Chinese Nonprofit Organizations Research Articles

The Issues and Ethical Dilemmas of College Volunteers in Short-term Voluntary Teaching Projects

In recent years, with the continuous pursuit of self-worth by the public, more and more voluntary projects of non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations have emerged and developed. While these voluntary projects bring some positive effects, there are also some negative problems. This article will take short-term volunteer teaching of college students as an example to analyze the problems and moral dilemmas of volunteers in short-term volunteer projects. Through research, it can be found that volunteers in short-term volunteer teaching projects lack professionalism and vocational training, a lack of sustainable teaching mechanisms, and the moral dilemma faced by volunteers themselves. The research content of this paper will enhance the understanding of short-term voluntary teaching, and lead to practical implications for developing volunteer teaching programs in China. Meanwhile, it will provide theoretical support for the subsequent design and management of voluntary projects of Chinese non-profit organizations and also put forward feasible suggestions for the selection and training of volunteers, as well as the publicity and supervision of voluntary projects.

Neutral, Non-Disruptive, and Native: Why Do Chinese Nonprofit Scholars Cite English Articles?

Language shapes diverse cultures and creates natural barriers between human societies. The landscape of nonprofit and philanthropic studies in non-English languages is barely charted, impeding the globalization of this research field. This project (a) describes the topics shared between English and Chinese scholarship on nonprofits and philanthropy and (b) explores why English scholarship is cited in Chinese journal articles from five aspects: rationale of scholarship, novelty, relevance, social network, and reputation. The English articles cited by Chinese scholars tend to: (a) focus on instrumentality but not expressive values, (b) develop rather than disrupt existing paradigms, and (c) be relevant to topics popular in Chinese literature and have authors with Chinese scholarly connections. In general, Chinese scholars tend to cite English articles that are value-neutral, non-disruptive, and native. Theoretical and methodological implications for examining nonprofit studies in other languages are discussed.

Commercializing nonprofit organizations? Evidence from the Chinese nonprofit sector

AbstractThe increasing reliance on commercial income in the nonprofit sector (“nonprofit commercialization”) in various countries has become a highly contested topic. In recent years, Chinese nonprofits have also paid growing attention to commercial activities and revenue. However, empirical studies on the commercialization of Chinese nonprofits are limited. This study conducts the first empirical research to examine the scope and antecedents of nonprofit commercialization in China. Through a nationwide survey of 336 service‐delivery nonprofits (private nonenterprise organizations), the study finds that Chinese nonprofits' overall level of commercialization is modest, but the level varies substantially by organization. Further, informed by resource dependence theory, institutional theory, and organizational ecology theory, the study finds that Chinese nonprofit commercialization is driven by resource insufficiency, government connections, and environmental munificence. These findings extend the literature on nonprofit commercialization with new empirical evidence from a non‐Western, authoritarian context.摘要在许多国家，非营利部门对商业收入的日益依赖已经成为一个备受争议的话题。近年来，中国的非营利组织也开始重视商业活动以及随之带来的服务收入。然而，关于中国非营利组织商业化的实证研究并不多见。本研究首次实证分析了中国非营利组织商业化的规模和驱动因素。根据对全国336家服务性非营利组织(民办非企业单位)的定量分析，本研究发现中国非营利组织的商业化水平总体上是适中的，但是不同组织间的商业化水平存在较大的差异。此外，结合资源依赖理论、制度理论和组织生态学理论，本研究发现，组织内部资源匮乏、一定程度的政治关联和丰沛的外部资源环境是中国非营利组织商业化主要的驱动因素。这些基于非西方、威权国家情境的经验证据拓展了非营利组织商业化的相关文献○

Is Prosocial Motivation Enough? Mission Drift of Employees in Chinese Nonprofits

Mission drift is a common phenomenon in non-profits. However, related studies on employees remain scant. In this study, we combine mission drift and employees' turnover intention literature, and investigate mission drift at employee level based on interviews in the context of six nonprofits in China. The results show that: (1) employees who choose to work in nonprofits have a strong sense of prosocial mission; (2) employees believe that organizations have some defects, which are inconsistent with their own image of prosocial mission; (3) employees’mission drift exists in nonprofits, which may lead to their high turnover intention. Taken together, we believe mission drift deserves our future research attention.

