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Nonprofit Policy Forum

Edited by: Alan Abramson , Mirae Kim and Stefan Toepler

Language: English

First published: January 1, 2010

Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year

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About this journal

Call for Papers

ERNOP 2023 Conference Special Issue on Philanthropy and Crises: Roles and Functioning of Philanthropy in times of Societal Upheavals
The impact of New Public Management on the Third Sector (ISTR 2024 theme track)
2024 ARNOVA-Asia Special Issue of Nonprofit Policy Forum

Objective The mission of Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF) is to serve as an international journal that publishes original research and analysis on public policy issues and the public policy process critical to the work of nonprofit organizations. NPF　provides a forum and an authoritative and accessible source of information for scholars, leaders, and policy-makers worldwide. A primary goal of NPF is to provide nonprofit leaders and policy-makers with readily accessible and relevant scholarly research. In addition to being an accessible source of information, NPF creates a publishing venue for the expanding population of nonprofit-public policy scholars. Because the field of nonprofit studies is interdisciplinary in nature, the range of disciplines for both authors and readers spans a wide array of interests. Major topics addressed in the journal include: 1) various dimensions of the government/nonprofit relationship comprising but not limited to: government funding of nonprofit service delivery, government regulation of the nonprofit sector, and nonprofit advocacy activities aimed at influencing government policy;

2) issues related to blurring sector boundaries such as: hybrid organizational forms, social enterprises, and social investment;

3) transnational non-governmental organizations and cross-national NGO/nonprofit issues; and

4) developments in particular policy fields (e.g., health, human services, arts) and their effects on nonprofits.

Article formats
Each issue of NPF offers five research-based articles and a special feature, alternating among research notes and policy briefs, book reviews, interviews, case studies, and commentaries.

Research Articles (peer review, 5,000-8,000 words): Full, theoretical/conceptual and empirical research articles addressing: the effect of government policies and tools on nonprofits; nonprofit advocacy activities and their effect on policy; civil society and social movements seeking social change; other significant aspects of the government/nonprofit relationship; development and institutional contexts of social enterprise.

Research Notes (peer review, 3,000-4,000 words): Research Notes are research-based, short articles presenting policy-relevant findings or suggesting novel policy approaches with a focus on informing academic debate on the topic. They may be more descriptive than analytical, or present novel ideas or concepts with limited data.

Policy Briefs (peer review, 3,000-4,000 words): Policy Briefs present research-informed discussions of current policies and policy proposals with a focus on informing policy makers. They introduce a policy topic, provide an overview of relevant research, and either advocate for a position or lay out policy options with a recommendation.

Commentaries (editorial review, 2,000-3,000 words): Research-informed, opinion-based discussion of contemporary policy developments, current debates in the field, or proposals for policy reform.

Case studies (peer review, 2,000-4,000 words): Teaching cases or analytical case studies.

Interviews (editorial review, 2,000-4,000 words): Interviews with leaders in the field reflecting on important nonprofit policy issues.

Book reviews (editorial review, 2.000-3.000 words): Reviews of recently published books focused on nonprofits and public policy.

Information on Submission Process

Nonprofit Policy Forum is pleased to acknowledge support from the following sponsors which allows the journal to be open access.

Sponsors
The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) is the U.S.-based, national and international association that connects scholars, teachers, and practice leaders interested in research on nonprofit organizations, voluntary action, philanthropy and civil society. Founded in 1971 as the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars, ARNOVA is a neutral, open forum committed to strengthening the research about and helping shape better practice in these realms. The association brings together both theoretical and applied interests, helping scholars gain insight into the day-to-day concerns of third-sector organizations, while providing nonprofit professionals with connections to research they can use to improve the work of their organizations and the quality of life for citizens and communities. Principal activities include an annual conference, publications, electronic discussions and special interest groups. ARNOVA sponsors an annual issue of policy briefs in Nonprofit Policy Forum.

The Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota ranks among the country’s top 10 professional public policy and planning schools and is long noted for equipping students to play key roles in public life at the local, state, national, and global levels. The school has been engaged in nonprofit management education for 30 years and has offered a certificate in Nonprofit Management since 2002.

