International Nonprofit Collaboration

Abstract

The importance and popularity of interorganizational collaboration among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have grown considerably in recent years. Despite these growths, however, not much is known about why NGOs network the way they do or why NGO networks are structured the way they are. Using homophily theory and exponential random graph modeling, this study examines the patterns of interorganizational collaborative ties among infectious diseases international NGOs (INGOs) in 2007 (n = 94). The results suggest that these NGOs are more likely to collaborate when they have the same status, when they have similar (closer) founding dates, when they are headquartered in the same global hemisphere (north/south), when they have common funding partners, and when they are headquartered in the same geographic regions. Overall, the findings from this study suggest that various sources of homophily inform partner selection among infectious disease INGOs.

The Effects of Organizational Traits on NGO–Business Engagement in Mexico

“…Attitudetowards companies: Refers to the active or passive role of NGOs, where an active role implies becoming increasingly integrated into the institutional environment and influencing formal institutions. [10,15,22,28,[47][48][49][50][51][52] Transparency NGOs that are committed to making information public about their employees, board members, projects, beneficiaries, results, impacts and funders through their website, annual reports or other media, can expand their visibility and reach more potential business partners. Even if NGOs have to make investments to achieve effective communication with stakeholders, disclosure levels are positively related to the amount of future donations received by an organization.…”

Working together: the roles of geographic proximity, homophilic organizational characteristics, and neighborhood context in civic stewardship collaboration networks in Philadelphia and New York City

“…Organizational core competencies can include member capacity, relational capacity, organizational and programmatic capacity; differences in these characteristics between organizations can lead to power imbalances in collaborative ties over access to resources (Foster-Fishman et al 2001, Lasker and Weiss 2003, Ingold and Fischer 2014. Other factors, such as organizational age, status, and shared funding partners have been observed by Atouba and Shumate (2015) and Berardo and Scholz (2010) to influence collaborative tie formation between NGOs because these organizations tend to form ties that were homophilous along these dimensions. This is considered "choice" homophily: organizations choose to work with others more similar to themselves because sharing these attributes facilitates trust (Kleinbaum et al 2013).…”

Let’s Start From the Beginning: Examining the Connections Between Partner Selection, Trust, and Communicative Effectiveness in Voluntary Partnerships Among Human Services Nonprofits

“…Partner selection, which refers to the process of searching, evaluating, and eventually selecting a collaborative partner, is generally regarded as an important control choice in managing collaborative relationships (Ireland, Hitt, & Vaidyanath, 2002). Partner selection is viewed as critical process because interorganizational partnerships are inherently risky endeavors (Atouba & Shumate, 2015).…”

“…As a result, over the past three decades, interorganizational collaboration among human services nonprofits has dramatically increased to the point where collaborative partnerships among these organizations have become one of the hallmarks of the new millennium (Atouba & Shumate, 2015; Gazley & Brudney, 2007; Heath, 2007; Longoria, 2005; Sowa, 2008). Although they form for a variety of reasons, human services nonprofit partnerships have often been credited as having “powerful and lasting effects on communities” (Heath, 2007, p. 146) by facilitating the emergence of new leaders (Innes & Booher, 1999), generating alternative and innovative solutions to community problems (Lawrence, Hardy, & Phillips, 2002; Zoller, 2000), and shaping “new civic cultures” (Chrislip & Larson, 1994, p. 123).…”

“…Moreover, communication has not received much attention as an important process in nonprofit partnerships. Despite the fact that all interorganizational relationships are, at least partly (Wigand, 1976), if not essentially (Keyton, Ford, & Smith, 2008), communicative phenomena and that information exchange, conversations, and ideas sharing are critical interorganizational collaborative resources (Eisenberg et al, 1985), previous nonprofit collaboration literature (Atouba & Shumate, 2015; Cooper & Shumate, 2012; Heath, 2007; Kasouf, Celuch, & Bantham, 2006; Shumate, Fulk, & Monge, 2005; Thomson & Perry, 2006; Zoller, 2004) has not sufficiently considered the factors that shape communication in nonprofit partnerships.…”