Editorial
Editorial: Navigating short-term funding and government election cycles to achieve sustainable, transformative social impact
Journal of Social Impact in Business Research, Vol.2(4), pp.73-82
2026
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to introduce a special issue that surfaces the under-documented structural flaw at the heart of social impact work, exposing how short-term funding horizons and government election cycles influence the achievement of sustainable, transformative social impact.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual synthesis is offered, integrating insights from collaborative governance, resource dependence theory, distributive politics, nonprofit resilience and projectification scholarship. Inspired by an Australian Indigenous community-controlled organisation’s experiences, this special issue foregrounds the conditions that hinder durable social impact.
Findings
Short-term funding and government election cycles create structural distortions, including output capture, outcome drift, performative evaluation, relational erosion, workforce churn and the projectification of complex social change into siloed, piecemeal activities. These dynamics erode the conditions necessary for sustainable, transformative social change. This editorial synthesises the literature and locates the special issue contributions. This study also presents an Indigenous Knowledge System-informed special issue design that is practitioner-driven and Indigenous-led with a whole-circle practice-research-practice feedback loop that exemplifies how social impact learnings can be mobilised.
Practical implications
Social change scholars and practitioners will find an evidence base to advocate for structural reforms. Many readers may also find this editorial affirming, as it makes visible the shared lived experiences of funding and election cycle volatility, calling out the associated hidden labour and disrupted social impact trajectories.
Originality/value
This special issue shows how short-term funding and election cycles operate as structural headwinds that shape social impact programs capacity to achieve sustainable transformation. This study also models and encourages social impact whole-circle practice-research-practice feedback loops.
Details
- Title
- Editorial: Navigating short-term funding and government election cycles to achieve sustainable, transformative social impact
- Authors
- Maria Raciti (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastJanine Gertz (Author) - The University of QueenslandSam Raciti (Author) - Mudth-Niyleta Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation (Australia)
- Publication details
- Journal of Social Impact in Business Research, Vol.2(4), pp.73-82
- Publisher
- Emerald Publishing Limited
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1108/JSIBR-03-2026-0004
- ISSN
- 3049-4877
- Copyright note
- © 2026 Maria Raciti, Janine Gertz and Sam Raciti. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence maybe seen at Link to the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licenceLink to the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licence.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991223530402621
- Output Type
- Editorial
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