TY - CONF
T1 - Finding a stronger voice? Charity coalition formation in response to COVID-19
AU - Dougherty, Christopher N.
AU - Phillips, Susan D.
PY - 2024/7
Y1 - 2024/7
N2 - The ability of charities to be effective advocates for sector-wide issues is under critical scrutiny, with one skeptic asserting the sector is facing the ‘slow, curious death of its own voice’ (Singh, 2021). During and emerging from the global pandemic, charities in many countries were not passive, however, but formed coalitions as collective voices (Raeymaeckers & Van Puyvelde, 2021). Some, such as Australia’s Charity Crisis Cabinet were short-lived, while the UK’s 50-plus member Civil Society Group has continued to advocate on sector-wide issues. Canada provides a sharp contrast to the interest in coalition formation as the opportunity to create a new cross-sector coalition in 2022 sparked little interest. Through comparative analyses of coalitions created during and post-COVID, this paper examines factors that support coalition formation and that contribute to their effectiveness.The concept of ‘coalition’ in the nonprofit literature tends to be loosely defined, subsuming diverse institutional forms that range from issue-specific, short-term collaborations to those intended to serve as more durable umbrella associations. This paper seeks to inject more nuance into the study of coalitions by deepening our understanding of policy advocacy coalitions that serve as ‘transmission belts’ between nonprofit sectors and governments (Albareda, 2018; Junk, 2019; Kröger, 2019). Drawing on the coalition literature (Albers et al., 2016; Fraussen & Halpin, 2018; Halpin, 2006), the analysis focuses on the conditions and organizational features that establish the requisite input, throughput, and output legitimacy for advocacy (Scharf, 1997; Schmidt, 2013).The research is conducted in two parts, the first is an examination of nonprofit coalition formation as a function of COVID-19 across English-speaking Westminster democracies. Through interviews with coalition participants, we investigate how, for what purposes, and under what conditions, new charitable sector coalitions formed during the pandemic, and why they endured or exited. The second part takes a look at the curious case of Canada in which the authors had a rare opportunity to participate in the development of a potential new national advocacy mechanism. In collaboration with two private foundations that initiated the process, this research followed an iterative process: a discussion paper that outlined rationales and alternative models for such a leadership ‘mechanism’ was developed and widely circulated; interviews on options for the design of a coalition were conducted with 41 sector leaders; the results of these were communicated and feedback invited. The results reveal little agreement on the form such a leadership body should take, other than it should include equity-deserving groups and not involve the creation of another formal corporate body. In an environment in which diversity, equity and inclusive participation have become important logics in their own right, our research suggests that crafting coalitions for sector-wide leadership cannot simply recreate past models, but requires innovative approaches. The ability to have input legitimacy through inclusive representation and membership coupled with active participation that creates throughput legitimacy has significantly raised the bar for new coalitions. The bar was so high in the Canadian context that there has been little momentum toward the creation of sector-wide transmission belts.
AB - The ability of charities to be effective advocates for sector-wide issues is under critical scrutiny, with one skeptic asserting the sector is facing the ‘slow, curious death of its own voice’ (Singh, 2021). During and emerging from the global pandemic, charities in many countries were not passive, however, but formed coalitions as collective voices (Raeymaeckers & Van Puyvelde, 2021). Some, such as Australia’s Charity Crisis Cabinet were short-lived, while the UK’s 50-plus member Civil Society Group has continued to advocate on sector-wide issues. Canada provides a sharp contrast to the interest in coalition formation as the opportunity to create a new cross-sector coalition in 2022 sparked little interest. Through comparative analyses of coalitions created during and post-COVID, this paper examines factors that support coalition formation and that contribute to their effectiveness.The concept of ‘coalition’ in the nonprofit literature tends to be loosely defined, subsuming diverse institutional forms that range from issue-specific, short-term collaborations to those intended to serve as more durable umbrella associations. This paper seeks to inject more nuance into the study of coalitions by deepening our understanding of policy advocacy coalitions that serve as ‘transmission belts’ between nonprofit sectors and governments (Albareda, 2018; Junk, 2019; Kröger, 2019). Drawing on the coalition literature (Albers et al., 2016; Fraussen & Halpin, 2018; Halpin, 2006), the analysis focuses on the conditions and organizational features that establish the requisite input, throughput, and output legitimacy for advocacy (Scharf, 1997; Schmidt, 2013).The research is conducted in two parts, the first is an examination of nonprofit coalition formation as a function of COVID-19 across English-speaking Westminster democracies. Through interviews with coalition participants, we investigate how, for what purposes, and under what conditions, new charitable sector coalitions formed during the pandemic, and why they endured or exited. The second part takes a look at the curious case of Canada in which the authors had a rare opportunity to participate in the development of a potential new national advocacy mechanism. In collaboration with two private foundations that initiated the process, this research followed an iterative process: a discussion paper that outlined rationales and alternative models for such a leadership ‘mechanism’ was developed and widely circulated; interviews on options for the design of a coalition were conducted with 41 sector leaders; the results of these were communicated and feedback invited. The results reveal little agreement on the form such a leadership body should take, other than it should include equity-deserving groups and not involve the creation of another formal corporate body. In an environment in which diversity, equity and inclusive participation have become important logics in their own right, our research suggests that crafting coalitions for sector-wide leadership cannot simply recreate past models, but requires innovative approaches. The ability to have input legitimacy through inclusive representation and membership coupled with active participation that creates throughput legitimacy has significantly raised the bar for new coalitions. The bar was so high in the Canadian context that there has been little momentum toward the creation of sector-wide transmission belts.
M3 - Abstract
T2 - 16th International ISTR Conference
Y2 - 14 July 2024 through 16 July 2024
ER -