Classification: by function

If it is difficult to find an agreed expression to describe the voluntary nonprofit sector, then it is also very difficult to define the boundaries that are covered by the sector. If it is difficult to define the boundaries, then it is equally difficult to define and categorize what is within the sector, and therefore to develop an appropriate taxonomy.

One frequent approach to defining what makes up the voluntary nonprofit sector is to categorize organizations by function (Brenton 1985; Handy 1988; Nathan 1990; Gutch et al. 1990). William Beveridge, for example, who was the architect of the welfare state in Britain, distinguished between two forms of voluntary action: philanthropy and mutual aid. The service-providing function is probably the one that most people think of when they think of the voluntary nonprofit sector. Organizations in this category may provide support, advice, accommodation, information and/ or particular programmes or activities for people in need. Prior to World War Two these service-providing voluntary nonprofit organizations were often the only place that a person in need could turn to for help. Kramer (1981), however, in his study of disability organizations in England, the USA, the Netherlands and Israel, argues that the provision of services is the least distinctive aspect of the voluntary nonprofit sector.

The mutual aid or mutual support (Handy 1988) function is one where a group of individuals who share a common need or interest get together to provide mutual support, advice and encouragement. This is what Brenton (1985) describes as ‘self-help and exchange around a common need or interest’. This function has ‘developed world-wide into a major social phenomenon’ (Hasenfield and Gidron 1993). The most famous of these is probably Alcoholics Anonymous, but there is now a very large number of groups, particularly in the medical and psychosocial field. Community development is also a process of engendering mutual support and self-help.

This has been described as the social solidarity category of voluntary nonprofit organization (Gerard 1983; Knight 1993). Harris (1993) argues along with Billis (1993) and Davis Smith (1995) that such voluntary associations for mutual aid are ‘conceptually and organisationally distinguishable from the bureaucratic service-delivering agencies of the broader nonprofit sector’ although there is a strong pull on them to become more like the service-delivering agencies. For these associations, according to Harris, ‘organisation’ is a matter of ‘balancing competing interests, goals and values and of recognizing the motivations of volunteers’ rather than formalizing or by ‘adopting the management techniques and “rules of the game” of bureaucratic organisations’ (Harris 1993).

Other writers have expanded on Beveridge’s categories to include a number of additional functions. The pressure group function is one often identified with groups like Oxfam, Shelter, Liberty, Amnesty International, the Child Poverty Action Group, and others. Most of the major case studies highlight important legislative changes that have come about, at least in part because of the lobbying and campaigning activities of voluntary nonprofit organizations. This campaigning or policy advocacy role involves ‘the production of pressure on decision-makers in any sector to change policy and practices usually on behalf of some identifiable groups’ (Kendall and 6 1994).

This is one of the areas where the law and practice on charitable status is controversial. Some campaigning organizations, such as Amnesty International, have been refused charitable status. Others, such as Oxfam, have received a number of warnings that they must desist from certain kinds of campaigning activity if they are not to lose their charitable status.

The individual ‘citizen’ advocacy function has been identified by Kendall and Knapp as a separate function (1995); others include it as a service providing function or within a wider advocacy category including public as well as individual advocacy. In this role, organizations make representations on behalf of individuals to enable them to achieve their rights or otherwise obtain the services or resources that they require. This is common, particularly in the mental health and mental disability fields and in work with children. In some organizations the function is more about enabling individuals to advocate for themselves and achieve greater user control of services or resources.

Distinct resource and coordinating functions have been highlighted by Brenton (1985). Voluntary nonprofit organizations particularly involved in resource and coordinating functions are often intermediary bodies whose role is to help coordinate and support other voluntary nonprofit organizations, usually within a particular field. Such bodies ‘act as a central catalyst or repository of expertise, information, research etc. on a specialist subject’.

They frequently ‘represent a membership of other voluntary bodies and seek to liaise between them and co-ordinate their activities, their public relations or their connections with Government’ (Brenton 1985).

Knight (1993) also includes two further categories in his classification: mobilizing, where the purpose of the organization is to locate money or volunteers for causes; and creating, where the purpose is to express oneself through some form of creative arts in the company of others.

NOTES

Billis, D. (1993) Organising public and voluntary agencies, Routledge.

Brenton, M. (1985) The voluntary sector in British social services, Longman.

Bryson, J. M. (1995) Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations (2nd edn), Jossey-Bass.

Davis Smith, J. (1995) ‘The voluntary tradition: Philanthropy and self-help in Britain 1500– 1945’, in J. Davis Smith, C. Rochester and R. Hedley (eds) An introduction to the voluntary sector, Routledge.

Davis Smith, J., Rochester, C. and Hedley, R. (eds) (1995) An introduction to the voluntary sector, Routledge.

Gerard, D. (1983) Charities in Britain: Conservatism or change?, Bedford Square Press.

Gutch, R., Kunz, C. and Spencer, K. (1990) Partners or agents, NCVO.

Hall, P. D. (1994) ‘Historical perspectives on nonprofit organisations’, in R. D. Herman and Associates (eds) The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and Management, Jossey-Bass.

Handy, C. (1988) Understanding voluntary organisations, Penguin.

Harris, M. (1993) The power and authority of governing bodies: Three models of practice in service providing agencies, working paper, Centre for Voluntary Organisations, LSE.

Hasenfield, Y. and Gidron, B. (1993) ‘Self-help groups and human service organisations: An interorganisational perspective’, Social Services Review June: 217– 36.

Hudson, M. (1995) Managing without profit, Penguin.

Jeavons, T. H. (1992) ‘When the management is the message: Relating values to management practice in nonprofit organisations’, Nonprofit Management and Leadership 2(4): 403– 17.

Kendall, J. and 6, P. (1994) ‘Government and the voluntary sector’, in S. SaxonHarold

and J. Kendall (eds) Researching the voluntary sector, vol. 2, CAF.

Kendall, J. and Knapp, M. (1995) ‘A loose and baggy monster: Boundaries, definitions and typologies’, in J. Davis Smith, C. Rochester and R. Hedley (eds) An introduction to the voluntary sector, Routledge.

Knight, B. (1993) Voluntary action, HMSO.

Kramer, R. M. (1981) Voluntary agencies in the welfare state, University of California Press.

Lord Nathan (1990) Effectiveness and the voluntary sector, NCVO.

Osborne, S. P. (ed.) (1996) Managing in the voluntary sector – a handbook for managers in charitable and non-profit organisations, International Thomson Business Press.

Paton, R. (1992) ‘The social economy: Value-based organisations in the wider society’, in J. Batsleer, C. Cornforth and R. Paton (eds) Issues in voluntary and nonprofit management, Addison-Wesley.

Paton, R. and Cornforth, C. (1992) ‘What’s different about managing in voluntary and non-profit organisations?’, in J. Batsleer, C. Cornforth and R. Paton (eds) Issues in voluntary and nonprofit management, Addison-Wesley in association with the Open University Press.

Courtney, Roger. Strategic Management for Voluntary Nonprofit Organizations.

Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2001.

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