INGOs, Inc. : the effects of INGO adoption of "Best Corporate Practices" on funding received

Since the late 1980s, the exponential growth of the nonprofit sector, large amounts of funding devoted to it, occurrence of major scandals in the corporate and nonprofit realms, and fear that international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are vulnerable to misuse of funds for terrorist purposes have contributed to creating a more demanding environment for INGOs through new calls for accountability from within and outside the sector. Many solutions proposed by INGOs and others seem to emanate from corporate sector practices. How well have norms of accountability traveled from the corporate to the nonprofit sector? Using interviews and archival data, I examine the cases of Greenpeace USA and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in order to examine the relationship between INGO adoption of corporate norms and INGOs financial performance. I argue that adopting corporate norms is likely to improve INGO financial performance. INGOs that copy corporate norms are likely to improve more financially than INGOs that adapt them because the former can respond more directly and rapidly to varied donor demands. However, INGOs which copy corporate norms are more likely to experience lower mission performance than INGOs which adapt them because copied corporate norms can conflict with the greater purpose of the organization or lead to goal displacement. If it is the case that INGOs which perform better financially are less likely to succeed in their mission, it could put into question the current collaborative relationships between INGOs and corporations as corporate norms may be incompatible, and even detrimental to INGOs purposes

NGO Responses to Counterterrorism Regulations After September 11th

We examine variations in nongovernmental organizations\u27 (NGOs\u27) responses to post-2001 changes in counterterrorism regulations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. We connect the presence of different ideal type responses—hiding, shirking, vocal opposition, participating, and litigating—to the extent of change in regulations, the degree of uncertainty (and risk) created by new regulations, and the availability of political institutions for NGO participation in policy-making

International Grantmaking by American Foundations

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2015Why do American foundations make international grants to certain nonprofits and not others? Numerous studies have examined the determinants of American bilateral foreign aid allocation, but little attention has been paid to the drivers of private aid, including foundation grants. The number of foundations in the United States is growing consistently, as is the amount of grants they distribute. As inequality increases and private wealth becomes more concentrated in the United States, we can expect even more foundations to distribute private aid and potentially channel nonprofit recipients' priorities. Yet, even as nonprofits more generally are receiving increasing attention in political science, public policy, and other disciplines, foundations tend to be ignored by scholars despite their potential for monetary and ideological power. To study grantmaking by American foundations, I adopt a multi-method approach focusing on three factors: their external environment, internal organizational dynamics, and the interpersonal relationships of their staff and trustees with recipient organizations. First, I examine how factors that affect governmental foreign aid distribution may also influence American foundations' international grants. Using a panel of 146 countries for the 2003-2011 time period, I find that self-interest, U.S. foreign policy objectives and need in recipient countries influence foundations. Second, I focus on the internal dynamics within foundations during the grantmaking process through case studies. Here, I focus on how size, organizational structure, and internal politics influence funding priorities, the grantee selection process, and grant turnover. Third, I study how interpersonal networks between foundations and potential grantees affect grantmaking using social network and multivariate analysis. I expect that interlocking boards of directors between foundations and nonprofits will act as a channel for "connected" nonprofits to send and receive important information, thus making them more likely to receive grants

Delivering public services to the underserved: Nonprofits and the Latino threat narrative

Some politicians employ harsh rhetoric demanding that government deny public services such as food, housing, and medical care to immigrants. While nonprofits assist immigrants in this regard, their work is sustainable only if private donors support them. Using a survey experiment, this article examines whether donors' willingness to support a charity depends on the legal status of its beneficiaries, and the region from which they have come. We find that, in relation to a charity that serves low-income families (control group), donors are less willing to support a charity serving immigrants, but the region from which beneficiaries emigrated is irrelevant. Donor willingness diminishes substantially when beneficiaries are undocumented or face deportation. While shared ethnicity between donors and beneficiaries does not increase charitable support, bilingualism does. In addition, support for the charity rises substantially among Latinx donors who were born outside the US and do not speak English at home.https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.1349