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Nonprofit Managers (nonprofit + managers)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	91%

Selected Abstracts

Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Its Challenges for Nonprofit Managers

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 1 2000
Dennis W. Hostetler
In the wake of the recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision, Dale v. Boy Scouts of America and Monmouth Council Boy Scouts (1999), this article examines the issue of sexual orientation discrimination and the challenges it presents nonprofit managers. Because of regional shifts in public opinion, the enactment of nondiscrimination laws at the state and local level, and now a state Supreme Court interpreting state law to include the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) as a "public accommodation," nonprofit managers may face a more complex legal and moral environment. It is hoped that this article will challenge nonprofit managers to carefully reexamine their membership and personnel policies with respect to lesbians and gay men and begin preparing their organizations for this cultural change. [source]

The "Best Place" Debate: A Comparison of Graduate Education Programs for Nonprofit Managers

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2000
Roseanne M. Mirabella
This article presents a critical examination of the curricular elements of nonprofit management degree programs in colleges of business, public administration, and social work. What are the major curricular elements in each type of program? How do the curricular elements of these programs compare with generic management degree programs? What are the central challenges facing managers of nonprofit organizations, and how are these challenges addressed in each program? Based on the curricular review, is one setting more favorable for students of nonprofit management? What are the views of stakeholders regarding the "best place" to educate managers? Data collected from focus groups and surveys of stakeholders in each of these academic settings are presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the future of nonprofit management education in the United States. [source]

Nonprofits and evaluation: Empirical evidence from the field

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 119 2008
Joanne G. Carman
The authors explore what evaluation looks like, in practice, among today's nonprofit organizations on the basis of their survey results. The types of evaluation activities nonprofit organizations are engaging in on a regular basis, as well as the types of data they are collecting and how they are using these data, are described. How nonprofits think about evaluation and a three-pronged typology, based on a factor analysis of the survey data, is presented. This analysis shows that nonprofit organizations tend to think about evaluation in three distinct ways: as a resource drain and distraction; as an external, promotional tool; and as a strategic management tool. The authors recommend how funders, evaluators, and nonprofit managers can change the way they think about evaluation and build upon the way they currently use evaluation to maximize its potential. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Solutions out of context: Examining the transfer of business concepts to nonprofit organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 2 2008
Tammy E. Beck
Small nonprofit organizations face a dilemma when applying management theories and techniques developed for large, private businesses. Research evidence suggests both benefits and problems associated with application of these techniques. To avoid potential problems, nonprofit managers commonly limit the selection and transfer of business techniques to those that solve specific problems or appear consistent with nonprofit orientations. One consequence is that business solutions often create unintended negative outcomes that are due to contextual differences between the two types of organizations. One possible solution to this dilemma is adoption of bundles, or configurations, of practices that introduce important contextual checks and balances along with the specific tools and techniques. We explore this option through a critical, participatory ethnographic analysis of a small nonprofit service organization. [source]

Linking collegiate service-learning to future volunteerism: Implications for nonprofit organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 1 2008
Chuck Tomkovick
One of the biggest challenges facing nonprofits is attracting and retaining volunteers to help deliver their programs. One way that colleges and universities are attempting to educate students on the importance of community issues and to graduate "good citizens" is through service-learning (S-L) programs. Although many scholars argue that collegiate S-L programs will increase the extent to which students volunteer following graduation (for example, Astin, Sax, and Avalos, 1999; Misa, Anderson, and Yamamura, 2005), more empirical research has been called for to examine this relationship. This article proposes three predictors of future volunteerism for alumni of a collegiate S-L experience: the amount of personal development experienced during the S-L project, the perceived value of the S-L project to the community organization, and the level of volunteerism prior to participation in an S-L project. Results showed significant effects of all the proposed predictors on postgraduation volunteering. Our findings have implications for nonprofit managers charged with maintaining a sufficient level of volunteers to provide their community services as well as individuals who are responsible for organizing S-L programs. These managerial implications and directions for future S-L research are discussed. [source]

Employee creativity in U.S. and Lithuanian nonprofit organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2008
Kristina Jaskyte
This article reports findings from a study designed to test a model of creativity in the United States and Lithuania. Five independent variables were derived from the creativity literature: perceived leadership behaviors, organizational norms for creativity, group climate, job characteristics, and motivational orientation. They were used to predict creativity in a sample of 201 employees of nonprofit organizations. The results differed for the two countries. Interestingly, while in the United States organizational norms for creativity, extrinsic motivation, and hierarchical level were related to employee creativity, in Lithuania intrinsic motivation and education constituted major predictors of creativity. Based on the study results, I suggest practical implications for nonprofit managers on how to capitalize on their employees' creativity. [source]

