ABSTRACT
The nonprofit sector has witnessed tremendous growth over the last 60 years as nonprofit organizations have responded to a growing movement to reduce citizen dependence on government provision of public goods and services (Berry & Arons, 2003; Salamon, 2002). In this effort, many nonprofit organizations have established an influential position in the formulation of public policies and have taken on the role of advocate for those less fortunate (Child & Grønbjerg, 2007). As a result, nonprofit organizations have a complex relationship with policymakers and deep stakes in the formulation and implementation of public policies (Child & Grønbjerg, 2007). To become successful in the policy arena, Berry and Arons (2003) argue nonprofit organizations must strengthen their organizational resources while building collaborations with other organizations in the public and nonprofit sectors. While Berry and Arons (2003) emphasize collaboration for the purpose of influencing public policy, most studies on nonprofit collaboration focus on the benefits and motivations of collaborative efforts to improve service delivery and program outcomes (Selden, Sowa, & Sandfort, 2006). Sowa (2009) argues that nonprofit organizations participate in collaborative activities with other organizations to benefit the program “services being delivered and the organizations as a whole” (p. 1006). Collaboration improves service delivery by leveraging resources and knowledge to mitigate resource and institutional pressures; whereas organizational-level benefits include prolonging survival, achieving legitimacy, and improving strategic positions (Sowa, 2009). The benefits of collaboration are derived directly from motivations, with solved problems, shared norms, and a sustained alliance all being desired outcomes of collaboration and indicators of a successful effort (Wood & Gray, 1991). Additional studies show that an organization’s need to acquire resources, leverage new ideas and expertise, and satisfy institutional pressures to maximize dollars are also significant motivations for nonprofit
organizations to participate in collaboration (Sowa, 2009). Government mandate of collaboration, either as a way to increase an organization’s strengths, as a decreed duplication of services, or as an increased measure in evaluation, has shown to be not only a method of classification of collaboration types, but also a key motivation for why organizations participate in collaboration (Leroux & Goerdel, 2009). Shifting from the trends of program outcomes and motivations in research on nonprofit collaboration, this study focuses on the organizational resources necessary to participate in collaboration and how these resources impact collaborative advocacy activities. Specifically, we seek to identify whether organizational characteristics impact the likelihood of a nonprofit organization to collaborate with nonprofit or public-sector organizations to lobby or advocate for public policy issues, and whether this method of collaboration is perceived as effective. The chapter is included as an exemplar in the third part of this volume in that it illustrates an advocacy organization’s use of collaboration as a tool to help advance specific public policy goals. Nonprofit organizations are an integral and influential part of the policy process, and the chapter provides a resource for executive directors interested in adopting collaboration as an advocacy and lobbying tool. The chapter is divided into six sections. First, we begin with a discussion of research on collaboration in the nonprofit context. This discussion then transitions into a discussion of the barriers to nonprofit advocacy. Next, nonprofit collaborative activities, nonprofit advocacy and lobbying, and organizational characteristics leading to nonprofit advocacy are defined and explored. Fourth, the methodology introduces state nonprofit associations and their relevance to this study, in addition to the methods for data collection and analysis. Fifth, results of the analysis are discussed exploring the relationships between the likelihood to participate in collaborative activities when engaging in advocacy, organizational characteristics, and the perceived effectiveness of this tactic. We conclude by noting the contributions of the study to the larger body of nonprofit research and practitioners in the field.
