The Professionalization of an Evolving Sector: Evidence from Watershed Councils

Over the past two decades, attention has focused on the increasing professionalization of the nonprofit sector. Hwang and Powell's article on professionalization and rationalization of the nonprofit sector laid the theoretical foundations for robust scholarship in this area. This study makes use of a unique dataset that offers the opportunity to study the development of a subsector of small community-based nonprofit organizations, watershed councils, as they have evolved over the last two and half decades in the state of Oregon. Findings show that organizations became nonprofits to gain legitimacy, but also in order to gain autonomy over their own resources, decision making, and demonstrate political distance from outside interests and government. We also show how-as expected-the roles and responsibilities of organization participants changed as they moved from being citizen participants to having a governing board of directors and professional staff.