Abstract:
Charities that focus on providing a social benefit through their activities enrich our society far beyond the practical services they provide. They are well known for corralling significant resources to address social needs in ways that are outside the realms of both the government and private-profit sectors. Less recognised is the intellectual capital they possess and can contribute by way of public policy responses to social issues. The aim of this thesis is to enable a rich understanding of the circumstances and choices of charities that carry out policy advocacy while providing social services. There is considerable evidence that when charities receive contract funding from the government, their policy advocacy is repressed. In New Zealand, this is mostly because charities law constrains political advocacy as a primary activity, and political advocacy is usually confused with policy advocacy. Government social service contracts are provided only to registered charities and many social services need at least some government funding. This thesis focused on those that received at least $40,000 from the government in the 2011-12 year. By quantitatively examining 201 charities that receive government funding and drawing out from that sample 23 cases for qualitative investigation, it is clear that there is an interdependent relationship between these charities and the government in delivering a variety of social services. The qualitative data revealed that policy advocacy activity is diverse, but sometimes obscure. The higher the dependence on government income, generally the more careful and strategic the organisation is in their policy advocacy. Multiple advocacy strategies are employed and new tactics are developed to meet changing circumstances. The motivation to continue with policy advocacy despite resourcing difficulties is a product of the autonomy that charities perceive they possess. Greater appreciation of the public benefit of charities’ work will help guide future public policy relating to the social economy.