Theory Whether Formal, Every Group

¶ … Theory

Whether formal, every group has a structure regardless of the nature of their activity or the length of time they have been together (Freeman, 1970). Whether the group is a large nonprofit organization, a multibillion dollar corporate empire, a community or grassroots organization, or a group of friends who get together on a regular basis to discuss politics and the weather, each is a structured entity whether formal or informal, with flexible or stringent rules and guidelines. What aids in the solidification of the group is the issuance of tasks and responsibilities, power and resources spread amongst the membership. The simple notion that a group of individuals with various talents have come together for a common cause makes it a group (Freeman, 1970). Freeman posits that it is not natural to refuse to interact or related to one another which are described as structurelessness, as these tendencies are considered outside of human nature.

Freeman asserts that in order for everyone to have the opportunity for involvement in a particular group and to participate in the groups' activities the structure of the group must be explicit. As such, roles of decision making must be available and open to everyone and can only occur in a formalized process. In this way, the informal structure that frequently has control of the rules and structure are no longer dominant (Freeman 1970).

The following is a presentation of the group Calprig; its purpose nature and activity base as compared to organizational theories. The goal of this project is to provide a critical examination of the theories that govern group behavior and compare and contrast to the activities of Calprig in an effort to determine similarities, differences, and new insights into group functioning.

Theories

A social movement, as generally defined is "an organized group or collection of organized groups that use non-routine action to challenge institutions, to change particular policies, redirect resources, recognize new cultural meanings, or all of these" (Saxton & Benson 2005, p.1). The institutions, as described can represent sexuality, schools, corporations, the government, or the church. According to the literature, ofttimes movements that challenge institutions also challenge any cultural meanings these institutions support. Tocqueville, in his description of the change in social condition that fosters social movement as equality in economic conditions became more evidence. He posited that a new political science would be necessary and it would

Instruct democracy, if possible to reanimate its beliefs, to purify its mores, to regulate its movements, to substitute little by little the science of affairs for its inexperience, and knowledge of its true instincts for its blind instincts; to adapt its government to time and place; to modify it according to circumstance and men; such is the first duty imposed on those who direct society in our day (Tocqueville, 2000, p. 7).

There have been a number of theories and philosophies posited regarding group function. A number of theories associate power, expressed politically and/or financially, and the level of influence these organizations, formally or informally have on those around them, locally, nationally and/or internationally. Even from the times of nobility when kings governed the land, a certain share of political rights was given to the people (Addams 1889, p. 5). Even though is a great deal of disagreement with regard to how to refer to them nongovernment organizations commonly referred to as nonprofits have been described as formal organizations that have long-term existence, appointed leaders, separate from government, not designed to generate profit for the CEO, and are self-governing. These organization use volunteers primarily, to get the organization's mission and message out to the people. Nonprofit organizations by definition are posited to serve some pubic good, for the benefit of the public (Salamon & Anheier 1997, p. 32).

According to the QCEW data files on nonprofit organizations, these charitable entities employed nearly 9 million individuals in 2002 or 8.2% of the country's private employment. According to Salamon and Sokolowski (2005), nonprofit organizations employ nearly three times as many workers as the country's entire agricultural sector, twice as many workers as the country's transportation industry, 60% more workers than the nations' wholesale trade industry and its finance and insurance industry, and nearly as many workers as are those employed in durable goods manufacturing (p.20).

Steven Rathgeb Smith and Michael Lipsky (1993) in "Nonprofits for Hire" suggest the mindset of many Americans regarding nonprofit organizations. Many Americans make the assumption that nonprofits because they are 'charitable' are trustworthy; more trustworthy that government or government run organizations because of the underlying assumption that they are primarily grassroots, more closely tied to the local community, and more genuine or authentic. These assumptions are based on the fact that many Americans don't understand the connectivity between government funding, thereby government influence, and nonprofit organizations.

The posited goal of the government financing nonprofit and grassroots organizations is allegedly to empower them by creating active citizenry, smarter citizens, and caring citizens. Over the past ten years, there has been a plethora of empirical and scholarly literature on the significance of social capital on a number of social, economic and political phenomenon (Saxton & Benson 2005, p. 16). Research has demonstrated a positive association between the extent of a community's social capital and economic development (Romo & Schwartz, 1995); while at the organizational level, researchers have determined strong associations between corporate entrepreneurship and social capital, firm morality, and the creation of greater intellectual and human capital (Chung & Gibbons, 1997; Coleman, 1998; Pennings, Lee, & Witteloostuijin, 1998). For the individual, it has been purported that social capital has been linked to better health, happiness, and increased earnings (Putnam, 2000, p. 319).

