How Revenue Sources Impact Nonprofit Advocacy: Complementary, Supplementary, and Adversarial Policy Engagement

Abstract

This study examines how revenue sources influence nonprofit policy engagement. Drawing on resource dependence theory and nonprofit‐government relationship perspectives, we categorize 19 forms of engagement into three types: (1) Complementary Partnerships, (2) Supplementary Contributions, and (3) Adversarial Influence on Government. Results show that the share of government funding is positively associated with these three forms of policy engagement. Also, we distinguish between non‐lobbying advocacy and legislative lobbying, revealing distinct funding patterns. Our expanded models further highlight that access to key funding sources, especially government funding, matters more for advocacy than the extent of reliance on them. These findings emphasize the need for more nuanced measures of nonprofit policy engagement to deepen our understanding of how funding structures shape nonprofit‐government interactions.