Social Organization of an Urban Grants Economy

A Study of Business Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations

1st Edition - January 28, 1985
Author: Joseph Galaskiewicz
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 6 0 9 9 - 0

Social Organization of an Urban Grants Economy: A Study of Business Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations explains the elites, corporate wealth, and human service organizations… Read more

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Social Organization of an Urban Grants Economy: A Study of Business Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations explains the elites, corporate wealth, and human service organizations as players in the urban grants economy. The focus of study is the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The book discusses social institutions that support an economy of donative transfers, and how these institutions influence who gives, who gets, and who gives to whom. Emphasis is on the belief system that has influence over corporate contributions, boundary-spanning agency roles that have an active role in reducing transactional costs, and selective incentives that have been used to elicit participation. The text also analyzes the volume of corporate contributions in relation to the market position held by the firm and the social position of the executives in the community. Each firm has different rationalizations for its contributions. The role of the agencies has also developed to overcome some uncertainties present in the corporation's contributing to nonprofits organizations. The text focuses on the production of collective goods, the peer-group which ensures participation in the collective enterprise, the institutionalization and socialization of values, as well as, the interaction of various agency roles. The book can prove valuable for social scientists, for heads of non-profit organizations, for officials of social and welfare departments of local governments, or for political scientists, economists, and historians.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Emerald City

Twin Cities: History and Current Character

Outline of the Study

1 The Grants Economy

Introduction

Sorting Out Self- and Other Interests

Gifts and Collective Action

The Problems Endemic to Collective Action

Transaction Costs and Collective Action

The Institutions of a Grants Economy

Prestige as Selective Incentive in Gift-Giving Situations

Collectivist Values

Managing Transaction Costs

Summary and Discussion

Notes

2 Selective Incentives for Corporate Contributions

Introduction

Contributions as Public Relations

Hypotheses

Contributions as Social Currency

Hypotheses

Measurement

Contributions as Public Relations: Analysis

Contributions as Social Currency: Analysis

Evaluating the Two Theses on Giving

The Elite as Agent

Summary and Discussion

Notes

3 From Self-Interest to Enlightened Self-Interest

Introduction

Enlightened Self-Interest

Business Leaders and the Ethic of Enlightened Self-Interest

Hypotheses

Measurement

Contributions as Enlightened Self-Interest: Analysis

Contributions as Enlightened Self-Interest: Another Look

Summary and Discussion

Notes

4 Cutting Transaction Costs through Agency

Introduction

Corporations and Brokerages

Corporations and Contributions Professionals

Agency Roles

A Theory of Agency Usage

Hypotheses

Measurement

Giving through Contributions Professionals

Giving through Brokerages

Summary and Discussion

Notes

5 Who Gets What, When, and How?

Introduction

The Quest for the Elusive Maximand

Securing Funding in an Open Grants Economy

Hypotheses

Measurement

The Finances of the Nonprofit Organization

Managing Donor Impressions of Nonprofit Organizations

Explaining Corporate Support

Summary and Discussion

Notes

6 Matching and Mating in a Grants Economy

Introduction

Transactions in Unstructured Organizational Fields

Exchange Processes and Donor Allocations

Managing Uncertainty and Donor Allocations

Hypotheses

Measurement

Modeling Dyadic and Nodal Data Using Regression Analysis

Retesting the Contributions-as-Public-Relations Thesis

Retesting the Contributions-as-Social-Currency Thesis

Retesting the Agency Thesis

Summary and Discussion

Notes

7 Conclusions

Introduction

The Grants Economy

The Grants Economy as a Network of Collective Action

Contributions to the Theory of Collective Action

Reducing Uncertainty and Transaction Costs

Contributions to Transaction-Cost Analysis

From the Old Boy Network to Organized Philanthropy

Notes

Appendix A: The Corporate Donor Survey

Appendix B: The Elite Surveys

Appendix C: The Nonprofit Organization Survey

References

Author Index

Subject index