What Does China’s Twin-Pillared NGO Funding Game Entail? Growing Diversity and Increasing Isomorphism

Yi Kang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)
2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Two trends are gaining prevalence across China: (1) NGO needs for funding in order to survive and (2) the transformation of the government and private foundations into major NGO donors. This study explores grassroots NGOs’ experience with the government’s purchase-of-services contracting and private foundations’ grant schemes in Shanghai, Beijing and Sichuan. The research findings show that two opposite effects of the funding game are simultaneously felt: growing space for diversity and increasing isomorphic pressures. The two donor types have jointly created a result-driven and institutionalized environment in which NGOs easily lose sight of their missions and uniqueness. Nonetheless, despite finding their options extremely limited, NGOs adopt constantly evolving, multifaceted resource strategies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)499-515
Number of pages17
JournalVoluntas
Volume30
Issue number3
Early online date22 Jan 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2019

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Public Administration
  • Strategy and Management

User-Defined Keywords

  • Government purchase-of-service contract
  • Non-governmental organization
  • Private philanthropic foundation

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