Crisis on the Border: Specialized Capacity Building in Nonprofit Immigration Organizations

Traditional views of the nonprofit–government relationships suggest that while government may depend on nonprofit organizations to provide human services, nonprofits must also conform to government standards, monitoring, and regulation. In this paper, we argue that through specialized investments in capacity building, nonprofit providers can become irreplaceable to government funders. By developing a comparison case study of two organizations serving unaccompanied minor children who cross the U.S.–Mexico Border, we provide evidence of specialized capacity investments in a complex policy environment and discuss the implications of capacity building for both government and nonprofits.     

Latency and Crisis: Mutual Aid Activism in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Qualitative Sociology - Activists have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by organizing for mutual aid: creating collective action to meet people’s material needs and build ties of...     

The Impact of Societal-Level Institutional Logics on Hybridity: Evidence from Nonprofit Organizations in England and France

We examine how societal-level institutional logics impact the way in which hybridity develops in nonprofit organizations using international, comparative and qualitative case studies of community regeneration organizations in England and France. The research applies theoretically based conjectures about types of hybridity to empirical data generated from 20 interviews, document analysis and observation in five nonprofits in the city of Lyon and five in Sheffield. We find that the French nonprofits are ‘blended’ hybrids that integrate state and community institutional logics, while ‘assimilated’ hybrids combining state, community and market logics are found in the English cases. Undertaking contextually situated analysis of institutional logics generates new knowledge on the influences on nonprofits’ rules, practices and narratives, so improving the level of knowledge about, and capacity to manage, this sector.     

Ethical Climate in Nonprofit Organizations: Propositions and Implications

The authors discuss a number of variables that may influence the perception of ethical climate in the nonprofit sector, including individual, organizational, and significant other (peers, coworkers, and superiors) variables. The basis of this discussion is the model developed by Agarwal and Malloy (1999) identifying a framework for nonprofits that is distinct from the for‐profit orientation. The authors provide ten propositions and discuss their implications.     

Donor Reactions to Commercial Activities of Nonprofit Organizations: An American Case Study

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper raises two questions. Do donors to nonprofit organizations care about whether nonprofit organizations pursue...     

Organizational Identity in Nonprofit Organizations: Strategic and Structural Implications

Organizational identity is what is central, distinctive, and enduring about an organization. This article argues that clarity and consensus about organizational identity are essential elements in setting successful long‐term strategy and making structural choices in a nonprofit organization. Four classes of nonprofit organization are examined here: grantmaking foundations, federated fundraising organizations, nonprofit academic centers, and social enterprises. In each case, alternative identities are described and the implications of each identity for organizational strategy and structure are analyzed. The article suggests that examination of identity should become an integral part of organizational development for nonprofit organizations and a subject for continued research.     

Stability and Change in Nonprofit Organizations: The Volunteer Contribution

This paper reports on a study of the microprocesses of stability and change in a nonprofit welfare organization in Australia. We position volunteering and voluntarism as core constitutive phenomena in and of nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector more generally, and examine volunteer agency in action. Developing a model drawn from neoinstitutional theory and adopting an ethnographic approach, the paper illustrates theoretically and empirically how volunteers create and revise institutional orders operative within organizations in ways hitherto poorly articulated and understood.     

Investigating the Marketization of the Nonprofit Sector: A Comparative Case Study of Two Nonprofit Organizations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - It has been well documented in recent years that nonprofits are becoming increasingly marketized. What is less well...     

Volunteer Reliability in Nonprofit Organizations: A Theoretical Model

The reliability of volunteers is a major concern for many nonprofit organizations. To address this problem in more detail, we develop a theoretical model of volunteer reliability based on psychological contract theory. By taking this perspective as a starting point, we explore how individual volunteer characteristics, organizational factors, and sociological developments shape the exchange of inducements and contributions between volunteers and nonprofit organizations. We discuss how these factors can create tensions in the psychological contract and determine the extent to which volunteers behave reliably. As such, we develop a theoretical framework for addressing the reliability problem in volunteer management.     

Challenges in Managing Nonprofit Organizations: A Research Overview

The topic of management and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) continues to fascinate scholars. This paper draws on varying theoretical perspectives to explore their respective contributions to our knowledge of NPOs. The two longstanding and contrasting disciplines of economics and sociology have contributed most, traditionally, to the study of NPOs. However, neither of these disciplines has resolved all the dilemmas associated with NPOs. The standard economic model does not apply well to the distinctive nonmarket situation of NPOs. The sociological perspectives offer interesting insight, but fail to develop plans of action for NPOs. However, both of these traditional perspectives are starting to be eclipsed by the focus on marketing research.     