As previously advised, there has been significant growth in the nonprofit sector, particularly in the United States over the course of the past 25 years. As of the statistical report of 2001, there were nearly 1.2 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. However, Saxton and Benson (2005) argue that the growth has not been even. There are regional and local disparities in the nonprofit sector in many communities were some are decidedly healthy and others are not. Saxton and Benson attribute these disparities to social capital. Social capital is determined by its function. All social capital consists of social structure that facilitates certain actions on the part of individuals within the structure (Coleman 1990, p. 302); social capital is the ability of individuals to secure benefits by virtue of their membership in social networks, organizations or other social structures (Portes, 1998, p. 6); and social capital refers to connectivity between individuals and the norms of trustworthiness and reciprocity that derives from participation in organizations or social structures (Putnam 2000, p. 19).

One of the theoretical approaches most applicable to this project and the nonprofit organization I worked with is the ecological approach as this theory focused on population dynamics or ecological issues. Preexisting organizational density on current organizational founding is one of the first tenants of the ecological approach, either through legitimation or competition. Legitimation processes lead to the prevalence of nonprofit organizations in society. With high existing density has also been suggestedly an increase of the founding rate or the expansion of relevant social and skills networks. Because of the mission of Calprig not being a new idea but rather the expansion on existing tenants of nonprofit organizations and organizational focus, the ecological model is applicable. There is a certain level of carrying capacity (Hannah & Freeman 1987). There is an expectation in this model that the more individuals become involved in civil social activities and engagement in good citizenship interests through the creation of new and existing organizations, the greater the carrying capacity in the nonprofit sector in general. This would suggest an overall positive impact of both prior founding and density in the nonprofit sector as a whole.

The environmental approach seeks out factors in the institutional, economic and social environment that would serve as an explanation of the changes in organizational founding patterns. In the nonprofit literature, it is often purported that particular environmental variables such as the size of the community and the lack of financial resources by nature increases the demand for nonprofit organizations and services (Corbin 1999) and service to increase the numbers or supply of financial and human resources that can be mobilized (Hannah & Freeman 1987).

Nevertheless, there has been ongoing contentious debate over the relationship between the scope and size of the nonprofit organizational sector and government spending. On one side of the scholarly discourse, is the argument that because of the expanse in bureaucracy, there is a crowding out of community-based organizations. These kinds of theories highlight zero sum and conflictual government and nonprofit sectors (Saxton & Benson 2005). However, according to cross-national, large scale research conducted by Salamon and Anheier (1997, 1998) exhibit doubt on the government/market failure explanations of the nonprofit sector and their subsidiary role to government. Instead, as evidenced by many nonprofit organizations that receive government funding, there is more of a partnership between the two sectors where the relationships is posited to be complementary and cooperative.

While there are clearly circumstances where the civil society sector is at odds with the state, there are at least as many where the relationship is one of interdependence and mutual support…. The state has thus emerged in the modern era not as a displacer of nonprofit activity but as perhaps the major philanthropist… (Salamon & Anheier 1997, p. 63-64).

Evidence

Calprig is an independent statewide student organization that works on issues such as environmental protection, consumer protection, hunger and homelessness. In essence, members of Calprig desire to build a better society through a plethora of volunteer activities. The group also provides students with the opportunity to practice their effective citizenship both on and off campus. This semester, the organization focused primarily on six campaigns: The Ocean and Plastic Ban is a short-term goal to ban plastic bags in Los Angeles California; Big Agriculture, although not a lot planned for this semester focuses on introducing healthy food to people; Energy Service Subsidies, with an expressed target to educate 2,000 individuals with the knowledge of proper use of energy; Hunger and Homelessness, includes a variety of events of food donations to directly solving the issue; United for Green, which is looking for cooperation with UCLA; and Chapter Textbooks, which has the expressed intent of efforts to push alternatives for the textbooks which could lead to price decreasing of the chapter textbooks.

In considering Calprig as a group and looking at the structure of the organization, they offer very clear guidelines for individuals to better understand the mission of their non-profit organization. Through the organization's website, I was able to glean a great deal of information. Because Calprig is a nationwide organization, their website creates a better opportunity and higher quality of communication between the various groups in different locations. The higher the quality of communication helps in enhancing the groups' functionality.

As previously advised in my prospectus, my initial thoughts upon learning of the group and deciding to participate, I was immediately drawn to the Hunger and Homelessness and Big Agriculture programs. In my mind, these two campaigns are closely associated and have an expressed goal of assisting in remediating issues of hunger and healthier eating, and addressing the pervasive issue of homelessness with is often commensurate with hunger. My initial thoughts regarding involvement with Calprig was through voluntary based activities, there would be greater connectivity created within different communities, spreading helpful and positive information, and getting individuals involved in activities to accomplish the goal of building a better society.

The Calprig kickoff event for the fall semester 2011 was helpd on September 7th at 8 p.m. Prior to the kickoff event, the organization offered an informational session for volunteers to gain a greater understanding of the nonprofit organization. This is a standard meeting that transpires every Tuesday at 5 p.m., and the session lasts roughly 40 minutes. The members and volunteers are introduced to each other. They have a consistent person in charge of the informational session. As part of the informational process, the leader always attempts to elicit more networks they are individually connected to from the members and volunteers as a means of better promoting and connecting Calprig to outside sources.

