Many US-based religious groups engage in networked relationships with religionists in countries elsewhere around the world, investing millions of dollars and personnel hours annually. Evangelical or fundamentalist groups alone do not account for all this network activity; even more liberal-leaning Christian denominations engage extensively in transnational relationships. This inductive study begins with a description of the scope of global network involvement by so-called mainline Christian bodies in the US, then examines in greater detail the structure and context of the transnational ties of one denomination, the Episcopal Church, using data drawn from surveys and four indices relevant to the study of civil society. The potential implications of these transnational religious networks, especially for civil society in developing regions, are tentatively explored by considering ideological differences between religionists linked by network ties.

Drawing on attribution theory and expectancy violations theory, this paper examines the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the nonprofit domain. For this task, an analysis of the effects of positive and negative CSR performance on perceived trustworthiness was conducted for nonprofit and for for-profit organizations. The findings of a survey-based experiment indicate that in the nonprofit domain, positive CSR performance does not significantly affect trustworthiness, whereas negative CSR performance significantly destroys trustworthiness. Since negative CSR performance is the result of irresponsible behavior, the study’s findings suggest that CSR in the nonprofit domain should be centered on “avoiding bad.”

This article assesses how strategies applied by Cambodian NGOs to reduce their dependence on external resources affect the sustainability of their mission, program and funding. At the empirical level, the findings suggest that NGO dependence on foreign aid has mixed effects on the organizations such as unpredictability of funding, goal displacement, reduced organizational autonomy, and top-down accountability. Funding from commercial activities is more predictable and potentially promotes bottom-up accountability and increases organizational autonomy but may conflict with the mission-drift of NGOs. At the theoretical level, this article contributes to resource dependence theory by introducing a perspective from developing countries, which implies large power differentials between international funding agencies and receiving local NGOs. The strategic responses employed by local NGO leaders to reduce external resource dependence entail a paradigm shift from external control to local embeddedness and increased autonomy. The findings have important policy implications regarding the regulation of NGO-related and unrelated business activities.

In this paper, we apply the established ‘neo-contingency approach’ from organizational theory into the field of community-led social ventures which, by necessity, have to be embedded within their local community context in order to achieve their social mission. Through our analysis of three heterogeneous case studies from around rural Japan, we show how the external environment and contingencies affect leadership style and the pattern of social capital, influencing the type of community development apparent in each setting. We propose that local contingencies, such as external environment, leadership and social capital, play a role in influencing organizational culture in community-led social ventures and, indeed, the form that the social venture takes. We conclude by arguing that if the neo-contingency approach is to fulfil its potential then further theoretical and conceptual development is required.

This study examines how senior managers of Korean nonprofit organizations construe their accountability environment, particularly with respect to the perceived expectations of various stakeholders. In-depth interviews were conducted with 42 nonprofit executives in Seoul and six other major Korean cities. Subsequent surveys were completed by 271 organizations. The interview results were used to construct a survey instrument to generalize the findings. The findings suggest that executives of South Korean NPOs perceive board members, staff members, and government agencies as their top three significant stakeholders to whom they are accountable. Regarding the important question of “for what” they are accountable, the respondents emphasized compliance to legal obligations and observance of democratic principles of organizational operation. This study also identified four common components in South Korean NPO accountability obligations: professional integrity, civic engagement, and inter-organizational partnership (civic activism-oriented and professionalism-oriented).

Practitioners and researchers alike often assume a unique nonprofit value set as a nonprofit-specific source of competitive advantage. Empirical research assessing this values–performance link remains scarce though. In response, this study tests for the predicted competitive advantage derived from nonprofit values and assesses value prioritization and value implementation with a twofold measurement. An empirical study, conducted among German hospitals, reveals that differences in value prioritization exist and are partially linked to hospital ownership. However, these findings reject the idea of a unique nonprofit value prioritization; no performance differences arise across value prioritization groups. Nonprofit organizations do not differ in their value implementation either, though some implemented values serve as organizational resources and are associated with better performance. The authors discuss the managerial importance of values as a firm asset, as well as avenues for further research.

Looking at foundations in the United States and in Germany from around 1800 to the present from a historical-sociological perspective, the article focuses on the social significance of foundations over the course of time—which social relationships and exchanges they promote, which guiding principles they institutionalize, how they accrue charisma, how they relate to the public good, and which social groups use these instruments to which ends. In both societies, foundations embody the principle of charismatically charged exclusivity. Foundations try to harmonize individual objectives with an idea of the common good that is considered sacrosanct. Large sums of money dedicated to the common good possess a charisma, making them rather immune to criticism and causing them to be perceived positively. In this sense, they occupy a central position within both societies and contribute to their stratification.

As a consequence of European integration and the EU’s expanded social policy, more citizens’ interests are today organized at EU level. In the case of the women’s movement, there is an umbrella organization—the European Women’s Lobby (EWL)—in place in Brussels coordinating national women’s movements. The EWL demands from its members that they be nationwide and representative umbrellas, which has structuring effects on the women’s movements at domestic level. This article proposes to study the Europeanization of civil society through the lens of meta-organization theory (Ahrne & Brunsson 2008). Europeanization can thus be understood as a process which imposes meta-organizational structures on civil society. Through a case study of the Swedish Women’s Lobby, this article analyses the consequences for the women’s movement in Sweden of the meta-organizational structure brought into being by Europeanization.

