Still hold aloft the banner of social change? Nonprofit advocacy in the wave of commercialization

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations worldwide are increasingly seeking commercial means of financing. Would commercialization compromise the civic functions of nonprofit organizations, especially their policy advocacy efforts for social change? In this article, we address this profound concern by examining policy advocacy by commercialized nonprofits in Singapore. Applying a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis approach in theory building, this study identifies multiple causal configurations of organizational and environmental conditions under which nonprofit organizations can still maintain a high level of advocacy activities in the wave of commercialization. The configurational theory that this study develops sheds new light on our understanding of the causal complexity underlying nonprofit advocacy and informs decision-making on how to uphold nonprofit civic functions in the commercializing context.