(Financial Transparency Challenge in the Third Sector: Analyzing the Transparency Levels of Non-Governmental Organizations in Turkey)

Abstract

Purpose – Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), also called third sector, provide a significant public service through their activities. There has been a strong demand that NGOs, whose funding is done directly or indirectly by the public, be more transparent. NGOs can use websites as a means of accountability and transparency. This research has two aims. The first one is to determine the transparency levels of NGOs in Turkey within the scope of the information that NGOs share on their websites. The second is to identify the determinants affecting transparency levels in NGOs ' websites. Design/methodology/approach – Data collected from the website of 280 NGOs headquartered in Turkey were evaluated by content analysis, correlation and regression analysis. There have been four levels of transparency: organizational transparency, activity transparency, financial transparency and overall transparency. The independent variables investigated whether it influences transparency are, respectively, organizational size, organizational age, usage of funds from international sources, type of NGOs, executing activities in national-international and board size. Findings – The organizational transparency level in the websites of NGOs headquartered in Turkey has been high; the activity transparency is moderate; the financial transparency level is very low; and the overall transparency level is low. The overall transparency level of NGOs’ websites which is considered as main hypothesis of research is affected only from organizational size among independent variables. Discussion – The lowest level of transparency in NGOs has emerged in financial transparency. Organizational size, use of funds from international sources, and type of NGO influence both financial transparency and activity transparency. It is thought that focusing on policies that will improve financial transparency will have a positive impact on the growth of the third sector in Turkey.