| Abstract: |
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a Not-for-Profit (NFP)
model for development and support of sports at elite level. This research
investigates, Olympic Gold Quest, a NFP organization in India to understand
and analyse the factors that contribute to its success in developing sports at
elite level and as an NFP to solicit funds for support. Design/ Methodology/
Approach-The research is based on the case analysis of the organization,
Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ). The analysis was done through in-depth interviews of
various stakeholders of the organization such as directors, donors, employees,
athletes, fans and sports enthusiasts. These were supplemented by information
from other sources such as scholarly papers, annual reports of organizations
working in similar space, online sources and videos interviews on video
sharing websites. Findings– The analysis shows that there are two elements of
OGQ’s success, the first one is related to the success in sports development
and the second aspect is related to its success as a NFP organization. The
factors leading to its success in sports domain are due to its stringent
selection process of athletes, a strategy based on focus investments, bringing
together expertise support and fast support response. The essential factors of
OGQ’s success as a NFP are related to creating legitimacy, transparency,
beneficiary management and expertise in marketing. Originality/Value – The
literature in the domain of development of sport at the elite level is
limited. This paper is possibly one of the rare ones that examine the role of
a NFP in working towards development of sports at elite level. This research
is set in the context of an emerging country and highlights issues related to
sports development in emerging economies and contributes to the literature in
this domain. Implications/Limitations–We contribute to the literature on
sports development and Not-for-Profits. This study proposes NFPs as a viable
model to support sports development for elite sports and identifies its
success factors. Insights from this research can be applied to develop similar
models for supporting sports in other emerging countries. |