From Nonprofit to Commercial Entity: An International NGO’s Transformation Under Authoritarian Institutional Pressure in China

International NGOs (INGOs) operating under authoritarianism face compound institutional pressures. In China, the 2016 Overseas NGO Law creates both entry barriers by limiting legal registration and resource barriers by restricting funding channels. Although researchers examined how INGOs respond to authoritarian control, commercialization remains underexplored as a strategic response. Drawing on Oliver’s theory of organizations’ strategic responses to institutional pressures, I examine why and how an INGO in China commercialized under these compound pressures. I deploy qualitative document analysis to study a Western NGO’s operations in China from 2017 to 2020. The organization initially pursued compromise by registering as a business while continuing nonprofit projects and seeking formal INGO status. As INGO registration stalled and home-country funding declined, this partial conformity could no longer secure sufficient legitimacy or resources. The organization shifted toward avoidance through domain change, spinning off its China office into an independent for-profit local entity. The case illustrates that for an INGO, commercialization can serve as an adaptation to authoritarian regulation and as a process of organizational transformation.