Understanding Constraints on Nonprofit Leadership Tactics in Times of Recession

Abstract

The impact of the global recession has served to increase resource pressures on voluntary organizations in many social service sectors, serving to constrain the choices that organizational leaders can make in the face of changing resource niches. Not all organizational leaders face the same set of viable choices in the face of both changing demands from funding bodies and highly dynamic resource niches. Drawing on theories of organizational change, it is possible to identify three key factors that will serve to limit the tactics that voluntary organizations can employ: niche-level dynamics, niche density, and the presence of organizational champions. These three factors are illustrated through an analysis of the effects of the economic recession in Northern Ireland on two subsectors: community development and youth-serving organizations. We conclude with a call for greater theoretical and empirical development of the resource niche as the appropriate unit of analysis.