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Nonprofit Agencies (nonprofit + agencies)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	66%

Selected Abstracts

Beyond the Courtroom Workgroup: Caseworkers as the New Satellite of Social Control

LAW & POLICY, Issue 4 2009
URSULA CASTELLANO
Many jurisdictions nationwide are faced with overcrowded jails, backlogged court dockets, and high rates of recidivism for mostly nonviolent offenders. To address these complex problems, law enforcement officials have institutionalized alternatives to incarceration programs, including work furloughs, electronic monitoring, and treatment courts. These recent trends in legal reform are designed to reduce and prevent criminal behavior by helping to reintegrate defendants back into their local communities. One aspect that has been largely unaddressed in prior research is that jail-alternative programs are primarily staffed by caseworkers with outside nonprofit agencies. This important group of nonlegal actors plays a pivotal role in crafting decisions to divert low-level offenders from the criminal justice system; few studies, however, explore the organizational contexts surrounding caseworkers' everyday decision-making practices. In response, I draw upon ethnographic data to analyze the ways that pretrial release caseworkers in a California county evaluate defendants' entitlement to release on their own recognizance. The results of this study suggest that caseworkers exercise discretion beyond the traditional power structure of the courtroom workgroup. I conclude that caseworkers emerge as the new satellite of social control in contemporary courts. [source]

Best practices in board governance: Evidence from South Carolina

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 2 2008
Jo An M. Zimmermann
In June 2003, a large-scale survey was conducted among South Carolina nonprofit agencies to gather information on a range of board governance issues. Some of the survey questions dealt with how each agency's board contributes to the organization. More than 80 percent of the responding agencies were registered as 501(c)(3), with the largest number of respondents in the human services category. Statistical analysis reveals where actual roles differ from "best practices" as prescribed in the literature. Discussion then focuses on how these trends in governance affect management and operations. In particular, we look at best practice regarding the separation of board and staff duties. [source]

Determinants of fraud losses in nonprofit organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 1 2008
Kristy Holtfreter
Although fraud research has increased, the nonprofit setting has been ignored in criminology and business ethics. This exploratory study examines occupational fraud in 128 nonprofit agencies. Characteristics of offenders (age, gender, educational background, position in the agency), victims (size of organization and available control mechanisms), and offenses are compared to previous research. Regression analyses indicate that several factors are significant predictors of financial loss. At the individual level, it appears females are responsible for increased dollar losses; however, subsequent analyses demonstrate that organizations with a higher level of internal controls detect fraud committed by males, and it is these offenses that result in more serious losses. [source]

The Effects of United Way Membership on Employee Pay in Nonprofit Organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 1 2000
Steve Werner
This research investigates the relationship between United Way membership and the compensation level of employees in nonprofit organizations. This study is based on questionnaires completed by 1,811 employees from sixty-nine nonprofit agencies in a large metropolitan area. Managerial capitalism, agency theory, and United Way funding and governance roles were used to develop the hypotheses. We found that employees of organizations belonging to the United Way receive pay premiums, suggesting that the United Way member agencies are higher-quality agencies that pay their employees higher wages. [source]

The Challenge of Strengthening Nonprofits and Civil Society

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 2008
Steven Rathgeb Smith
The Winter Commission Report was centrally concerned with improving the performance of state and local governments. Since the issuance of the commission's report in 1993, the delivery of services by state and local government has been substantially changed by the growing role of nonprofit organizations in providing public services and representing citizen interests. As a result, state and local governments and nonprofit agencies are faced with complex governance challenges. The central argument of this paper is that despite the dramatic changes in the relationship between government and nonprofit organizations in recent years, the key tenets of the Winter Commission report,the need for improved training and education, greater transparency and accountability, more emphasis on performance, and improved citizen engagement,remain deeply relevant in improving the governance of the public services in an increasingly complex policy process and service delivery system at the state and local levels. [source]

Services for immigrant women: an evaluation of locations

THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER/LE GEOGRAPHE CANADIEN, Issue 2 2000
MARIE TRUELOVE
The Toronto region receives one-quarter of new immigrants to Canada and they become widely dispersed throughout the metropolitan area. Most immigrants arrive with language, social and cultural needs, creating demand for social services from existing agencies. ,How can agencies choose locations that meet the needs of new immigrants?' is the central focus. The results of a study in Metropolitan Toronto of 68 nonprofit agencies that provide a variety of settlement services for immigrant and refugee women are discussed. Immigrant and language groups and the agencies serving them are mapped; the locations of agencies are evaluated. While service agencies are responding to the arrival of new groups and the spatial dispersion of new immigrants, more services in the northern portions of the study area are required. The spatial dispersion of some language groups means that they have poorer access to services than groups that are concentrated in the traditional immigrant reception area. La région de Toronto accueille le quart des immigrants au Canada, et ceux-ci sont dispersés dans l'agglomération torontoise. La plupart d'entre eux ont des exigences linguistiques, sociales et culturelles qui augmentent la demande en services sociaux dispensés par les organismes en place. Ce document porte essentiellement sur la façon dont ces derniers determinent les lieux de prestation de services qui répondront le mieux aux besoins des immigrants. II est également question des résultats d'une étude menée dans la communauté urbaine de Toronto auprés de 68 organismes à but non lucratif offrant un éventail de services d'établissement pour les immigrantes et les réfugiées. Les immigrants et les groupes linguistiques, ainsi que les organismes qui les servent, y sont répertoriés géographiquement. La localisation de ces organismes fait aussi l'objet d'une évaluation. La plupart répondent déjà aux besoins des nouveaux venus et tiennent compte de leur dispersion mais, selon cette étude, il faudrait plus de services dans le nord de l'agglomération torontoise. En raison de cet éparpillement, certains groupes linguistiques ont plus difficilement accès à des services que d'autres qui se trouvent dans les zones d'ancrage habituelles. [source]