Volume 16, Issue 1

American communities have been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The collaboration between governments and nonprofits is needed to satisfy the needs of the American communities. This article investigates the organizational factors of nonprofits that contribute to the obtainment of government disaster relief funds in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by surveying nonprofits whose main offices were located in California. The findings show that, in general, having internal professionals in fundraising, and having previous experience in government applications contribute to the successful receipt of government relief funds. Moreover, different factors are associated with the receipt of relief funds from different levels of government. This article offers valuable insights to government and nonprofit funding relations and how their collaboration can enhance community resilience during times of disasters.

Representation is an important role of the nonprofit sector as these organizations can give voice to the priorities of their constituents. This is particularly important for disadvantaged communities that may lack access to traditional democratic processes. What advocacy tactics are most utilized by nonprofit organizations serving disadvantaged populations? Given variation in nonprofit advocacy tactics, which tactics are perceived as most effective? To answer these questions, we look to the framework of tactical repertoires from sociological studies of social movements. Analysis of a survey of New England nonprofits ( N  = 656, 55 % response rate) indicates that nonprofits serving disadvantaged populations use similar tactics to organizations advocating for other constituencies but employ them at higher rates. These tactics cluster into three tactical repertoires, each a different combination of advocacy tactics. Perceptions of advocacy effectiveness are associated with the size and nature of tactical repertoires, client participation in advocacy, government funding, and perceptions of the policy environment.

As a relatively stable democracy, Ghana has long been a popular country for international donors. However, recent changes in its classification by the World Bank and government proclamations have led to a reduction in foreign aid, forcing Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to confront the financial sustainability of their organizations. In this study, we test the typology proposed by Arhin et al. (2018. “Facing the Bullet? Non-Governmental Organisations’ (NGOs’) Responses to the Changing Aid Landscape in Ghana.” Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 29 (2): 348–60) which finds that CSOs in Ghana are using six different strategies to work toward financial sustainability. Based on an original survey of 42 CSOs, our findings indicate an almost exclusive focus on income generation in the form of social enterprises. The challenges this poses to the sector are discussed.

Policy actors (PAs) like nongovernmental organizations, political parties or governmental institutions strategically communicate on social media to gain attention and thus influence the public agenda. We argue that networks of PAs engaged in the same issues (i.e., a PA’s peer network ) are crucial to attracting the interest of a broad audience. Drawing on network theory, we posit that (i) ideological homophily, and (ii) the centrality and embeddedness in a PA’s peer network increase the attention received from all Twitter (now X) users. We investigate these premises by analyzing the European migration discourse on Twitter (2014–2020). The results of our study reveal that the centrality of PAs in their peer networks and ideologically similar relations considerably increase attention from the whole Twittersphere. These findings provide strong evidence that a PA’s role in its organizational peer network on social media governs the attention received in the overall discourse.

Public support is crucial for mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) play a significant role in normative governance aimed at influencing attitudes and mobilizing citizens to take action. Civil society organizations (CSOs) use digital media to this purpose. The framing of information presented by CSOs has been shown to shape how people perceive and respond to it. This paper aims to examine how cognitive or topical framing and moral foundational framing interact in predicting public engagement with CSOs’ communication about climate change on Facebook. To this end, several computational methods – including topic modeling, semantic network analysis, and automatic text processing based on a Moral Foundations dictionary – are combined, using data gathered on Facebook. The results of the empirical analysis reveal that CSOs use different topical frames and moral foundations in order to influence policymakers and mobilize citizens. CSOs elicit most engagement on Facebook when they combine a “Climate mobilization” topical frame with the moral foundations of care and fairness pertaining to the ethics of autonomy.