What Drives the Development and Sustainable Growth of Cultural Nonprofits—Chinese Province-Level Evidence

Although cultural nonprofits play an increasingly important role in the provision of public cultural services in China, there are obvious regional differences in the development of cultural nonprofits. What factors affect this regional difference? This paper builds a theoretical model to explain the regional differences from the perspectives of regional demand, resource supply, and agglomeration effects. Data from the 31 provinces in mainland China from 2010 to 2015 are used to empirically examine the research model. The results indicate that demand for heterogeneity, financial resources, and human resources have positive effects on the size of cultural social organizations, and that there are also significant agglomeration effects with respect to the sustainable growth of cultural nonprofits; however, these findings vary across types of Chinese nonprofits (social organizations, private non-enterprise organizations, and foundations). These findings improve our understanding of regional differences of Chinese cultural nonprofits and have important policy implications for governments to promote the development of cultural nonprofits.

Job Demands and Resources and Employee Well-Being in the Chinese Nonprofit Sector.

Although the nonprofit sector in China has grown substantially in past decades, its future is threatened by high turnover and burnout. It is thus necessary to investigate the factors that contribute to employee well-being (EWB) among nonprofit employees in China. This study used 233 foundation employees in China to examine the effects of job demands and resources (JD-R) on EWB. Estimates produced by regression analyses indicated that job resources (JR) have a strong effect on EWB (Beta = 0.53), as well as on the three EWB subscales (workplace, psychological, and life well-being). While job demands (JD) had no effects on overall well-being, they were negatively associated with workplace well-being (WWB) (Beta = −0.12). Robustness tests were conducted to further examine how JD and JR dimensions affect EWB and its subscales. Based on the findings, we underscore the importance of JR for EWB among foundation employees in China as well as that of implementing interventions that may alleviate the cost of emotional workload as a JD.

Chinese NPOs in Service Contracting at the Community Level: Challenges and Strategies

With a clear agenda to reform the public service system and promote a service-oriented nonprofit sector, the Chinese government has been building a local service system by contracting with nonprofit organizations (NPOs) at the community level. Through the competing institutional logics perspective, this article examines the challenges that NPOs experienced and their responding strategies. The study found that bureaucratic logic, managerial logic, professional logic, and guanxi relations logic coexisted in the service field and each had different expectations of NPOs. In juggling the various requirements of these competing institutional logics, NPOs faced three major challenges: powerless status, legitimacy crisis, and accountability dilemma. Nevertheless, they were committed to the community and demonstrated agency in addressing these challenges. The strategies they used included using an intermediary platform to reduce power imbalance, compromising to share legitimacy with neighborhood committees, establishing professional identity, building community, and meeting both upward and downward accountability.

Effect of Government Grants on Private Giving to East Asian Nonprofits

For effective financial management, social work managers must clearly grasp the relationship between government grants and private contributions, which is frequently characterized as crowding-out effects. Crowding-out effects have been investigated for various types of nonprofits in the U.S., and the results have been mixed. In spite of its popularity in nonprofit research, the theory has not been applied to nonprofits serving minority communities. This is the first pilot crowding-out study looking at East Asian nonprofit organizations, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese-American nonprofits in the NY and NJ metropolitan area (n = 410). Through a panel analysis, the current study found a significant crowding-in effect for donations to East Asian-American nonprofits (p < .01). The relationship between government grants and private giving was different for each East Asian-American nonprofit organization. Particularly, donors of Chinese and Japanese-American nonprofit organizations donated more money when their charities received more government grants (p < .05). In contrast, we found crowding-out effects for Korean-American nonprofit organizations, but the result was not significant (p > .05). The estimated crowding-in effects of government grants on private giving by each of the East Asian countries were explicated based on each country’s social, political, and cultural background such as the quality of the charity, transparency, and political trust. Social work managers in ethnic nonprofit organizations should establish different strategies to help shape donor giving patterns according to the effect of government grants.

In the Shadow of the Government: The Chinese Nonprofit Sector in the COVID-19 Crisis

Nonprofit organizations often work on the front lines of disaster assistance and emergency relief. In this sweeping coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the nonprofit sector in many countries is playing an active role in the national fight against the coronavirus. However, the Chinese nonprofit sector only plays a marginal role in the battle. This article, from a government–nonprofit relationship perspective, delves into the underlying factors shaping the Chinese nonprofit sector’s limited involvement in this pandemic crisis and the impacts of the crisis on the Chinese nonprofit sector. In particular, we argue that a strong and centralized political regime leaves little room for nonprofits’ involvement in emergency relief, resulting in a nonprofit sector that is vulnerable and marginalized. Nonprofits have to be smarter in coping with the government in the COVID-19 downturn.

What type of nonprofit organization is preferred in government contracting in China?

