Abstract
Non-profits are an essential part of the community, reaching many sustainable development goals (SDG) without naming and promoting them. They can be empowered to do more. Non-profits should make the SDGs a prominent point to demonstrate why clients and consumers should buy or use their services to reduce waste and recycle. According to the research gap within the Czech environment, the chapter's main point is to present the current situation by qualitative evaluation based on three case studies of a non-profit organization. SDGs are divided according to benefits to the community, such as social, economic, and environmental. Case studies show how difficult it is to identify involvement in individual goals and conflict with its strategy. The uniqueness of the chapter lies in the presentation of its self-evaluation tool, suitable especially for non-profit organizations.
TopIntroduction
Non-profit organizations are a part of the worldwide and predominantly local community plan to actively support the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in ecological, social, and economic perspectives. Sustainable development is defined here in own words as a trajectory where future generations are secured the same level of welfare as present living generations. (UN, 2015). This strategy of sustainable development or, more precisely, taking part in the circular economy is a challenge not only for policymakers but primarily for individual entrepreneurs to face those challenges successfully (Singh et al., 2018, Jansen, 2003, Lafferty, 2006). Sustainable development goals were set for worldwide development, influencing each country involved in the United Nations organization. Those targets were implemented separately at the EU level also, and for goal achievement, a business or non-profit must adopt the concept of circular economy and sustainable business. According to that, the research problem is not only to find out a proper “rules of the game” in a legal environment but be able to motivate non-profit organizations, especially in that field to support sustainable goals into their sustainable or social business, when it is not their main idea, based on innovative approach (Andersen, 2007). In general, an eco-innovation is an innovation, which is distinguished by two characteristics. At first, an eco-innovation represents an innovation that leads to the reduction of environmental impact, regardless of whether such an effect is desired or not; second, the scope of eco-innovation can go beyond the conventional organizational boundaries and involve the broader community that generates changes within existing socio-cultural norms and institutional structures (OECD, 2010, Šebestová and Sroka, 2020).
The objectives of our study were achieved based on data gathered through Czech case study presentation, based on SDG goals self-evaluation based on triple benefit approach. Our chapter is structured as follows:
Firstly, we analyze the literature devoted to the sustainable development goals in non-profits within strategy and marketing influence. In the second part, we present the methodological part, i.e., the materials and methods of the research conducted. The next part of our chapter analyzes the results of the case studies. Finally, we present the conclusions and limitations of our study.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Strategy: A way how to achieve, e.g., sustainable goals of the organization.
Environmental Benefit: A measurable impact of nonprofit organization in the environmental area, e.g., waste reduction.
Triple benefit: It is defined as a framework for operation of social and not-for-profit organizations in the Czech Republic in three areas, such as economic, social, and environmental.
Not-for-Profit Organization: An organization which is established for community welfare, not for profit accumulation at first place.
Social Benefit: A measurable impact of nonprofit organization in the social area, e.g., employment.
Economic Benefit: A measurable impact of nonprofit organization in the economic area, e.g., profit.
Sustainable Goals: Goals for future development within a triple benefit framework.