A View from the Other Side

In our polarized age, charitable nonprofit organizations have been called upon to advocate for sociopolitical issues beyond their stated missions. Yet they have traditionally shied away from taking these stances, fearing mission creep and potential backlash. However, recent work in public relations has argued that corporate social advocacy (CSA) may fulfill nonprofits’ roles in modern U.S. society by speaking to broader issues that affect their stakeholders. This chapter presents empirical research from an online experiment to help nonprofits understand how donors and volunteers perceive messages that either align with a nonprofit mission or advocate for a controversial cause tangential to that mission. Results indicate that supporters rate mission-specific messages (e.g., nonprofits with missions addressing hunger or adult literacy) as higher in legitimacy, fit, and stewardship than CSA messages (e.g., support for immigration or vaccines). Donation intentions did not differ significantly among messages. However, not all advocacy issues are created equal. Results also showed that the CSA messages also differed from each other, meaning nonprofits must also carefully consider the issue they advocate for. Our chapter starts a conversation about the impacts of advocacy messaging and stakeholder perceptions for nonprofits that rely on consistent financial support.