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University is a top ten school of social work that celebrated the 100^th anniversary of its founding in 2016. The school’s mission is advancing leadership in social work and nonprofit education, scholarship, and service to build a more just world. The school has been engaged in nonprofit management education for more than 30 years and currently offers a Masters of Nonprofit Organizations degree as well as a certificate program.

Established in 2012, Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy is the world’s first school dedicated solely to the study and teaching of philanthropy. In fact, Indiana University has been at the vanguard of philanthropy education since the Center on Philanthropy was founded at IUPUI in 1987. Led by the center, IU established the field of philanthropic studies; initiated the nation’s first bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in the field; and created the nation’s first endowed chair in philanthropy. Today, the Lilly Family School is home to The Fund Raising School, the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, the Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy, the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute.

George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government prepares undergraduate and graduate students to be leaders and managers who solve problems and advance the public good in all sectors and levels of government - in the United States and throughout the world. Located where policy happens, students are connected to jobs, internships, networking, and experiences that can only be found in the Washington, D.C., area. The Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise seeks to improve the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and social enterprise through research, training, public education, and other initiatives that engage those who care about these important institutions and activities.

The nonprofit Urban Institute is dedicated to elevating the debate on social and economic policy. For nearly five decades, Urban scholars have conducted research and offered evidence-based solutions that improve lives and strengthen communities across a rapidly urbanizing world. Their objective research helps expand opportunities for all, reduce hardship among the most vulnerable, and strengthen the effectiveness of the public sector.

Benefits of Sponsorship

Your benefits

Prominent members of the editorial board
International outreach of the journal
Original research and analyses on public policy
Interdisciplinary methodology
Versatile forum for research communication
Accepted into the Emerging Sciences Citation Index (ESCI) and searchable in the Web of Science Core Collection

Institutions or individuals interested in becoming sponsors of NPF should contact the editors at npf@gmu.edu

Your Benefits

Your benefits

Prominent members of the editorial board
International outreach of the journal
Original research and analyses on public policy
Interdisciplinary methodology
Versatile forum for research communication
Accepted into the Emerging Sciences Citation Index (ESCI) and searchable in the Web of Science Core Collection

Open Access
Pandemic Relief for Arts and Culture Nonprofits: Resources with Messages

August 22, 2025

Tamara Keshecki, Eric Griffith, Brenda K. Bushouse

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This paper examines access to and impacts of two COVID-19 federal pandemic relief initiatives. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a new program to help “small businesses” cover near-term operating expenses and incentivize employers to retain employees. Pandemic relief also included increased COVID-19-specific funding for the existing Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. We frame our study with the Policy Feedback Framework to focus on how the policy design and implementation created resource effects and the messages nonprofits received when accessing the programs. We focus our study on the arts and culture sector, which was disproportionately impacted by the pandemic closures. We conducted an online survey of New York City nonprofit arts and culture organizations and semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders six months into the pandemic closures. Survey results indicate that while the resource effects were mainly positive, the PPP implementation relied on a narrow conception of small businesses that did not align with nonprofit governance, arts and culture hiring practices, or revenue and expense models (negative interpretive effects). For those who accessed the PPP, its resource effects benefited the organizations in the near term. Few accessed the EIDL 30-year loan program mainly due to the financial risk of default. Nonprofit arts and culture organizations learned they must collectively advocate for inclusion in programs not adapted for their operating realities. After this study, the performing arts successfully advocated for a one-time $16.25 billion grant program titled the Shuttered Venue Operatrors Grant (SVOG). The lessons for policymakers are that 1) nonprofit governance structures are different from small businesses and 2) cookie-cutter approaches, like the PPP program design, create barriers for accessing resources.
Open Access
Regulation and Incentives for “Social Enterprise” in the United States: But First Greater and More Substantive Differentiation

