Public funding and the values of third sector organisations: output legitimacy versus normative legitimacy

Abstract

As the involvement of third sector organisations in the delivery of publically funded services has increased, so too have debates over the effect of such collaboration on the distinctive value base of third sector organisations on which normative claims of legitimacy rest. This qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with staff from a diverse range of third sector organisations in the north of England and London, asks whether the normative legitimacy of third sector organisations is being compromised by the requirements placed on third sector organisations by external funding agencies. The study finds that third sector agencies are able to protect their normative legitimacy through a range of strategies, the most important of which is a mixed resource base; a strategy that also enables third sector organisations to engage in evolutionary innovation.