Social Organization of an Urban Grants Economy: A Study of Business Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations explains the elites, corporate wealth, and human service organizations as players in the urban grants economy. The focus of study is the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The book discusses social institutions that support an economy of donative transfers, and how these institutions influence who gives, who gets, and who gives to whom. Emphasis is on the belief system that has influence over corporate contributions, boundary-spanning agency roles that have an active role in reducing transactional costs, and selective incentives that have been used to elicit participation. The text also analyzes the volume of corporate contributions in relation to the market position held by the firm and the social position of the executives in the community. Each firm has different rationalizations for its contributions. The role of the agencies has also developed to overcome some uncertainties present in the corporation's contributing to nonprofits organizations. The text focuses on the production of collective goods, the peer-group which ensures participation in the collective enterprise, the institutionalization and socialization of values, as well as, the interaction of various agency roles. The book can prove valuable for social scientists, for heads of non-profit organizations, for officials of social and welfare departments of local governments, or for political scientists, economists, and historians.

Contenu

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Emerald City
Twin Cities: History and Current Character
Outline of the Study
1 The Grants Economy
Introduction
Sorting Out Self- and Other Interests
Gifts and Collective Action
The Problems Endemic to Collective Action
Transaction Costs and Collective Action
The Institutions of a Grants Economy
Prestige as Selective Incentive in Gift-Giving Situations
Collectivist Values
Managing Transaction Costs
Summary and Discussion
Notes
2 Selective Incentives for Corporate Contributions
Introduction
Contributions as Public Relations
Hypotheses
Contributions as Social Currency
Hypotheses
Measurement
Contributions as Public Relations: Analysis
Contributions as Social Currency: Analysis
Evaluating the Two Theses on Giving
The Elite as Agent
Summary and Discussion
Notes
3 From Self-Interest to Enlightened Self-Interest
Introduction
Enlightened Self-Interest
Business Leaders and the Ethic of Enlightened Self-Interest
Hypotheses
Measurement
Contributions as Enlightened Self-Interest: Analysis
Contributions as Enlightened Self-Interest: Another Look
Summary and Discussion
Notes
4 Cutting Transaction Costs through Agency
Introduction
Corporations and Brokerages
Corporations and Contributions Professionals
Agency Roles
A Theory of Agency Usage
Hypotheses
Measurement
Giving through Contributions Professionals
Giving through Brokerages
Summary and Discussion
Notes
5 Who Gets What, When, and How?
Introduction
The Quest for the Elusive Maximand
Securing Funding in an Open Grants Economy
Hypotheses
Measurement
The Finances of the Nonprofit Organization
Managing Donor Impressions of Nonprofit Organizations
Explaining Corporate Support
Summary and Discussion
Notes
6 Matching and Mating in a Grants Economy
Introduction
Transactions in Unstructured Organizational Fields
Exchange Processes and Donor Allocations
Managing Uncertainty and Donor Allocations
Hypotheses
Measurement
Modeling Dyadic and Nodal Data Using Regression Analysis
Retesting the Contributions-as-Public-Relations Thesis
Retesting the Contributions-as-Social-Currency Thesis
Retesting the Agency Thesis
Summary and Discussion
Notes
7 Conclusions
Introduction
The Grants Economy
The Grants Economy as a Network of Collective Action
Contributions to the Theory of Collective Action
Reducing Uncertainty and Transaction Costs
Contributions to Transaction-Cost Analysis
From the Old Boy Network to Organized Philanthropy
Notes
Appendix A: The Corporate Donor Survey
Appendix B: The Elite Surveys
Appendix C: The Nonprofit Organization Survey
References
Author Index
Subject index