Advocacy in the NZ not-for-profit sector: 'Nothing stands by itself.'

Abstract

This research focuses on government–not-for-profit (NFP) sector relationships, with particular reference to advocacy in New Zealand. It follows a study of advocacy in Australia by Onyx et al. (2009). There are concerns that NFP organisations in New Zealand have their advocacy functions curtailed by the requirements of government contracting and by decisions from the Charities Commission. This study looks at the kinds of advocacy activities that NFP sector organisations are involved in, the language they use to describe their advocacy and the reasons they give for the strategies they adopt. The study shows that advocacy methods are evolving, even though NFPs are increasingly self-regulating, and that NFPs need to find new ways to get their messages across in a rapidly changing context.