August 20, 2025

John Tyler

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Nomenclature around social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, the social economy, social business, or social purpose business means different things to different people under different circumstances. Sometimes, it means different things to the same people in the same circumstances – sometimes even in the same conversation. Clarity can be especially relevant for nonprofits – particularly charitable, tax-exempt nonprofits – for at least three reasons. First, they undertake their own strategic efforts to engage the marketplace to generate revenue and/or advance/scale their programmatic objectives. Second, they are often approached by enterprises purporting to be – even fully believing they are – social. Finally, charities increasingly compete with “social enterprises” for financial support, employees, customers, policymaker attention, etc. Given legal compliance mandates, charities must clearly understand who they are engaging with, how, and the extent of alignment or lack thereof. It can be reasonable to want government regulatory and policy interventions to help force much-needed clarity, which would also benefit the social enterprise movement and its enterprises. Regulatory and policy interventions could reduce green/purpose washing, ambiguity, and confusion and promote aligned engagement, but only if that “middle” space is sufficiently differentiated from traditional approaches and/or flexibility. Neither interest is served by vague invocations of nebulous degrees of attention to owner financial interests, market participation, and social good.Differentiation is important – if not essential. Differentiation must allow for reliably, consistently, and uniformly ascertaining over time what counts as a social enterprise and what does not. If “virtually any organization can call itself a social enterprise,” it will lead to “blurriness as to which business is actually a ‘social’ one,” which arguably describes the current state in the U.S. Whether through legal structure or modalities, social enterprises should exhibit the following: (1) heightened commitment to social good, (2) greater intentionality about predictably and reliably connecting their behaviors to socially good outcomes, and (3) consistency through time and persistence through circumstance. This essay submits that the U.S. lacks coherence, predictability, differentiation, critical mass, and a general will to enforce a reliable ordering of priorities that persists over time and can weather changes in ownership priorities and personnel. Even so, there are organizations whose operations are sufficiently different. There are also those that only purport to be different enough. Until there is differentiation at scale, this essay suggests that government regulation in the present will need to be through means applicable to for-profit businesses and, in the process, help identify green/purpose washing, promote clearer communication of purposes and priorities, and facilitate alignment. This essay first evaluates words commonly used in reference to social enterprise – impact, intentions, and outcomes – but finds them deficient. The essay next considers means for differentiation per the three characteristics listed above. Finally, the essay compares how other countries have invoked those concepts through legal structures or modalities, ultimately concluding that the legal structures and modalities in the U.S. do not support finding a cohesive “middle” space, yet.
Open Access
The Government – Civil Society Relationship Dichotomy: The Case of Germany

August 19, 2025

Rupert Graf Strachwitz

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While intergovernmental bodies are increasingly worried about their members not upholding basic principles like the rule of law, national governments are reluctant to grant CSOs the independence needed to pursue their mission. This is particularly visible when it comes to govrnment grants to CSOs. This paper presents Germany as a case study.
Open Access
Unpacking New Public Management in Norway – A Policy Fields Approach

August 8, 2025

Håkon Solbu Trætteberg, Karl Henrik Sivesind

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Since the 1990s, Norway has introduced market-emulating steering tools inspired by the New Public Management agenda in statutory welfare services. Across service fields, non-profit service providers experienced these changes in various ways. We apply the theoretical lenses of policy fields to demonstrate the distinct institutional context these NPM reforms represented in each service area. We compare five policy fields with distinct trajectories regarding NPM governance and non-profit responses: early childhood education and care, the school sector, child protection services, asylum reception services, and hospital services. Among these service areas, we analyze why some non-profit actors succeeded and some failed in terms of lobbying for policy change in support of non-profits. We conclude that NPM is a multifaceted phenomenon and that general inferences about the negative effects of NPM reforms on non-profit service provision are unwarranted, even within this Scandinavian welfare state. NPM instruments not only vary but are also often layered on the existing institutional structure within a policy field. Thus, the preceding institutional setup is important, and outcomes are not completely determined by policy changes. Furthermore, the non-profits are not simply passive recipients. They may also have influence in terms of institutional resources and the recognition of civil society added value, which they can use to both handle new polices and influence the regulatory framework itself.
Open Access
Furthering Unrestricted Grantmaking Across Borders: Proposals for Updated Tax Law Guidance

