Still hold aloft the banner of social change? Nonprofit advocacy in the wave of commercialization

Nonprofits that compete for charitable contributions often question which are the most effective factors that lead to high levels of donations. To date, the research has been dominated by linear models mainly based on the economic model of giving, and has reported mixed and sometimes conflictual findings about the net effect of certain individual organization‐specific factors on donations. In this study, we introduce a configurational approach to explore how the factors considered by the economic model of giving may be combined with each other in multiple configurations with the goal of obtaining high levels of donations. Applying fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, we focus on a sample of British community foundations and identify four combinations that lead these organizations to collect large amounts of charitable contributions. The results show that, whereas young foundations should rely on high levels of program spending and large amounts of online disclosure combined with, alternatively, efficiency or aggressive fundraising, old foundations should contain administrative costs and strengthen fundraising efforts while, alternatively, spending the most part of their resources on programs or disseminating large amounts of information through their public websites.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for recipes to compete in the charitable contributions market: A configurational approach

Rossi

Leardini

Landi

et al. 2021

“…While some nonprofits voluntarily become commercialized, many others are forced to do so by government and foundation budget cuts. Overall, it has been observed that nonprofits have increasingly sought commercial means worldwide while attempting to maintain a high level of mission commitment (Zhang & Guo, 2021).…”

Section: Commercialization and Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of commercialization on nonprofit efficiency and the moderating roles of government funding and organizational size

Hung

Berrett

2022

Despite concerns raised by some scholars, recent publications have demonstrated that commercialization brings multiple benefits to nonprofits. However, while discussion of the positive effect of commercialization on nonprofit efficiency is on the rise in the literature, very few studies have empirically assessed the relationship. This study fills this gap by examining whether commercialization contributes to greater nonprofit efficiency and under what conditions this effect is more likely. Using fixed effects models with 2008-2018 data, the results from this study indicate that commercialization contributes to nonprofit efficiency in the performing arts subsector. Moreover, findings suggest that the relationship is more positive when performing arts nonprofits receive less government funding. The study concludes with implications for research and practice.

“…Recent research has theorized and conceptualized such phenomena featuring multidimensionality as configurations (Fiss, 2007; Misangyi et al, 2017). Defined as a “multidimensional constellation of conceptually distinct characteristics that commonly occur together” (Meyer, Tsui, & Hinings, 1993, p. 1175), configurations have increasingly become a research focus in nonprofit studies (Hager & Brudney, 2015; Li, 2019; Zhang & Guo, 2019, 2020). Characterized by an assemblage or combination of interdependent parts, configurations involve complex cause–effect relationships in which “outcomes cannot be fully inferred from their constitutive parts analyzed in isolation” (Simon, 1996, p. 184).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

No advocacy without representation? Nonprofit representational mix and nonprofit advocacy

Zhang

Guo

2021

Self Cite

Nonprofit representation as a multidimensional notion is inherently interrelated with nonprofit advocacy. This multidimensional nature of representation, however, was largely overlooked in prior empirical literature that predominantly focused on the independent effect of individual representational dimensions on advocacy. This article addresses this limitation by identifying the “representational mixes”—combinations of multiple representational dimensions—that bring about specific outcomes of nonprofit advocacy. Drawing on data from nonprofit organizations in three provinces of China and applying a corresponding configurational approach of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, the findings confirm three propositions, namely the conjunctural, equifinal, and asymmetric causation underneath the complex relationship between nonprofit representation and nonprofit advocacy. This study thus contributes a fresh configurational perspective to understanding nonprofit representation in relation to nonprofit advocacy.