Social Change Efforts of Direct Service Nonprofits: The Role of Funding and Collaborations in Shaping Social Innovations

Abstract

Direct social service nonprofit organizations have taken on increasing responsibility in initiatives seeking to create social change for their service user populations and within the community. This research utilized a mixed methods study design to investigate the characteristics of the interorganizational context that are particularly supportive of these social change efforts. The resultsshow that characteristics of collaboration, degree of marketization, and funder support predict the extent of engagement in social change efforts. The results have implications for developing the capacity of direct service nonprofits to undertake their social missions.

Collaborative Networks as Ways to Improve Cross-sector Collaboration in Social Innovation: An Exploratory Study

“…The results of the literature review show that for social innovation, collaboration is an important resource in understanding their complex dynamics [13], [14], [15]. It is through it that the most effective transformations occur [16].…”

“…Non-profit organizations working collaboratively with other sectors have achieved more success in their social enterprises. According to Shier and Handy [15]: "collaborations are supportive because they help create capacity, align goals, and focus the efforts of a nonprofit's social change agenda" (p. 21). The government, in turn, moves away from the role of mere regulator.…”

Beyond Service Production: Volunteering for Social Innovation

“…In terms of the pace of the change, we can distinguish between radical innovations, which abruptly change the ideas and practices of the field, and incremental innovations, which occur over a longer time span (Damanpour & Schneider, 2009). In terms of the object of the innovation, we can distinguish between process (or administrative) innovations, which are novelties in the bureaucratic or human resource practices of an organization; product innovations, referring to new products or services; and system (or socially transformative) innovations, which change the broader community and policy field (Damanpour, 1987;Jaskyte & Lee, 2006;Perri 6, 1993;Shier & Handy, 2015a, 2015b.…”

“…Social innovations may be produced by for-profit organizations (Pol & Ville, 2009), nonprofit organizations (Jaskyte & Dressler, 2005;Perri 6, 1993;Shier & Handy, 2015a, 2015b, government bodies (Osborne & Brown, 2011), or networks of volunteers may have in social innovations. While the literature has linked volunteering to innovation on a conceptual level (Anheier et al, 2014), with broad indicators (Shier & Handy, 2015a) and in case studies (Reznickova & Zepeda, 2016), this study offers a fine-grained analysis on volunteer roles across different organizational contexts.…”

Individuality in approaches to emotionally demanding work and coping among experienced British Columbia social workers

“…This is a no-win situation for non-profit agencies, whose employees are at risk of becoming overworked by an influx of new work, and thus subject to increased mental health risks and burnout. Agencies' ability to share resources to support the mental health and wellness of staff is less likely to be encouraged when they are placed in competition for funding (Shier & Handy, 2015). In addition, the likelihood of funding being allocated to new programs which support workers' well-being is limited when the success of proposed contracts can be dependent on the popularity of specific issues, the political climate and other factors (Silverman & Patterson, 2011) rather than the direct needs of the field.…”