Window Dressing or Change Making? Party Building in Chinese Nonprofit Organizations

ABSTRACT The social service sector in contemporary China is endowed with more resource opportunities due to massive service contracting while facing intensified infrastructural control from party‐building campaigns. However, the prevalence and consequences of party building within service‐oriented nonprofit organizations remain unclear. Using data from a representative sample of social work organizations in China, this article examined the associations between party building and organizational performance. The results showed that 48.52% of social work organizations had established a party‐building department, with more than half of these functioning actively. Party building was associated with greater government support, more funded projects and beneficiaries, improved board functioning, and higher professional recognition. The benefits, except for service delivery and projects, persisted among organizations with active party‐building activities after implementing a quasi‐experimental design using matching approaches. Active behavioral commitment to party building, such as collective decision‐making and diversified political socialization, was more likely to benefit organizational performance than inactive party building. Overall, the influence of party building on organizational performance appeared to be direct and robust. The findings redirect the attention of nonprofit researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by pinpointing the potential to bolster professionalism in the era of collaborative governance and theorizing professional autonomy from an organizational perspective.