July 29, 2025

Martha Bird Lackritz-Peltier

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This article discusses where US tax law falls short in facilitating unrestricted giving from US foundations to non-US non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Current tax law mechanisms for foundations and donor advised funds to make unrestricted grants to NGOs in other countries are severely limited and US-centric. Some of these rules have no context outside of the US, and ultimately stifle rather than facilitate philanthropy in favor of legitimate charitable organizations. This topic is particularly relevant now as more funders embrace “trust-based philanthropy” and other giving practices that respect nonprofit organizations’ ability to choose how to spend grant funds effectively. If US tax law does not take into account more ways in which US funders can support legitimate charitable endeavors globally, we risk further enhancing the wealth gap between countries and reducing the potential for international cooperation and diplomacy. Rather than providing more paths to recognize legitimate non-US NGOs as acceptable grantees, the Treasury Department continues to add new kinds of vetting and due diligence requirements on US funders and their overseas grantees. The result is that the cost of compliance and monitoring often outweighs the benefits of making overseas grants, particularly by smaller foundations and donor advised funds. This article provides examples of where US tax law currently falls short in recognizing and promoting ways to give unrestricted grants internationally. It also presents concrete proposals for helping to bridge this gap in a way that recognizes international differences and increases the potential for unrestricted giving without sacrificing compliance obligations.
Open Access
Fiduciaries, Constituencies, and the Duty of Loyalty in Modern Nonprofits

July 29, 2025

Ellen P. Aprill, Jill R. Horwitz

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A fiduciary of a charity has a fundamental duty to act in good faith and in a manner the fiduciary reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the charity in light of its purposes. In theory, this duty of loyalty seems uncomplicated and, in simple cases, it often is. In practice, for many fiduciaries discerning the content of the duty of loyalty, and sometimes even identifying the charity and the legal purposes to which the duty is owed, is not in fact so simple. Challenges to identifying and complying with fiduciary duties can arise when board members serve a charity because they reflect the experiences of certain constituencies or identities. Examples abound. University boards, for instance, have long included members who are students, union members, or other stakeholder representatives. Complications related to intersecting entities can also muddle understanding of a fiduciary’s responsibilities. In this Article we offer a brief examination of the complications raised by various forms of constituency memberships, the ways in which fiduciary law attempts to clarify duties, and some tentative suggestions to ameliorate confusion regarding these duties.
Open Access
Charitable Oversight: Insight from Regulators and Enforcers

July 21, 2025

Lynda Atkins, Karin Kunstler Goldman, Jonathan Green, Brien Winfield Heckman, Janet M. Kleinfelter, Hanna Rubin, Beth Short, Tracy Thorleifson, Heather L. Weigler, Josaphine Yuzuik