In liberal systems governing-party-turnover and third sector organisations’ engagement in public policy-making are seen as key factors maintaining the health of democracy. However, a significant lacuna in current understanding is the effect on engagement when governing-party-turnover is absent. Accordingly, drawing on qualitative interview data, this study examines the effects of one-party-dominance (OPD) in Wales; a regional polity in the UK where the Left-of-centre Labour Party has held uninterrupted government office since a new meso-legislature was created in 1999. The findings reveal OPD introduces a range of pathologies related to party institutionalisation, path-dependency and cognitive locks. These affect third sector organisations’ resource dependency and strategic bridging to elected representatives. The resulting democratic ills are self-sustaining and include diminution of NGOs’ autonomy, trust and criticality. This study’s wider significance lies in underlining the importance of governing-party-turnover- not only to effective third sector public policy engagement, but also the health of contemporary liberal democracies.

This research measures organizational capacity and organizational ambition in nonprofit and voluntary sports clubs. The organizational capacity dimensions of Hall et al.’s (The capacity to serve: A qualitative study of the challenges facing Canada’s nonprofit and voluntary organizations, 2003) multidimensional framework are completed with corresponding dimensions reflecting organizational ambition, and the human resources dimension is further detailed. Each dimension is adapted to be applicable in a sports clubs setting, resulting in the following organizational ambition and capacity dimensions: human resources (board, coaches, volunteers, youth coaches), accommodation, management, financing, and external orientation. Data obtained from a sample of 585 Flemish sports clubs were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, revealing five types of sports clubs that are labeled ‘ambition,’ ‘coaches,’ ‘volunteers,’ ‘management,’ and ‘accommodation deficiency.’ The findings support the use of a multidimensional framework based on the dimensions organizational capacity and organizational ambition, and the usefulness of distinguishing among four types of volunteers.

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.

The link between extracurricular activities during childhood and adolescence and civic engagement in the subsequent stage of life is theoretically strong but empirically weak. This is due to the lack of longitudinal studies that account for this relationship and the absence of retrospective studies to confirm it. In this article, we investigate, through the participants’ memory, the essential aspects of the quality of group experiences by which children and adolescents learn to become responsible citizens committed to social issues. More specifically, we investigate whether young adults currently committed to volunteer social work also remember as children and adolescents successful experiences participating in diverse recreational groups. We analyzed the psychometric properties of an index designed to retrospectively assess the quality of these experiences. The results indicate that the unifactorial structure of the index remains stable in the two Italian samples used and in the cross-national comparison with a third Spanish sample.

This paper compares and contrasts environmental philanthropy, environmental behavior, and their determinants among university students in five countries: Canada, Germany, Israel, South Korea, and the United States. The paper’s unique contribution to the nonprofit literature is its focus on environmental philanthropy as an unexplored form of philanthropic behavior, and the ability to test environmental philanthropy in an international setting and in comparison to other modes of environmental behavior. By environmental philanthropy, we mean giving to, and volunteering in, various environmental non-governmental organizations, and by environmental behavior, we refer to daily behaviors in the private sphere with ecological implications. We hypothesize that although the five countries vary on several characteristics, the student populations—who are young, educated, and exposed to global ideas and norms—will be relatively similar to each other in their environmental and philanthropic behavior and in the determinants of such behavior. To test this hypothesis, a standardized questionnaire was administered to 8,477 students on five campuses. Results show significant differences between students in their environmental philanthropic behavior, as well as in the demographic and attitudinal determinants of such behaviors.

Although charitable foundations play an important role in modern Western civil societies, knowledge about them and the factors that encourage their prevalence is still quite limited. The relevant literature acknowledges that Switzerland has proven a fertile ground for foundation growth, and in this paper, we develop and empirically test a model in order to examine the effects of the country’s economic and political incentive structure on foundation activity. We find that alongside the required income level that is an important determinant of foundation prevalence, tax incentives, and direct democracy have significant influence on individuals’ philanthropic behavior, as each account for approximately 10 % of the variance in the model presented here.

While corporate philanthropic giving to education is a controversial topic, how much money corporate foundations (CFs) provide to U.S. primary and secondary education, what policy and geographic areas CFs fund, who makes grant decisions within CFs, and corporate philanthropists’ reported giving motivations are unknown. A quantitative survey was used to gather data on 49 Fortune 500 CFs giving to primary and secondary U.S. education. Survey findings indicate that (a) the amount of money that these 49 CFs provide to primary and secondary U.S. education is 0.10 % of the 2010 education budget; (b) CFs report funding across different policy areas, avoiding school choice; (c) CFs favor funding cities or districts, individual schools, and individual students over state and national level funding; (d) the foundation president is more likely to make grantmaking decisions than the company CEO; and (e) corporate philanthropists report giving to primary and secondary U.S. education to build a strong workforce and improve community relations. Findings provide insight into the role of corporate philanthropy in primary and secondary U.S. education and have implications for policy.

Based on research conducted in Athens, Cairo, London and Yerevan, the article analyzes the relationship between activists engaged in street protests or direct action since 2011 and NGOs. It examines how activists relate to NGOs and whether it is possible to do sustained activism to bring about social change without becoming part of a ‘civil society industry.’ The article argues that while at first glance NGOs seem disconnected from recent street activism, and activists distance themselves from NGOs, the situation is more complicated than meets the eye. It contends that the boundaries between the formal NGOs and informal groups of activists are blurred and there is much cross-over and collaboration. The article demonstrates and seeks to explain this phenomenon, which we call surreptitious symbiosis, from the micro- perspective of individual activists and NGO staff. Finally, we discuss whether this surreptitious symbiosis can be sustained and sketch three scenarios for the future.