Government contracting with nonprofit organizations in service delivery has become a widespread practice in the public administration landscape. This research explores what kinds of nonprofits are more likely to receive government funding for service delivery. Viewing nonprofits’ pursuit of government funding as an interorganizational effort, we examine the contextual and organizational factors that influence nonprofits’ receipt of government funding. Using the data collected from a nationwide survey of Chinese nonprofits, we find a close contractual relationship between government and nonprofits. Further analysis suggests that policy advocacy, board co-optation, external competition, and organizational formalization have positive impacts on leveraging government funding, while interorganizational collaboration and organizational professionalization do not appear to play a significant role. To our knowledge, this study represents the first nationwide survey research on government–nonprofit contracting in China. The findings expand the literature by adding new empirical evidence from an authoritarian context.Points for practitionersThis study examines the contextual and organizational factors affecting Chinese nonprofit organizations’ receipt of purchase-of-service contracts from government. The results indicate that nonprofit organizations engaging in more policy advocacy activities, having more people with government working experience on governing boards, facing stronger competition in resource acquisition and service delivery from operating environments, and embracing more formal structures and procedures in organizational operations would receive more government contracts.

An exploratory study of stewardship for Chinese nonprofit organizations

This study examined how Chinese nonprofits practice stewardship and how stewardship principles influence nonprofit–donor relationships and donor retention. Fifteen qualitative in‐depth interviews were conducted with experienced fundraisers in China. Results showed that Kelly's stewardship principles were applicable in China; Chinese fundraisers practiced stewardship principles of reciprocity, responsibility, reporting, and relationship nurturing to maintain relationships with major gift and annual donors. Besides, practitioners also utilized a variety of communication channels, ranging from face‐to‐face, telephones, emails, to digital shared media such as WeChat and Weibo, in communicating with individual and general public donors. Finally, interviewees also provided evidence on the positive role of quality nonprofit–donor relationships in retaining donors. This study illustrated the current status of nonprofit fundraising practice in China and expanded the explanatory power of the stewardship theory. The findings are implicative for Chinese nonprofits professionals on how to develop their unique stewardship practice in managing relationships with donors.

Engaging publics in the mobile era: A study of Chinese charitable foundations’ use of WeChat

WeChat, the most widely used social mobile application nowadays in China, marks the advent of a mobile communication age that has reshaped Chinese people’s lifestyles. Understanding Chinese nonprofits’ communication performance on WeChat is a nascent field of study that calls for public relations scholars’ attention and investigation. By observing the most transparent Chinese charitable foundations, this study conducted a quantitative content analysis to examine their use of WeChat for dialogic communication with publics. Particularly, this study examined the dialogic features employed on the official WeChat accounts of these foundations as well as the public engagement functions fulfilled by their WeChat posts. The findings indicate that the dialogic potential of WeChat has not been fully utilized by the Chinese foundations. The official accounts have been relatively successful in fulfilling the provision of useful information toward interested publics, but most of them still have not created a dialogic loop with their audience. The WeChat posts primarily act as information sources but also perform the salient function of calling upon actions. In addition, certain communication strategies were identified in the posts to attract audience attention and to promote organizational activities, such as the incorporation of multimedia content and popular online events.

Voluntary Financial Disclosure to Downward Stakeholders: An Empirical Examination of Chinese Nonprofits

Downward financial disclosure in the nonprofit sector is little scrutinized in the extant literature where most studies focus on financial disclosure “upward” to regulators, governing bodies, and donors. Analyzing a sample of 311 nonprofits collected in China, this article examines the determinants of nonprofits’ financial disclosure downward to their staff, beneficiaries, and the general public. The authors claim that in addition to the four sets of factors—organizational strategy, capacity, governance, and environment—organizational culture also affects nonprofits’ voluntary financial disclosure. In addition, there are different decision-making patterns of financial disclosure to the three downward stakeholders. While disclosure to staff is associated with strategy and internal governance, disclosure to beneficiaries is associated with internal governance, and disclosure to the general public is associated with strategy, capacity, and organizational culture.

Interventions of Chinese Nonprofit Charitable Organizations in the Rescue of Children in Difficulty

In June 2016, China promulgated the “Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening the Work of Rescuing Children in Difficulty”, which broadened the coverage of child welfare in China. The document clearly encourages and supports the participation of nonprofit charitable organizations in improving and complementing the public support system for children living in difficulty. This paper reports an assessment study of the relief program for children with congenital heart disease, which was launched by the Red Cross in L Province. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with six Red Cross employees and 10 parents of stricken families, and telephone interviews with 66 recipient families, were carried out. Additionally, a review of a large number of background documents was analyzed to assess interventions by social organizations in the rescue of children in difficulty. The project was shown to reduce poverty and improve medical treatment for children with congenital heart disease. The role of nonprofit charitable organizations in relation to the child protection system can be characterized as “leak-filling”.