During the kickoff event, there were approximately 60 individuals in attendance inclusive of old members and new volunteers. There was a guest speaker present. The missions of the organization were reviewed by the president and he rearticulated the goal for this semester. There was also a discussion of recruitment efforts for new volunteers. Department heads for the various campaigns provided more in-depth detail as to the goals and expectations for the campaigns. Some of the information that was garnered from the kickoff meeting was the lack of stable funding for the group. Each department is responsible for its own funding. Every organizer, then, has a unique channel to raise funds to support the projects.

During the course of the 10 meeting held by Calpirg on November 1st, all of the leaders and the president were in attendance, as were 13 members and volunteers. During the course of the meeting, Josh, captain of the Ocean campaign dropped his snack on the floor. He quickly picked it up and ate it. He said, "To be environmentally friendly, never waste food." I was unsure whether he made the comment seriously or in jest. The meeting focused on discourse regarding the progress the campaigns were making. Everyone spoke so passionately regarding the campaigns they were involved in. The Hunger and Homelessness campaign had successfully raised more than 600 dollars toward their budget for the semester and passed out organic food through food trucks. Near the end of the meeting, the informational leader Ann made the following statement:

I know the work we do is hard. It takes a lot of efforts to go door to talk to students about issues. You know, we are kind of the underdogs. Corporations have millions of dollars at their disposal and millions they are throwing at issues. Some corporations just pay people to change their mind to get the vote.

That is really f-d up. And that is also the reason I get so fired up.

Calprig raises around $630,000 each year. People feel this is a huge number but comparing with millions of dollars that is really small. What we have is people power. Don't forget we do always have the opportunity to speak out. And we sometimes win and it is great.

On November 5th, the Ocean campaign of Calprig held an even on Santa Monica Beach. The event's purpose was to raise public awareness of ocean pollution. There were 9 members in attendance including the captain of the campaign. Although more people were expected, the weather forecast is said to have kept some people away. Equipped with fabric bags, some with the Calprig logo drawn on them, we were responsible in sets of twos to pick up plastic bags and bottles along the beach. We also sent out flyers to the people who were interested to explain about pollution and the organization. There were some members particularly effective in talking with strangers about Calprig. I attribute this to the passion the members have regarding the organization and the causes they are fighting for. Although Santa Monica Beach is described as being seriously polluted, there was not a lot of trash for us to pick up that day.

On November 8th, the regular meeting was cancelled and instead the organization was mobilized to work on recruiting pledges and raising donations on campus. It was called pledge week. Calprig members showed up at various corners from 8a to 9p. The members had various shits to make sure there were always people available for the drive. To attract attention and emphasize Calprig's accountability, most of the members decorated themselves with plastic bags, for example. Others used the plastic bags as decorations on other bags.

The members would solicit a few minutes of time from passerby's and explain the organization, primarily focusing on the environmental issues globally and raising people's awareness and then the contribution of the past were introduced. If the people showed interest, them member would ask for a $15 donation which is also introduced as the pledge fees to ensure the running of the chapter on campus. A lot of the time, people would excuse themselves and walk away at this point. Many would indicate, "I have already given to a nonprofit', "Let me think about it," "I gave to the Red Cross, and I think they will do a good job." As with the ecological model, the competition from other nonprofit organizations whether they targeted the same causes or not, was evidenced by some of the responsiveness of the public. However, the ecological model also argues that any increase in civic mindedness is a win for the nonprofit social sector on the whole and as such should not be seen as a negative for the individual organization.

Although the response was not always favorable, Calprig members were still very passionate and excited. Calprig used a simple application form that was easy to fill out. In addition to basic demographic information, the campaigns were listed such as hunger and homelessness, cheaper textbooks, affordable education, oceans, consumer protection and fight global warming, which all correspond to Calprig's campaigns. At the bottom, the forms ask for credit card information if the student prefers to pay that way.

Conclusion

Although a nationwide organization, Calpirg is still considered a social organization or a social movement because it doesn't receive government funding. There are both trained and professional members as well as volunteers. From my experiences with the organization, there was a great deal of transparency and accountability as argued by Steven and Lipsky (1993) are considered significantly important. As Freeman (1970) posited, there are some who know the rules, however, in my experience, the rules were not kept from the rest of the group. The Calprig group, in my estimation, even though a social movement, has some formalized propensities such as leaders who have some authority and governership over the other members, and may also have greater insight then say the volunteers, there was not a sense that things were being hidden from anyone. For example, during the course of one of the meetings when a campaign leader disclosed how much money was earned for their campaign, and when Ann openly disclosed how much Calprig had collected the previous year, if this information was proprietary or not meant for everyone to be privy to, then those things would not have been disclosed in an open meeting.