A typology of civil society organisation activities: a multi-grounded theory approach to what CSOs do

Beginning explorations of civil society organisations (CSOs) from a democratic, political, or regulatory perspective potentially overlooks important aspects of CSO activity. Instead, this paper takes CSOs in action as its starting point – specifically, Australian CSOs responding to the needs of people and communities during the crisis of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Working between reflections by Australian CSO leaders during the pandemic and selected literature, a multi-grounded theory approach is used to produce a novel theoretical contribution – a typology of 10 distinct CSO activities. These 10 activities are divided into three categories: (1) The 'Big Three' activities – advocate systemically, deliver service and build capacity; (2) 'Business As Usual' activities – engage community, manage organisation and work collaboratively; and (3) 'Enabling' activities – conduct research, coordinate network, hold space and provide funding. The final three activities are revealed as being less integrated into the broader CSO literature than their more commonly explored counterparts.