As part of a social change agenda, nonprofit organisations engage in activities that contribute to debate and influence the development of public policy. This article presents the initial findings from a study investigating whether nonprofit organisations do participate in advocacy activities and if they do, how are they advocating and engaging in public debate without risking their current and future sources of funding. The key findings from the research have identified that the extent of advocacy by the nonprofit organisations studied has not diminished. A model, built on the findings from the literature on how nonprofit organisations approach advocacy, is applied to explain the advocacy activities by the case study organisations. These nonprofit organisations are identifying what they see to be the appropriate advocacy strategies to fit their organisational objectives, policies, funding sources and resources.

Nonprofit and voluntary associations have a long history of defending the rights of their members, clients, and the public. Despite a burgeoning literature on advocacy by nonprofit organizations, few studies attempt to answer a central question: what factors influence nonprofit success in achieving the changes they aim to affect? Using original data from nearly 400 US nonprofits, we examine the extent to which they were involved in changing public policy, the nature of this engagement, and advocacy activities, organizational characteristics and relationships with others associated with reported policy change. More than three quarters of respondents reported having enacted, stopped, or modified policy. Nonprofits more often reported proactively changing policy when working in partnership and reactively stopping or modifying policy when facing opposition groups. Providing expertise and attending meetings was associated with reported policy change, whereas placing opinion ads was not.

In the 1970s, the voluntary sector acted as a key space for advocacy and support for communities that were marginalised from statutory provision. This paper explores how East London voluntary sector organisations addressed the needs of new migrant communities in this period. Drawing on data from six case study organisations, this historical study explores the dual role these organisations played in advocating for these communities and providing needed services. The findings show that in the 1970s through the 1990s advocacy and service delivery functions were closely linked rather than service delivery crowding out advocacy as has been the trend in recent decades. The findings also emphasise the importance of the creation of trusted relationships between the organisations and the communities they served.

In this article we discuss the extent to which service-delivering nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are committed to fulfill an expressive advocacy role, and we look at the advocacy strategies these organizations adopt. Furthermore, we question whether a close relationship with government compromises the NPOs’ willingness to perform these advocacy activities. Based on a large-N sample of more than 250 NPOs in the Flemish welfare sector, our research shows that the overall commitment to an advocacy role was rather low. Rather than focusing on a role as adversary of government, NPOs seek to adopt “softer” strategies such as the use of insider contacts with policy makers, the participation in umbrella organizations or building coalitions with other NPOs. Finally, we found mixed evidences concerning our initial hypotheses. Most importantly, as the dominant source of public income did not stifle the NPOs’ commitment to advocate, we found little support for a resource dependence framework.

This article explores the interplay and collaboration between refugee organization volunteers and social service professionals. On the basis of qualitative interviews and observations, we study how volunteers from Danish local refugee organizations experience their interaction with refugees and social service professionals, and how they act and perceive their role as advocates for the refugees. The purpose is to gain insight into the everyday practices and strategies of civil society organizations attempting to balance the demands and interests of stakeholders and internal legitimacy claims in a hybrid environment. In addition to providing effective refugee assistance and services, refugee organizations achieve legitimacy through professional communication, campaign work, and networking with key political actors and stakeholders. However, although it may be less visible, advocacy-oriented activities also take place in local organizations at ‘street level.’ We identified three distinct types of strategies to balance issues of autonomy in the collaborative relationship with the municipalities and simultaneously engage in advocacy activities.

This article examines the strategies used by some third sector organizations in Australia to advocate. The purpose of this article is to identify the kinds of activities that organizations in New South Wales and Queensland use to promote advocacy, the kinds of language that is used to describe these activities, and the reasons given for the particular strategies adopted. The extent to which the organizations adopt “softer” (that is more institutional forms of advocacy) rather than more openly challenging forms of activism is examined, particularly in light of a neo-liberal political and economic environment. In this analysis emergent strategies are identified that are not easily categorized as either “institutional” or “radical” advocacy. The article presents an exploratory analysis of some of the implications of the strategies adopted, in terms of their democratic effects and potential to strengthen the capacity of third sector organizations. The article is informed by the findings of a qualitative research project involving interviews with 24 organizations in the community services and environmental fields.

Empirical studies of volunteering assume that the similar individuals are drawn equally to different kinds of volunteer-using organizations. The purpose of this article is to explore the demographic predictors of volunteering for several types of advocacy-related organizations, including political parties, labor and business organizations, immigrant/refugee-serving groups, civic organizations, and environmental/animal organizations. Data from the Current Population Survey’s volunteering supplement (pooled 2006–2012) indicate that the demographic profiles of volunteers drawn to advocacy-related organizations differ in specific ways from the demographic profile of those volunteering for other types of organizations. In particular, veterans are more likely than non-veterans to volunteer for political/advocacy groups and civic organizations. Being a minority veteran is associated with volunteering for immigrant organizations and environmental/animal-related organizations. Foreign-born individuals—both US citizens and non-citizens—are more likely to volunteer for immigrant/refugee organizations than the native born. The demographic profiles of volunteers for advocacy-related organizations vary in some ways from the demographic profiles of those who volunteer for service delivery organizations.

