Narrative Influence From Donor to Recipient NGOs: The Case of the Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Paper Session: Global Communication and Social Change Interactive Paper Session

Abstract

In international philanthropy, inter-organizational relations can have significant impacts, but the communication and influence dynamics of those relations are understudied. This research tests whether narratives-- as representations of ideology and beliefs about how to solve societal problems-- transfer from a donor organization to its fundees along with resources. The correspondence between a very large donor and its recipient organizations’ narratives was analyzed over six years in order to assess the degree of transference. We found that the grant-maker did influence its grantees’ narratives, but we also found evidence that the grant-maker selected fundees whose narratives already aligned with its own.

Authors

• Luis E. Santana, Fundacion Democracia y Desarrollo

• Kirsten A. Foot, U of Washington