The Purpose (and Perils) of Government-Nonprofit Partnership

TLDR

This study seeks to understand why local governments and nonprofits choose to collaborate, particularly when those relationships are not governed by formal contracts or grants, and discusses possible reasons for similarities and differences, contributing to scholarship linking capacity with organizational outcomes. Exchange, transaction, and resource dependence theories are used to understand the perceived advantages and disadvantages of collaboration as expressed by local government and nonprofit executives. Analysis of two large, comparable samples from Georgia shows that the two sectors share similar benefits sought from public‑private partnerships, but differ in motivations—government seeks expertise and capacity, nonprofits seek funding—and nonprofit executives generally exhibit a stronger negative undercurrent toward intersectoral partnership.

Abstract

This study seeks to understand similarities and differences in why local governments and nonprofits choose to collaborate, particularly when those relationships are not governed by formal contracts or grants. Exchange, transaction, and resource dependence theories are used to understand the perceived advantages and disadvantages of collaboration as expressed by local government and nonprofit executives. Based on two large, comparable samples from Georgia, the analysis finds that the two sectors demonstrate a remarkable similarity in the benefits they seek from public-private partnerships, but with some key differences. The motivation to partner is driven by a desire to secure those resources most scarce for the respective sector: expertise and capacity for government, funding for nonprofits. Nonprofit executives generally exhibit a stronger undercurrent of negativity toward intersectoral partnership than do their public sector counterparts. This article discusses possible reasons for these similarities and differences and contributes to the scholarship linking capacity with organizational outcomes.