Organizational Self-Censorship: Corporate Sponsorship, Nonprofit Funding, and the Educational Experience
Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de Sociologie, Vol. 46, pp. 161-177, DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-618X.2009.01209.x
17 Pages Posted: 23 Mar 2013 Last revised: 26 Mar 2013
Date Written: 2009
Abstract
Increasing reliance on corporate sponsorship has impacted the governance of nonprofit organizations. Traditional research on funding has taken a predominately positive vantage point, expressing that nonprofit organizations may find opportunities to influence their funder’s interests such that they become more compatible with the nonprofit organization’s mission. In this article, we build upon this work by providing a more nuanced examination of agency in the nonprofit organization. Specifically, we introduce a negative form of agency known as organizational self-censorship. By examining self-censorship, we reveal that nonprofit organizations may instead redefine their own goals in order to appeal to private sector funders.
Keywords: funding environments, organizational self-censorship, nonprofit organizations, agency, corporate sponsorship, museums, dependence corruption
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