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Does Reported Policy Activity Reduce Contributions to Nonprofit Service Providers?
Author(s) -
NicholsonCrotty Jill
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.2011.00423.x
Subject(s) - internal revenue , argument (complex analysis) , revenue , business , service (business) , nonprofit sector , public relations , variation (astronomy) , process (computing) , public economics , service provider , public administration , marketing , political science , economics , accounting , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , astrophysics , computer science , operating system
There is a growing recognition that charitable organizations are important actors in the policy process, but research has not, to date, systematically investigated whether reporting policy activity influences private giving to such organizations. This article develops the argument that reported lobbying should be positively related to donations because organizations seeking policy change consider such activities to be vital to their clients and missions and communicate that belief to potential donors. This article tests for the relationship between reported lobbying activities and private giving in analyses of 501(c)(3) organizations that filed Internal Revenue Service form 990 s in fiscal years 2000 and 2001. The results suggest that organizations that report policy activity receive more donations in the following fiscal year, with some variation across service type. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for the policy process and scholars of nonprofit organizations.