Beyond the Expressive and Instrumental: (Re)claiming the Nonprofit Sector’s Affiliative Dimension

Authors

  • Jayce Sudweeks Georgia Southern University
  • Jessica L. Berrett University of Colorado
  • Richard Clerkin Department of Public and International Affairs University of North Carolina Wilmington

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/JNEL-2025-13106

Keywords:

Institutional logics, affiliative, expressive, instrumental, nonprofit

Abstract

The nonprofit sector is categorized by multiple dimensions that impact nonprofit organizations through social norms and expectations generated by institutional logics underpinning each dimension. The most discussed dimensions are the expressive and instrumental. Scholars and practitioners have occasionally suggested a third dimension, the affiliative dimension; however, little work has been done to define this third dimension or the institutional logics associated with it. This article aims to explicate the affiliative dimension and introduce the philanthropy logic, arguing that it is the institutional logic that gives the affiliative dimension its meaning.

Published

2026-01-08

Issue

Section

Articles