The literature on nonprofit management has embraced the concept of “accountability” to target urgent challenges related to NGO probity and integrity, and there have been attempts in the literature to use rational-choice-based governance approaches to solve them. Although the existing principal–agent frameworks provide important insights, they are limited to the analysis of financial relationships between NGOs and donors. We contribute to the literature in developing a comprehensive rational-choice-based governance approach to analyze all stakeholder relationships of NGOs. Applying the research program of ordonomics, we unpack two fundamental interaction problems: (a) the “stakeholder dilemma” between the NGO and a single accountability holder as a one-sided social dilemma and (b) the “competition dilemma” among rival NGOs as a many-sided social dilemma. We show that improving NGO accountability in relation to intended beneficiaries, peer organizations, and the general public also requires identifying the underlying governance problem as a competition dilemma focusing on collective self-regulation as a solution.

International advocacy strategies devised for the political environment in which World Bank policy is decided are often not suitable for advocacy on broader financial policy and trade issues. Advocacy in these “new” agendas challenges prevailing models, which depict NGOs as mobilizing powerful governments and international organizations to influence a government’s behavior. The patterns of international NGO political activity are diverse, sometimes restraining the power of international rules and authorities over individual governments, and require a new or broader model.

Research on nonprofit lobbying conceives of strategy in various ways. This article presents a more comprehensive view encompassing four components: lobbying motivation (lobbying for organizational or self-interest as well as for societal benefit), concentration (lobbying in a narrow versus wide range of policy domains), type (lobbying policymakers directly or indirectly), and target (lobbying different levels of government). Based on the analysis of the population of nonprofit organizations that registered to lobby in the State of North Carolina in 2010 (N = 402), findings demonstrate the complexity and distinctiveness of nonprofit lobbying strategies: Most nonprofits register to lobby for organizational and societal benefit, in multiple policy domains, directly and indirectly, and at several levels of government. The article discusses the findings and their implications and suggests a research agenda on nonprofit lobbying strategy that would incorporate the roots of these strategic choices.

This study decomposes nonprofit–government relationship into two dimensions, process and structure, and examines their contingent impacts on Chinese environmental nongovernmental organizations’ (eNGOs) revenue diversification, advocacy engagement, and advocacy effectiveness. Data from a nation-wide survey of 89 eNGOs and in-depth interviews with eNGO leaders are analyzed. Empirical findings show that in China, participating in government-organized activities enables eNGOs to diversify their revenue sources and engage more in policy advocacy. Furthermore, government intervention and restrictive policy context motivate, rather than suppress eNGOs’ advocacy engagement. Resorting to flexible strategies, eNGOs have managed to mitigate influences of government’s meddling and persist in advocating for a political environment that they prefer. Yet meanwhile, eNGOs’ advocacy activities are more likely to be effective in a more supportive policy context.

Literature describing the social change efforts of direct social service nonprofits focuses primarily on their political advocacy role or the ways in which practitioners in organizations address individual service user needs. To elicit a more in-depth understanding of the varying ways that these nonprofits promote social change, this research builds off of the innovation literature in nonprofits. It presents a model of the typology of social innovations based on the empirical findings from survey data from a random sample (n = 241) and interview data (n = 31) of direct social service nonprofits in Alberta, Canada. Exploratory principal factor analysis was used to uncover the underlying structure of the varying types of social innovations undertaken by direct service nonprofits. Results support a three-factor model including socially transformative, product, and process-related social innovations. The qualitative findings provide a conceptual map of the varied foci of social change efforts.

This study innovates by introducing a conceptual distinction between the provision of public services and the receipt of government funding. The study also provides empirical analysis to show that public service provision, independent of government funding, is associated with greater nonprofit advocacy. There are implications for previous studies of nonprofit advocacy, our understanding of the mechanism of nonprofit advocacy, and the role that organizational mission may play in leading organizations to engage in advocacy. Previous studies exploring the effect of government funding on nonprofit advocacy have perceived the provision of public services as being identical to the receipt of government funding. In contrast, our analysis distinguishes between providing public services and receiving government funding. Empirically, the study also uses survey questions differentiating the two in the JIGS international datasets to investigate the relationship. This study examines the effect of the provision of public services by nonprofit organizations on nonprofit advocacy in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and the USA. We conducted a logistic regression analysis using nonprofit advocacy as the dependent variable. The analysis revealed two key points. First, public service alone and distinct from government funding enhances nonprofit advocacy. Second, public service provision had positive effects on advocacy, not only in the USA but also in Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, which each feature a different institutional context. In conclusion, we suggest that organizational mission could be a more important driver of nonprofit advocacy than previous studies have found.

