A Quantitative Analysis of Policy and Sociocultural Advocacy Within a Neo-corporatist Context

Abstract

Policy and sociocultural advocacy are still entrenched within their disciplinary silos. This makes that a lot of research is missing out on the complete picture of nonprofits’ social change efforts. Moreover, this also relates to inconsistencies (i.e., determinants) and ambiguities (i.e., tactics) that are characteristic of the current ‘morass’ in which nonprofit advocacy literature finds itself today. In this study, we empirically analyze whether nonprofits engage in policy and/or sociocultural advocacy as well as whether determinants and tactics relate differently or similarly to both advocacy goals. Making use of a large-N survey database of Flemish nonprofits, our findings show that: (a) most nonprofits engage in advocacy in general and around half pursue both policy and sociocultural change, (b) the field of activity, age, public and market income are important explanatory variables and (c) not all advocacy tactics are used for pursuing both policy and sociocultural advocacy.

Appendices

Appendix 1: The International Classification of Nonprofit Organizations

Categories	Explanation	Proportion of the sample
Category 1: Culture and Recreation	Organizations and activities in general and specialized fields of culture and recreation	42 (8.5%)
Category 2: Education and Research	Organizations and activities administering, providing, promoting, conducting, supporting and servicing education and research	28 (5.6%)
Category 3: Health	Organizations that engage in health-related activities, providing health care, both general and specialized services, administration of health care services and health support services	15 (3.0%)
Category 4: Social Services	Organizations and institutions providing human and social services to a community or target population	198 (39.9%)
Category 5: Environment	Organizations promoting and providing services in environmental conservation, pollution control and prevention, environmental education and health and animal protection	24 (4.8%)
Category 6: Development and Housing	Organizations promoting programs and providing services to help improve communities and the economic and social wellbeing of society	70 (14.1%)
Category 7: Law, Advocacy and Politics	Organizations and groups that work to protect and promote civil and other rights, or advocate the social and political interests of general or special constituencies, offer legal services and promote public safety	39 (7.9%)
Category 8: Philanthropic Intermediaries and Voluntarism Promotion	Philanthropic organizations and organizations promoting charity and charitable activities	0 (0.0%)
Category 9: International	Organizations promoting greater intercultural understanding between peoples of different countries and historical backgrounds and also those providing relief during emergencies and promoting development and welfare abroad	18 (3.6%)
Category 10: Religion	Organizations promoting religious beliefs and administering religious services and rituals; includes churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, shrines, seminaries, monasteries and similar religious institutions, in addition to related associations and auxiliaries of such organizations	28 (5.6%)
Category 11: Business, Professional Associations and Unions	Organizations promoting, regulating and safeguarding business, professional and labor interests	33 (6.7%)
Category 12: Other	Not elsewhere classified	1 (0.2%)

Appendix 2: The Tactical Repertoire

Tactics	Explanation
Investing in an own research department	This relates to a nonprofit relying on an in-house department of paid professionals to research and analyze data and topics, producing knowledge available for advocacy efforts
Collecting and mobilizing external knowledge	This includes collecting knowledge and information—which is provided by external sources—that could be used as an input for advocacy engagement
Direct contact with politicians	Nonprofit employees that directly interact—sometimes even in person—with politicians in both the executive (e.g., a minister) and legislative (e.g., a member of parliament) branch at different levels of government for advocacy purposes
Direct contact with government administrations	This tactic relates to nonprofits’ direct communication with administrators in government—ranging from a government department to a decentralized agency—to support their advocacy engagement
Direct contact with corporations	It relates to nonprofits engaging in direct interactions with corporations—specifically managers and members of the board—in order to contribute to their advocacy goals
Participating in advisory councils	These councils are formed in order to bring expertise together and to give advice—sometimes binding—to the government on how to handle certain topics or themes, which entails a social change agenda
Disseminating opinions in all kinds of media	This relates to nonprofits publicly spreading certain opinions about collective issues—often carefully prepared—by making use of different media channels (e.g., the radio, a news broadcast and a Facebook post) with a focus on social change
Raising awareness among citizens	An advocacy tactic that is different from disseminating opinions, as a nonprofit not only wants to confront people with a collective issue but also help them to understand it and make them more conscious—which is different than to agree with it
Organizing debate and discussion	A nonprofit that stimulates or engages in debate and discussion about a collective theme and that is interested in the respectful confrontation of different viewpoints, opinions and attitudes in order to contribute to broad social change
Mobilizing citizens to defend and propagate opinions	It means that nonprofits also rely on people to spread and defend their opinions about collective issues in order to put more pressure on their social change demands
Organizing a rally or demonstration	An advocacy tactic characterized by the nonprofit standing for a certain cause or concern of collective nature and publicly—often in group—showing their beliefs and views
Organizing a protest or protest campaign	Different than a demonstration, characterized by the disapproval of something that relates to a certain collective cause or concern, warranting advocacy engagement
Filing a legal complaint or setting up a lawsuit	Nonprofits can also focus on the judicial branch of government by translating their social change efforts into legal demands before a court of justice
Setting up improvement actions in the own organization	Nonprofits can also engage in social change by showing the external environment that their internal procedures, rules and culture reflect the collective issues they find important
Collaborating with other organizations	This relates to all types of collaboration—ranging from an informal network to a coalition—with different types of organizations (e.g., other nonprofits or businesses) that can strengthen nonprofits’ advocacy involvement
Giving space to voices that would otherwise not be heard in the public debate	Giving a platform to particular constituents and their voices—as it is often hard for them to have a say in the public and political arena—with the intention of bringing about social change
Applying the societal vision or views to its own services	This tactic enables nonprofits to show that services can be designed in a different way, thus also in line with their social change agenda