Social Change Efforts of Direct Service Nonprofits: The Role of Funding and Collaborations in Shaping Social Innovations

Abstract

Direct social service nonprofit organizations have taken on increasing responsibility in initiatives seeking to create social change for their service user populations and within the community. This research utilized a mixed methods study design to investigate the characteristics of the inter-organizational context that are particularly supportive of these social change efforts. The results show that characteristics of collaboration, degree of marketization, and funder support predict the extent of engagement in social change efforts. The results have implications for developing the capacity of direct service nonprofits to undertake their social missions.

Keywords:

• collaboration
• human services
• marketization
• nonprofits
• social change
• social innovation