HIV civil society advocacy in Vietnam is shaped by a unique fusion of historic and contemporary influences, resulting in nuanced ways in which advocacy is practised. In this study, we interviewed representatives from civil society, the Government of Vietnam, international NGOs, multilateral and research organisations and commercial consultancies to identify the influences on advocacy practice today. Aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism, Communism and changes to international funding were all identified as shaping HIV civil society policy advocacy practice directed towards government. These influences have resulted in a strong respect for hierarchy, non-confrontational and collaborative working relationships between civil society and the government, decision-making by consensus and changes in advocacy practice corresponding to fluctuations in international funding. This study shows how, as civil society continues to develop its role in the HIV sector in Vietnam, it is critical to understand these complex influences so that program designers, funders and evaluators can appropriately support HIV civil society policy advocacy.

Research on civil society organizations’ advocacy has predominantly centered on examining societal and organizational structures as determining which organizations that engage in advocacy endeavors and whether they achieve influence. This structural determinism has instigated a growing body of research within the field emphasizing the agency of actors. Thus far, this new body of literature has tended to examine advocacy at the organizational level, thereby neglecting the impact of individual actors. This neglection is inconsistent with a related branch of organization studies, specifically the neo-institutional field, which long has recognized the relevance of studying individual actors’ role in change processes. This paper argues that it is similarly relevant to study the agency of individual actors in civil society organizations’ political advocacy. Through an archival case study utilizing analytical frameworks stemming from the neo-institutional concept of institutional entrepreneurship, the study examines how an individual actor influenced the law preparing process preceding the Danish Aliens Act of 1983. By outlining the significant impact of an individual actor in a legislative process, the paper underscores the need to integrate individual agency into civil society advocacy research to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of civil society organizations’ advocacy.

Key functions of civil society organizations (CSOs) are to criticize governments and to hold them to account. Recent trends of privatization and contracting out challenge CSOs’ opportunities to voice such criticism. The purpose of this article is to analyse whether and why CSOs ‘hold back their criticism’ of public authorities, and how a compromised advocacy can be linked to financial, organizational and institutional factors. The article draws on an original survey of 2678 Swedish CSOs. The analyses show that certain levels of funding make CSOs more likely to hold back in their criticism, but also organizational and institutional factors play a role. The results identify the importance of distinguishing between objective and subjective factors related to how dependency is framed. It is the felt needs, experiences and perceptions of CSOs themselves that make hem prone to the strategic choice to hold back criticism of public authorities.

Media publicity is an important resource for contemporary voluntary associations, but very little is actually known about the resources and organizational characteristics that are most important for getting media attention. To address this question, we collected and analyzed data on the organizational attributes and news publicity of 739 nonprofit organizations in New York City. We find that an organization’s income, paid staff, membership size, and library resources are significantly related to getting media publicity, whereas the number of chapter affiliations is inversely related to publicity. Association type is also a significant factor that influences an organization’s ability to get publicity. We discuss the implications that these findings have for current debates about advocacy and civic engagement in the nonprofit sector.

This research explores what roles nonprofits play in political representation by applying the concept of the representational role to nonprofits. The representational role consists of representational focus and style. Representational focus shows those whom nonprofits aim to serve: members, constituents, or the general public. Representational style denotes the ways nonprofits advocate for their focal groups: the delegation, trusteeship, and education styles. The survey and regression analysis results demonstrate that nonprofits serving their members are most likely to convey their members’ voices directly to policy makers: the delegation style. In contrast, nonprofits advocating for their constituents are likely to pursue what they independently identify as their constituents’ interests: the trusteeship style. Finally, nonprofits speaking for the general public are most likely to work toward educating the general public: the education style. These results suggest that nonprofits play different roles in political representation, depending on the types of their focal groups.

The following study examined advocacy strategies of human rights CSOs in Colombia; how they defended and expanded civic space for vulnerable populations, managed risk and characterized their relationships with INGOs. Twenty-six organizational leaders were interviewed. Results indicate that when under pressure, CSOs mitigate their mission, focus on culturally expressive activities, and avoid regions or topics. Proactive strategies used to advance the mission ranged from influencing policy incrementally through inside channels; ‘cloaking’—dissimulating the confrontative nature of activities and framing them as apolitical; joining coalitions for protection, legitimacy, and influence; appealing to national and international courts, and the media; and appealing to transnational networks for support. Human rights INGOs enabled CSOs to be more assertive in their advocacy by extending a variety of resources, including funding, legitimacy, global visibility, and some degree of physical protection. The study contributes to our understanding of how human rights CSOs advance democracy in hybrid regimes.

Despite policy calling for compulsory education in China, many children with autism are not in school. This article examines the establishment of autism-related non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China to meet needs not being met by the state. We focus on the background and motivation in founding and running these NGOs, after first considering the broader context of state decentralization and NGOs roles in supplementing welfare needs in reforming societies, and the educational policy context of China. This study used mixed methods, including questionnaires with open-ended and limited choice questions, and follow-up discussion email. The goals of NGO leaders—more than 50% of whom are parents of children with autism—are to make up for where government implementation of educational policy is insufficient; help others and advocate for inclusion in society; and do meaningful work. Implications from these findings are discussed.