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Charitable Oversight : Insight from Regulators and Enforcers , examines the critical role of state charity officials in oversight of the nonprofit sector within the United States, including current and anticipated challenges to their regulatory authority. As charitable giving and the number of nonprofit organizations in the U.S. continue to grow, effective regulation is essential to ensuring that donations to charity are used appropriately and for their intended charitable purposes. State charity regulators, who often operate with limited resources, are at the forefront of these efforts, working to detect and prevent fraud, mismanagement, and other violations of law. The article begins with a discussion of the educational initiatives undertaken by state regulators to address potential compliance issues within the charitable sector. By providing training and guidance to nonprofit boards and donors, regulators help ensure that nonprofit leaders are aware of their fiduciary responsibilities and that donors are informed about how to donate wisely. These educational efforts are essential tools in preventing fraud and enhancing accountability, particularly given the limited resources available for enforcement in many states. Enforcement strategies are another central focus of the article. Charity regulators often employ a blend of progressive-enforcement methods, such as inquiry letters or informal resolutions, and more formal actions, including lawsuits and multistate enforcement initiatives. The paper highlights the importance of multistate collaboration, which has enabled state charity regulators to leverage their combined resources to target wide-spread fraud and pursue comprehensive actions that might not be possible if each state acts alone. For example, enforcement cases, brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and multiple states against fraudulent charities and deceptive solicitations, have had broad, nationwide impact. The paper raises concerns about the limited capacity of the IRS to serve as an effective gatekeeper. The IRS’s adoption of Form 1023-EZ in 2014, intended to streamline the tax-exempt application process, has led to a sharp increase in the number of organizations granted tax-exempt status, yet with fewer controls to verify their eligibility. For example, a substantial percentage of organizations using Form 1023-EZ may not actually qualify for the tax-exempt status they receive, creating added regulatory burdens for state charity officials who must monitor compliance with their limited resources. The article also addresses how technological advancements are reshaping the landscape of charitable giving and regulation. Digital platforms, crowdfunding sites, social media, and the growing popularity of online donation portals have made fundraising more accessible but also present new regulatory challenges. Regulators are increasingly faced with questions about the applicability of traditional laws to digital fundraising methods, the risks associated with online payment platforms, and the potential for AI-driven fraudulent solicitations that can manipulate donors with personalized, deceptive messages. Future challenges in the regulatory environment include the expected increase in the number of charitable organizations, an increasingly globalized solicitation landscape and social and environmental factors that result in more frequent disaster-related giving. The article argues that these changes will require regulators to expand multistate collaboration and develop more efficient systems for information sharing, cross-jurisdictional investigations, and collective enforcement actions. In conclusion, the authors advocate for expanded educational outreach and a strengthened network of collaboration among state charity regulators as essential to sustaining effective oversight of the nonprofit sector. By fostering a culture of compliance through education and leveraging collective resources for enforcement, state charity regulators can better protect donors, ensure transparency, and promote the health and integrity of the charitable sector in the United States. The article suggests that, with continued adaptation to technological and societal changes and more collaboration, charity regulators can effectively navigate the future challenges facing nonprofit oversight, safeguarding both public trust and charitable missions in an evolving landscape.
Open Access
Are Donor-Advised Funds Facilitating Opaque Giving to Politically Engaged Charities?

July 14, 2025

Helen Flannery, Brian Mittendorf

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Donor-advised funds are a prominent and rapidly growing charitable giving vehicle. There is substantial information about the money flowing into them, but we know relatively little about what they ultimately support, and anecdotal news stories have raised questions about the role they may be playing in high-profile policy-oriented giving. With this in mind, we examine whether donor-advised funds are disproportionately supporting politically engaged charities. We find that donor-advised fund sponsors distribute grants to politically engaged charities – those engaged in lobbying or affiliated with organizations supporting political campaigns – at a rate nearly 1.7 times that of other giving sources. We further show that this feature is more pronounced with giving to fringe political groups, as donor-advised fund sponsors give to anti-government and hate groups at a rate 3.5 times that of other giving sources; in fact, we find that donor-advised funds account for more than one-quarter of all contributions received by these organizations. To focus on whether one motivation for such giving is the layer of opacity donor-advised funds create, we also examine private foundation grants to donor-advised funds. Private foundations are required to publicly disclose the identities of both their major donors and beneficiaries. Donor-advised funds, on the other hand, must only disclose grant recipients, and those disclosures are aggregate and not at the fund or donor level. For this reason, when a private foundation distributes to a donor-advised fund rather than directly to a beneficiary charity, donor privacy is a principal consequence. We find that donor-advised fund sponsors give disproportionately more to politically engaged charities when more of the sponsor’s revenue comes from private foundations.
Open Access
Toward the Ideal of Uniformity, Transparency and Efficiency in State Regulation of Charitable Activity in the United States

June 27, 2025

Karen Gano, Karl Emerson

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Open Access
Religious Identity, Linked Fate, and Political Ideology: Explaining Civil Rights Philanthropy among Muslim and Jewish Americans

