Development’s Asia Office

The practical application of knowledge management (KM) in the nonprofit sector has been touted as a new method to increase effectiveness within and between NPOs. This capstone examines the concept of KM through a case study of Education and Empowerment for Community Development (EECD) by assessing implicit practices and current needs within the organization and ‘between’ the organization and one of its major stakeholders at its Asia Office.The results for this paper are based off of qualitative research conducted by the author from November 2009-March 2010. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with EECD staff and alumni, review of internal documents, and observations and reflections of the author, who was a part-time volunteer at the organization.The research revealed that the organization had a variety of processes, documents, and methods for capturing and sharing knowledge within the organization, but these initiatives were organic and differed across the organization. Challenges associated with existing organizational level processes were that they were never fully implemented or evaluated for accessibility and usefulness. EECD is currently undergoing strategic planning and has recently hired a new Communications Coordinator with IT experience. This will provide EECD with the necessary framework for moving forward with supporting technologies to increase its KM capacity. A current challenge that the office will continue to face is the high staff turnover among its foreign expatriate staff.