The Relationship between Provision of Membership Benefits and Fulfillment of Representational Roles in Nonprofit Advocacy Membership Organizations

• Date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Takayuki Yoshioka
• Published date: 01 December 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21281

215

N M  L, vol. 28, no. 2, Winter 2017 © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/nml.21281

Journal sponsored by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.

 e Relationship between Provision

of Membership Benefi ts and

Fulfi llment of Representational

Roles in Nonprofi t Advocacy

Membership Organizations

Takayuki Yoshioka

Okayama University

This article explores the ways nonprofit advocacy membership organizations can man-

age their resource dependence on members and fulfill the organizations’ representational

roles, focusing on the provision of membership benefits. Membership organizations rely

on financial or other resources from members and thus are constrained by them. For a

nonprofit that aims to primarily speak for members, constraints by members may help to

focus organizational attention on members’ interests. Contrarily, for a nonprofit that aims

to mainly represent broader constituents, members’ constraints may hamper an organiza-

tion’s ability to advocate for broader constituents because members do not necessarily share

the same policy goals with broader constituents. The provision of membership benefits can

be a useful strategy for organizations to fulfill their representational roles and to satisfy

and engage members, because people often join an organization to enjoy certain member-

ship benefits. For an empirical analysis, this study collected a large-scale data set through

web and mail surveys of nonprofit advocacy organizations across the United States. The

mixed-mode surveys achieved a 57.5 percent response rate (729 responses). The survey and

regression analysis results show that member-serving nonprofits providing members with

opportunities to participate in advocacy work are more likely to represent members’ inter-

ests directly. Although broader constituency-serving nonprofits tend to prioritize members’

opinions, these organizations are more likely to adhere to the mandates of broader con-

stituents when providing selective material membership benefits. However, when provid-

ing purposive membership benefits, these nonprofits are more likely to represent members’

opinions.

Keywords: advocacy, membership benefit, membership organization, representational

role, resource dependence

Correspondence to: Takayuki Yoshioka, Okayama University, Discovery Program for Global Learners, 1 Chome-1-1

Tsushimanaka, Kita Ward Okayama City, Okayama 700-0082, Japan. E-mail: tyoshiok@umail.iu.edu

Research Article

Nonprofi t Management & Leadership DOI: 10.1002/nml

216 YOSHIOKA

SOME NONPROFIT ADVOCACY membership organizations aim to primarily represent

members, especially professional or business associations, while others aim to mainly rep-

resent groups broader than just members. For example, many human service organizations

claim to speak for clients, and many environmental organizations intend to pursue public

interests. Advocacy membership nonprofits are supported by members in various ways,

such as membership dues or participation in organizational activities (Berry and Wilcox

2009 ). At the same time, to retain resources and support from members, these organizations

tend to allow themselves to be constrained by members (Mason 2016 ; Pfeff er and Salancik

2003 ; Wilson 1995 ). Constraints by members may help to focus organizational attention

on members’ interests (Wilson 1995 ). By contrast, members’ constraints may hamper an

organization’s ability to advocate for groups broader than just members because members do

not necessarily share the same policy goals with broader constituents (Candler and Dumont

2010 ; Yoshioka 2014 ).

Advocacy nonprofits are expected to play an important role in complementing democratic

representation by influencing the public policy process for groups whose interests are not suf-

ficiently represented in elections (Lu 2015 ). Thus, it is important to advance an understand-

ing of the ways nonprofits overcome their resource dependence on members and achieve

representational purposes. The provision of membership benefits can be an effective strategy

for organizations to pursue their representational goals as well as to satisfy and engage mem-

bers (Clark and Wilson 1961 ; Olson 2003 ; Wilson 1995 ) because many people become

members of an organization to enjoy a variety of benefits, and some people may value certain

benefits over others (Hager 2014 ; Ki and Wang 2016 ; Markova, Ford, Dickson, and Bohn

2013 ). For example, some people may participate in an organization to pursue a cause or

value that they are passionate about (Clark and Wilson 1961 ; King and Walker 1992 ). Other

people may join an organization to receive selective material benefits, such as discounts on

goods or services (Clark and Wilson 1961 ; King and Walker 1992 ).

When people join an organization to support a cause or value that it pursues, giving mem-

bers opportunities to participate in advocacy work can strengthen the organization’s rep-

resentational activities (Guo and Musso 2007 ; Wilson 1995 ). On the other hand, when

people join an organization to receive selective material benefits, they may have little interest

in advocacy activities (Olson 2003 ; Wilson 1995 ). Thus, by satisfying members with selec-

tive material benefits, the organization can freely pursue its own policy goals (Olson 2003 ;

Wilson 1995 ).

To explore the relationship between the provision of membership benefits and the fulfillment

of representational purposes in advocacy membership nonprofits, first we review literature on

membership benefits, resource dependence and organizational maintenance, and representa-

tional roles. Second, we propose four hypotheses, focusing on the relationship between pur-

posive and selective material benefits and representational roles. Third, we explain our survey

methodology and show the results from a large-scale data set, collected through mixed-mode

surveys of 1,280 nonprofits across the United States. Fourth, we describe our statistical

methodology and present the results. The results show that when member-serving nonprofits

provide members with opportunities to participate in advocacy work, they are more likely

to represent members’ interests directly. When broader constituency-serving nonprofits sup-

ply selective material benefits, they are more likely to adhere to the mandates of broader

constituents. Fifth, we discuss the implications and contributions of this study to nonprofit

literature.