Moving Toward Neo-Totalitarianism: A Political-Sociological Analysis of the Evolution of Administrative Absorption of Society in China

AbstractChina recently promulgated and revised a number of laws, regulations and measures to regulate the nonprofit sector. All these administrative efforts increase support for Chinese nonprofit organizations (NPOs) on the one hand and put unprecedented pressure on them on the other. The seemingly contradictory effects are actually based on the same logic of Administrative Absorption of Society (AAS). This article proposes three phases in the development of AAS: an subconscious phase, a theory-modeling phase, and an institutionalization phase. The institutionalization of AAS has led to the rise of neo-totalitarianism, which is featured by state capitalism, unlimited government, and a mixed ideology of Marxism and Confucianism. Neo-totalitarianism further strengthens AAS and has begun to reshape the relationship between the state and the nonprofit sector. This article analyzes China’s nonprofit policymaking from a sociopolitical perspective, and clarifies the context, the characteristics, and the evolution of laws and policies in the nonprofit sector in macrocosm.

Changing Spaces for Civil Society Organisations in China

Concerns about shrinking spaces for civil society organisations have risen in China over the past years, in particular among international nonprofit organisations. The third sector in China, however, continued its growth in numbers, diversity and activities of organisations, accounting for more than 700,000 registered organisations. Government’s financial support to nonprofits significantly increased through contracting out of services. The new Charity Law contains provisions for public fundraising activities, including for online platforms. International activities of Chinese nonprofits took off in the context of participation in global conferences. Chinese NGOs also started to engage in delivering humanitarian aid to communities in other countries. Assessments on shrinking or changing spaces for civil society in China much depend on the type of organisations in focus. This paper pays attention to discourses related to NGO development in China and sheds light on changing spaces for different types of nonprofits in China, those that are negatively affected by new regulations and different kinds of restrictions and those benefiting from emerging opportunities in the context of growing cooperation with the government or the business sector. Analysis based on interviews and talks with experts in China and abroad shows that advocacy-oriented organisations and those receiving foreign funding tend to face more difficulties. Larger international nonprofits with a long track-record in China, however, are seen to continuing or even expanding their activities.

State power and elite autonomy in a networked civil society: The board interlocking of Chinese non-profits

In response to failures of central planning, the Chinese government has experimented not only with free-market trade zones, but with allowing non-profit foundations to operate in a decentralized fashion. A network study shows how these foundations have connected together by sharing board members, in a structural parallel to what is seen in corporations in the United States and Europe. This board interlocking leads to the emergence of an elite group with privileged network positions. While the presence of government officials on non-profit boards is widespread, government officials are much less common in a subgroup of foundations that control just over half of all revenue in the network. This subgroup, associated with business elites, not only enjoys higher levels of within-elite links, but even preferentially excludes government officials from the NGOs with higher degree. The emergence of this structurally autonomous sphere is associated with major political and social events in the state–society relationship. Cluster analysis reveals multiple internal components within this sphere that share similar levels of network influence. Rather than a core-periphery structure centered around government officials, the Chinese non-profit world appears to be a multipolar one of distinct elite groups, many of which achieve high levels of independence from direct government control.

Operation Mode Analysis-Based National Sports Non-Profit Organization Modern Administrative Research

With market economy society development, non-profit organizations play irreplaceable roles in making up market failure and government failure aspects, and have become one of indispensable parts in “government-marketsociety” ternary structure society. Non-profit sports organizations development has become main direction of modern sports development, and become important carriers to develop national fitness activities, construct sports power. The paper through consulting relative literatures, makes summarized research on formers research results, and applies case analysis method, induction and deduction method these research methods, relates Chinese non-profit sports organizations operating mode, respectively analyzes Chinese non-profit sports organizations operating status from market establishing alliance mode and government setting up contract cooperation mode two aspects, analyzes some cases involved non-profit sports organizations operating status and the operating mode merits, finally it gets that how China to carry out modern sports non-profit organizations administration so that can provide references for national sports non-profit organizations administration and propel to its better development.

Applying Factor Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process to Evaluate Innovation of Nonprofit Organizations

Although innovation is a critical success factor for any organization, its measurement and evaluation still has not been fully addressed especially in the context of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). This paper aims at integrating factor analysis and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to evaluate innovation of NPOs. As a result of our literature review, three types of NPOs’ innovation, namely climate for innovation, service innovation, and management innovation were identified. Factor analysis techniques were then performed based on survey data from Chinese NPOs to establish the measurement scale of NPOs’ innovation. Finally, AHP together with a case study was carried out to clarify how to evaluate the proposed measurement scale of NPOs’ innovation.

Study on the Impact of Customer Orientation on Organizational Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Nonprofit Organizations

Study on the Impact of Customer Orientation on Organizational Innovation: Evidence from Chinese Nonprofit Organizations