The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | The Voice from Outside: Stakeholder Resistance in Nonprofit Organizations

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | The Voice from Outside: Stakeholder Resistance in Nonprofit Organizations: A board-approved merger between two nonprofits is quashed due to pressure from donors. Two Girl Scouts mobilize opposition to the use of palm oil in Girl Scout cookies and get the nonprofit to change the recipe. A recreation center on the verge of closure is prevented from doing so by the work of community members. A labor dispute between musicians and management in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra leads to the creation of an advocacy group that becomes a powerful voice in the negotiation process. These examples highlight an emerging phenomenon that is gaining momentum worldwide—that of what we are calling “stakeholder resistance,” but what some executive directors may experience as “stakeholder rebellion.”