June 24, 2025

Rafeel Wasif, Afshan Paarlberg, Shariq Siddiqui, David King

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Social identity theory predicts that individuals prefer to give to people with the same identity as themselves. However, individuals have multiple identities that interact simultaneously. For instance, religion is an essential identity for many individuals, particularly those from racialized minority groups, such as Muslims and Jews, who are often discriminated against due to these identities. Moreover, individuals like to support faith-based causes. However, they may also feel that they have a linked fate identity, where they perceive a commonality with other persecuted minorities due to similar experiences of discrimination. Moreover, political ideology is another vital identity marker for many individuals. How do these identities interact in giving to faith-based and non-faith-based causes? This article addresses the question by exploring support for civil rights organizations among the general population and two racialized, faith-based minorities – Muslim Americans and Jewish Americans. The findings show that these racialized minorities are more likely than other groups to fund civil rights organizations that work both within and outside their faith-based communities, suggesting that the concept of linked fate may operate in the domain of philanthropy, where minorities are helping themselves and other communities suffering discrimination. The findings also indicate that political ideology affects giving, as liberals are more likely to donate to civil rights causes both within and outside their faith tradition. Overall, this article expands the existing literature on philanthropy by looking at how the effects of political ideology and the notion of linked fate among minority groups may influence giving in times of crisis.
Open Access
Donor Advised Fund Policies and Intergenerational Justice

June 12, 2025

Ian Murray, Dan Heist, Kendra Stone

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Questions about donor advised funds (DAFs) abound in the nonprofit sector. Every year more money is contributed, with donations to DAFs doubling in the past five years. A key set of questions about DAFs relates to how long that money stays in DAFs before being redistributed. Writing previously in Nonprofit Policy Forum, Murray (Murray, I. 2020. “Donor Advised Funds: What Can North America Learn from the Australian Approach?” Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law 6: 260–304) proposed the use of normative theories of intergenerational justice to address such questions and discussed how the duties that apply to directors/trustees of the public charities that sponsor DAFs might be one mechanism for incorporating intergenerational justice principles. DAF sponsor policies are a key tool for directors/trustees to meet their duties and to set the scope for delegations of authority and to review and monitor those delegations. Heist and Stone (Heist, D., and K. Stone. 2023. Self-Regulating Donor Advised Funds: An Analysis of Inactive Account Policies and Endowed DAFs. DAF Research Collaborative Working Paper) published a white-paper reviewing timing-relevant policies from the largest 150 DAF sponsors in the US. The empirical findings in that paper and the organizational policies assembled by Heist and Stone provide an opportunity to explore whether Murray’s suggested approach is reflected in DAF sponsor policies on inactive accounts, endowed DAF accounts, and succession. In this article, we therefore seek to answer the question: to what extent do current DAF sponsor policies reflect principles of intergenerational justice? We provide evidence that current DAF policies do, to some extent, reflect norms of intergenerational justice, but that there is room for improvement.
Open Access
The Scope and Potential of Social Enterprises in Slovenia

June 9, 2025

Tatjana Rakar, Anja Uršič

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Following Slovenia’s EU accession in 2004, social enterprises gained momentum and political support, with pilot projects backed by the European Social Fund starting in 2009 and the Social Entrepreneurship Act adopted in 2011. However, Slovenia has a long tradition of social economy organisations, many of which operate as de facto social enterprises without legal status of social enterprises. As the first of its kind in Slovenia, the study assesses the scope and potential of social enterprises by examining the number of enterprises, employees, turnover, and added value. The research highlights the significant role social enterprises play in employment, especially for people with disabilities, and their contribution to the country’s GDP. Nevertheless, challenges like fragmented legal and support systems, unclear definitions of social impact, and limited public awareness persist. The study concludes that with proper recognition and support social enterprises can address the key social and economic issues, including unemployment and long-term care needs.
Open Access
Predictors of Local Non-Governmental Organisations’ (NGOs’) Adoption of Self-Regulation in Ghana

June 6, 2025

Emmanuel Kumi, Dennis Boahene Osei, Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko

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Self-regulation has emerged as one of the strategies employed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to address their legitimacy crisis resulting from the lack of accountability and transparency in countries with weak government regulatory frameworks. However, our understanding of the predictors of local NGOs’ adoption of self-regulation in contexts of weak government regulations remains limited. Drawing on the concept of isomorphism and resource dependency and using data from local NGOs in Ghana, we find that an increase in the number of donors of local NGOs reduces their likelihood of adopting self-regulation practices. We show that donor diversification serves as a disincentive for adopting self-regulation among local NGOs in Ghana. We also find that older and experienced local NGOs are more likely to adopt self-regulation practices than their younger counterparts. Implications of the findings for NGO management are discussed.
Open Access
Bounded Rationality: The Role of Knowledge of Regulations in Nonprofits’ Engagement in Policy Advocacy

