Termination of Nonprofit Alliances: Evidence from China

Nonprofit alliances have grown with a striking speed in recent decades. While researchers focus on why nonprofits build interorganizational partnerships, few discuss how such partnerships are terminated. Through a multiple case study of 13 nonprofit alliances that had been established in response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in West China, this study explores how nonprofit alliances were terminated and what caused their termination. Four patterns of alliance termination emerged out of our data analysis: failure at birth, planned termination, failed transition, and evolution into independent organizations. Four determinants were identified as accountable for alliance termination: political pressure, resource shortage, short-term orientation, and leadership failure.