Characteristics of Innovative Nonprofit Organizations in Argentina

The purpose of this study was to discover the characteristics of innovative organizations as perceived by employees of Argentine nonprofit organizations. The free listing technique, adapted from the field of cognitive anthropology, was used to achieve this task. Fifteen representatives of a variety of Argentinean nonprofit organizations participated in the study. Among the highest rated characteristics were: searching for new ways, solutions, and unconventional forms of work; adapting to new times; suggesting new forms for solving problems; and reflecting over organizational activities and actions. Rated as least characteristic were: encouraging role changes within teams; focusing on organizational mission; not being afraid of failure; and generosity (sharing information with other organizations).     

Understanding the Role of Nonprofit Organizations in the Provision of Social Services in China: An Exploratory Study

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This article examines the role of nonprofit organizations in government-nonprofit collaboration in the provision of social...     

Professionalization and Voluntary Transparency Practices in Nonprofit Organizations

There are currently no public disclosure requirements for privately controlled charitable organizations in Germany. This study examines under which conditions German nonprofits, including both public charities and foundations, voluntarily choose transparency. Transparent nonprofits are defined herein as those that publicly disclose their annual reports and detailed financial information. A very small number of German nonprofits do so. The results of a crisp‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis suggest that the driving force behind the voluntary transparency of organizations is professional management rather than revealed cases of malpractice or stakeholder demands.     

Networking Modes and Performance in Israel's Nonprofit Organizations

The present article examines the relationship between networking modes and performance for 138 nonprofits in Israel. We draw upon the bridging and bonding concepts and social exchange theory and introduce the sharing and consulting networking modes to predict performance in terms of organizational growth in resources. We suggest that differences in networking modes (1) reflect variations in organizational size and age and (2) affect organizational growth in resources. We show that (1) the consulting networking mode is more frequent among managers of smaller and younger nonprofits, (2) sharing is characteristic of managers in older and larger nonprofits, (3) sharing has a strong effect on organizational growth, and (4) the sharing and consulting modes are better predictors of organizational performance than those of bonding and bridging. The results indicate that nonprofit growth in organizational resources is possible with networking when managers aspire to higher involvement in the networking process due to the scope and extent of goals.     

Strategic Performance Measurement and Management in Nonprofit Organizations

The managers and constituents of nonprofits are increasingly concerned about measuring and managing organizational performance. Financial measures alone, or even supplemented with a collection of ad hoc nonfinancial measures, are not sufficient to motivate and evaluate mission accomplishments. This article describes the adaptation of a new performance measurement and management approach, the Balanced Scorecard, to the nonprofit sector. Several examples of actual implementation are provided.     

Dimensions of Capacity in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to present and develop a firmer grasp of the underlying dimensions of organizational capacity in nonprofit human service organizations. The paper draws on the resource-based view of the organization (Barney et al. in Journal of Management 37:1299, 2011; Wernerfelt in Strategic Management Journal 5:171, 1984), which recognizes that organizational attributes and capabilities facilitate performance. Interviews were conducted with 66 executives in moderate sized, human service organizations to discuss factors that influence performance. Findings suggest that human, financial, and social capital all contribute to organizational performance. Executives emphasized the quality of people associated with the organization including the role of the board of directors in supporting performance. Many respondents also believed that maintaining healthy and dynamic external relationships was critical to success.     

Organizational Antecedents of Pay-for-Performance Systems in Nonprofit Organizations

The applicability of pay-for-performance systems (PfP-systems) in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) is discussed controversially both in literature and in practice. Existing theoretical models emphasize the importance of the employee’s motivation and output control for the effectiveness of PfP-systems. However, empirical evidence on which factors influence PfP-system’s introduction in NPOs is still lacking. Based on an exploratory study of nine Austrian NPOs, this paper develops hypotheses on what organizational factors distinguish NPOs that rely on PfP-systems for managing employees’ performance differences from those that use alternative approaches (e.g., job enrichment, NPO-spirit). Findings suggest that decisions on the application of PfP-systems are influenced by five determinants: perceived degree of competitiveness regarding funding and service provision; degree of strategic freedom; clarity of strategic objectives; existence of management instruments; and organizational culture.