An expanded theory of pluralistic interactions in voluntary nonprofit organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 2 2007
Judith Y. Weisinger
Demographic trends suggest a more culturally diverse society, yet research focusing specifically on the management of this diversity in nonprofit organizations is at a nascent stage. Furthermore, traditional ways of conceptualizing cultural diversity in U.S. society are becoming outmoded. Thus, nonprofit managers and leaders can benefit from new ways of thinking about and managing diversity. In this article, we extend our proposed representationinteraction model of diversity in voluntaristic nonprofits (Weisinger and Salipante, 2005) by more closely examining the interaction prong of our model in order to provide a more grounded understanding of this new approach to increasing pluralism. The expanded model that we discuss here is founded on interaction processes: in-group identity and recategorization. This study enables us to transform our grounded theory into a theory of practices that leaders of voluntaristic organizations can directly apply. We present findings from a field study of a national nonprofit organization and discuss implications for practice and research. [source]

Quantitative research for nonprofit management

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2006
Wolfgang Bielefeld
Although the literature on organizational management has burgeoned recently, it has focused primarily on for-profit organizations. Moreover, widely published management prescriptions are often faddish in nature. It is risky for nonprofit managers to uncritically adopt these prescriptions. Not only may they be inappropriate for the Nonprofit setting, they may also be based on inadequate research. The nonprofit sector needs to develop its own research agenda and distribute usable findings to nonprofit managers. This process is in its infancy. While research on the nonprofit sector has been vigorous over the last few decades, most of it has focused on philanthropy or the delineation of the sector's dimensions. It is vitally important that management practices in the Nonprofit sector be based on sound, useful research. Given the nature of social science research, much of this will be quantitative research. In this article, I lay out some basic parameters of quantitative research and discuss its relevance to and utility for nonprofit management. [source]

Using multimethods ethnography to promote quality service and understand interactions among organizations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2006
Jo Anne Schneider
Multimethods ethnography combines qualitative techniques with analysis of statistical data and sometimes mapping techniques. Ethnography provides a comprehensive picture of process in an agency or other setting by examining the dynamics between individuals and institutions to understand how systems work. Ethnography is particularly good at evaluating complex problems involving multiple stakeholders as well as understanding agency processes. I use examples from the Neighborhood Settlement House Evaluation Project and Kenosha Social Capital Study to describe the ethnographic method and its potential uses for nonprofit managers. I begin with an outline of methodological techniques, including problem definition, sample design, various data collection techniques, and analysis. Next I discuss ethnography's approach to the common research concerns of generalizability and replication. In concluding, I discuss ways that this method can be useful to nonprofit managers. Quality work is compared with less complete research techniques throughout each section. [source]

Community as a factor in implementing interorganizational partnerships: Issues, constraints, and adaptations

NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 1 2003
Elizabeth A. Mulroy
This article reports findings from a community-based study of collaboration among seven nonprofit human service agencies in a very low-income urban neighborhood. The project, funded by a federal demonstration grant, was developed to prevent child abuse and neglect as an alternative to the existing public child welfare system. Findings suggest that privatization, funding uncertainties, and community-level factors posed external stressors that constrained executives' ability to collaborate. The article identifies five key stressors, analyzes how each constrained the partnership, and then discusses specific adaptations made by executive leadership in political, technical, and interpersonal areas that facilitated strategic adjustment and realignment in a very complex interorganizational arrangement and set of relationships. Finally, implications are drawn for nonprofit managers, social policy, and nonprofit research. [source]

Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Its Challenges for Nonprofit Managers

Is There a Dark Side to Government Supportfor Nonprofits?

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2000
Arthur C. Brooks
The relationship between government social spending and private donations to the nonprofit sector is an issue that is relevant to both public administrators and nonprofit managers. Does government funding displace philanthropy, or encourage it? This article introduces the debate into the public administration literature. First, I survey and interpret the empirical work performed to date in this area by economists. Second, I retest this question across four nonprofit subsectors using data on both federal and state/local spending. My survey of the literature shows mixed results, although a broad pattern indicates that "crowding out" tends to dominate, particularly in the areas of social service provision and health. My empirical results are consistent with these findings, although they must be interpreted cautiously from a policy perspective: While results are statistically significant, the degree of crowding out is generally small. On the other hand, the claim that government funding stimulates giving seems to lack both statistical and policy significance. [source]