Nonprofits and Poverty: The Relationship Between Frames, Conceptions, and Programs

Date

2018-04-30

Authors

Sutton, Tara

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Guelph

Abstract

This thesis is an investigation of how nonprofits focused on poverty reduction conceptualize and frame poverty, and to what degree these align with their programs. Canadian nonprofits provide essential services to those facing issues of poverty, and yet we know very little about how nonprofits and the people within them understand poverty. Three nonprofits in London, Ontario were selected. Methods included content analyses of formal organizational documents and semi-structured interviews. Conceptualizations of poverty varied across the three nonprofits. Only one nonprofit had alignment between their conceptualizations, framing and programs, while two of the three had considerable misalignment. Possible explanations for the misalignment include: nonprofit size; organizational structure; funding source and type; ambiguous framing; and the impact of the values, principles and practices of new public management (NPM). Ideas associated with NPM were present within all nonprofits to varying degrees, and were identifiable within their funders’ priorities as well.

Description

Keywords

nonprofit, poverty, social policy, SOCIAL SCIENCES

Citation