Abstract
Donor preference is a significant component that can either promote or inhibit sustainable development results, yet the involvement of private donors in international development work has not yet been examined in academic literature. Models for integrative negotiation in funding processes have been proposed, but without having the voice of donors present in literature, all previous negotiation models are incomplete because a major party to the negotiation is absent from the model. Conflict analysis and resolution is a new approach that will bring clarity to the role of private donors in international development work and generate integrative solutions for donors to employ in their work should they choose. This phenomenographic study analyzed the content, process, identity, and relational aspects of conflict in private international development projects through the viewpoint of donors. The research goals were to (1) generate understanding about how private donors understand their role in the international development work they fund, (2) ascertain how donors experience conflict in the course of this work, and (3) determine which conflict resolution techniques can be integrated to align their intentions, resources, and outcomes more accurately. The purposive snowball sample was comprised of six donors who fund private international work outside the US. The interrelated culmination of knowledge generated from this study demonstrates a broad landscape of experiences that describe how donors experience conflict and what may motivate them to consider alternative behaviors that can change the course of their work.