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40 J. Soc. & Soc. Welfare 119 (2013)
Specialists, Generalists, and Policy Advocacy by Charitable Nonprofit Organizations

handle is hein.journals/jrlsasw40 and id is 322 raw text is: Specialists, Generalists, and Policy Advocacy by Charitable Nonprofit Organizations HEATHER MACINDOE RYAN WHALEN University of Massachusetts Boston Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs Previous research finds modest levels of engagement in policy advo- cacy by charitable nonprofits, despite legal regulations permitting nonprofit advocacy and the significance of public policy to non- profit constituencies. This paper examines nonprofit involvement in policy advocacy using survey data from Boston, Massachusetts. Nonprofit participation in policy advocacy is associated with pro- fessionalization, resource dependence, features of the institutional environment, and organizational characteristics such as size and mission. Drawing from population ecology theory, we examine an additional aspect of organizational mission: whether a nonprofit serves a specialized or general population. We find that nonprof- its serving specialized populations are more likely to participate in policy advocacy than nonprofits serving the general population. Key words: nonprofit organizations, policy advocacy, population ecology, specialist, generalist, resource dependence Charitable nonprofit organizations provide a diverse range of services, from homeless shelters and community- based health clinics to after-school enrichment programs and environmental conservation. As governments contract out the provision of important public services to nonprofits, these or- ganizations play an increasingly important role in public poli- cies on the ground (Balassiano & Chandler, 2010; Hoefer & Ferguson, 2007; Salamon, 1995; Smith & Lipskey, 1993; Smith & Pekkanen, 2012). As providers of public services, charitable Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, June 2013, Volume XL, Number 2 119

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