An Analysis Of The Social Capital Of China’s Migrant NGOs

China’s migrant NGOs emerged in the mid-1990s once China’s economic marketization and social democratization and civicism had reached a certain stage of development. In this immature civil society, migrant NGOs must encounter many challenges during their growth and development, including deficiencies in government policy, funding, and human talent and problems faced by their beneficiaries, which make it difficult for the NGOs to realize their missions and objectives. This thesis will attempt to answer the following question:How does the social capital-of China’s migrant NGOs raise the organizations’ability to increase opportunities to gain social support and resources, thereby assisting these organizations to realize their missions and objectives. NGO organizational social capital includes the organization’s internal and external social networks, the individual social networks inside and outside of the organization, and the social networks between organizations. This thesis will explore three hypotheses:1) NGOs transition from relying on their founder’s social capital to relying on the organization’s social capital;2) NGOs with good internal social capital can more easily expand the organization’s external social capital;3) NGOs that serve migrant workers are at a disadvantage because the population that they serve possess a low level of social capital.In order to provide a concrete context in which to study NGO organizational social capital, the author conducted field research at four migrant NGOs:BN Vocational School, Compassion for Migrant Children, Hua Dan, and Little Bird Migrant Worker Mutual-Aid Hotline. The information gathered during the research is roughly categorized into NGO internal and external social capital. NGO internal social capital includes the founder’s background, the staffs background, and the organization’s level of cohesiveness. NGO external social capital includes relationships with the government, donors, like-minded NGOs, media, volunteers, and the migrant community. When NGO staff members were asked how they developed the organization’s social networks, especially in regards to collaborative partners, they all said that the organization must prove that they can manage their programs well, that they are worthy of the trust of their supporters and the general public, but long-term mutually beneficial partnerships must have matching values at the foundation of their relationship. As the NGO sector matures, the social capital that NGOs cultivate will simultaneously draw upon and influence a maturing civil society. Conversely, the maturation of NGO organizational social capital in China is very likely a reflection of the maturation of China’s civil society.