Non Governmental Organizations use projects as a vehicle to deliver development in various areas, with the objective of improving the standard of living for impoverished communities. In the context of donor-funded development programs and projects, sustainability can be defined as: the continuation of benefits after major assistance from a donor has been completed. However, sustainability of the projects becomes a challenge after project closure when donors withdraw funding to the project. The general objective of the study was to establish the sustainability of NonGovernmental Organization funded community projects, beyond donor support and answer the general research question on: How sustainable were NonGovernmental Organization funded community projects, beyond donor support? Pragmatism was the philosophical view that underpinned the study and informed the mixed research method approach used. The convergent parallel strategy of the mixed research methods approach was used. The total population was project beneficiaries from four (4) selected community projects. The sample size was 76 respondents that were selected by simple random sampling, using project registers as sample frame. A questionnaire with open ended questions (qualitative) and closed questions (quantitative) was used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed by using the inductive process of building from the data to broad themes and then to interpretation.

Keywords : Community engagement, Exit strategy, Community benefits, Project sustainability