The Role of Mediators in Diffusing the Community Foundation Model of Philanthropy
Open Access
- 10 February 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly
- Vol. 50 (5), 959-982
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764021991677
Abstract
We examine the role of mediators in locally embedding the community foundation model of philanthropy to enable its global diffusion. We hold that mediators, as trusted agents within elite networks, promote and legitimate institutional innovation by tailoring the model to satisfy local requirements. They thereby limit resistance while creating future potentialities. Our novel addition to the community foundation literature stems from research on the transatlantic diffusion of the community foundation template from the United States to the United Kingdom focused on an in-depth case study of one of Europe’s largest community foundation, that serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland in North East England. Our findings suggest that success in embedding the community foundation model depends on rendering it fit-for-context and fit-for-purpose. Mediators operating at both the macro and micro level matter because they have the cultural, social, and symbolic capital needed to win acceptance for initially alien philanthropic principles, practices, and structures.Keywords
This publication has 52 references indexed in Scilit:
- Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive ResearchOrganizational Research Methods, 2012
- Management innovation through standardization: Consultants as standardizers of organizational practiceResearch Policy, 2012
- Using Institutional Theory to Explore Local Variations in United Way’s Community Impact ModelNonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 2011
- Funnel of Interests: The Discursive Translation of Organizational ChangeThe Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 2010
- ORGANIZATIONAL PATH DEPENDENCE: OPENING THE BLACK BOX.Academy of Management Review, 2009
- Venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship in community redevelopmentNonprofit Management and Leadership, 2006
- Rethinking Change in Old Industrial Regions: Reflecting on the Experiences of North East EnglandEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2005
- What's in a Fashion? Interpretative Viability and Management FashionsOrganization, 2001
- The politics of factory closures and task forces in the north east region of EnglandRegional Studies, 1999
- The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational FieldsAmerican Sociological Review, 1983