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

See all articles by Garry Gray

Garry Gray

Harvard University - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics

Victoria Kendzia

Humboldt University of Berlin

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

Suggested Citation

Gray, Garry and Kendzia, Victoria, Organizational Self-Censorship: Corporate Sponsorship, Nonprofit Funding, and the Educational Experience (2009). Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de Sociologie, Vol. 46, pp. 161-177, DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-618X.2009.01209.x , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2237608

Garry Gray (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics ( email )

124 Mount Auburn Street
Suite 520N
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Victoria Kendzia

Humboldt University of Berlin ( email )

Unter den Linden 6
Berlin, AK Berlin 10099
Germany

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