The Co-Construction of Organizational Identities:Organizational Identity Work in Nonprofits

Abstract

Our study examines the efforts of four non-profit organizations to secure resources from potential funders, and the response of these funders to organizational efforts. Our findings reveal different patterns of change and adaptation in identity claims and understandings (identity trajectories), associated with different types of identity work, image management strategies, and resource gathering. They portray the relationship between the organization and its potential funders as a collective negotiation over a representation of the organization (external identity) that “fits” with the aspirations, constraints, and identities of all the parties involved. By doing so, our observations advance the idea of identities as temporary accomplishments, constructed within a relationship in a way that preserves the coherence of the identities (values, roles) of the participants. This conceptualization is consistent with an understanding of identity-as-process, as an ongoing social construction aimed at enacting and re-enacting the sense of self and continuity of internal and external constituents.