June 6, 2025

Lewis Faulk, Mirae Kim, Heather MacIndoe

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This study examines the dynamics of nonprofit engagement in advocacy, lobbying, and civic activities through the lens of bounded rationality. Although 501(c)(3) nonprofits are legally permitted to advocate and lobby on behalf of their constituents and the sector, only 31 % reported engaging in such activities over the past five years. To better understand this relatively low level of involvement, our analysis first investigates nonprofits’ understanding of federal and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations governing permissible activities, as well as the factors that shape their knowledge of these rules. Second, we analyze the relationship between regulatory knowledge and policy engagement, controlling for organizational and contextual variables that are informed by the existing literature. Our findings show that, while internal and external factors can mitigate the constraints imposed by bounded rationality, knowledge of the rules is significantly associated with policy engagement. We conclude that limited understanding of the legal parameters surrounding 501(c)(3) advocacy and lobbying remains a significant barrier to nonprofit policy engagement.
Open Access
Bassi, Andrea, Mario Aquino Alves, and Carolyn Cordery, eds. (2025). The Future of Third Sector Research: From Theory to Definitions, Classifications and Aggregation Towards New Research Paths. Springer: Cham, Switzerland. pp 269. eBook. ISBN 978-3-031-67896-7

May 23, 2025

Jiwon Suh, Marylin D. Rozario

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Open Access
Divest Now? Understanding Calls for Divestment in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education

April 30, 2025

Todd L. Ely

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Divestment represents an internal policy to activate an organization’s investments for purposes beyond financial returns. For leaders of higher education institutions, calls for divestment raise complicated questions about the appropriateness, feasibility, and effectiveness of such policies. Divestment reflects one facet of socially-responsible investing and accompanies broader controversy over making investment decisions based on Environmental, Social, Governance considerations. While divestment is not solely relevant for nonprofit organizations, demands often target private, nonprofit colleges and universities in the United States due to endowment wealth, as well as public counterparts who typically manage endowments through nonprofit entities. This policy brief details how divestment works, the related challenges, and whether divestment is effective from a financial or policy perspective.
Open Access
Mission-Drift in the Institutionalization Phase. A Multiple Case Study of Four Collaborative Governance Arrangements Between Municipalities and CSOs in Sweden

April 4, 2025

Louise Yngve

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Collaborative governance between public and civil society organizations (CSOs) in planning, managing, and providing welfare activities through horizontal organizing and equal relationships is described as necessary for addressing complex social problems. Synergies are expected when public organizations’ and CSOs’ different rationalities and goals are intertwined. However, theoretical frameworks illustrate collaboration as a dynamic process often involving conflicts. More studies are needed to explore the collaboration dynamics over time, investigating the conflicts that arise and how stakeholders handle them. This issue is addressed here through a cross-case analysis of four collaborative governance arrangements concerning welfare activities in Sweden, based on 63 semi-structured interviews, observations, and supplementary data. The results illustrate that more equal relationships were possible in three cases during the initial collaboration phase. However, demands from top-level municipal management for increased bureaucratization resulted in changes over time concerning defining the focus of collaboration and governance structure. To maintain influence, the CSOs used the strategies of adaptation, distancing, or exiting while the municipalities shifted from acting as partners to taking the ‘lead’. As a result, the CSOs’ influence diminished over time. Although the stakeholders’ differences motivate collaboration, these differences become problematic over time as the different perspectives fail to intertwine in an equal relationship when the projects’ activities are scaled up or linked to ordinary municipal operations. The marginalization of CSOs’ perspectives is problematic since collaboration, even in later phases, needs to be understood as dynamic, where CSOs’ perspectives are valuable for addressing complex social problems. The marginalization of CSOs in collaboration thus undermines both the idea of collaboration as an equal relationship and the possibility of addressing complex social problems through the intertwining of different perspectives.
Open Access
Do Nonprofit Responses to Social Movements Influence Public Perceptions and Willingness to Support? An Experimental Study

April 4, 2025

Minjung Kim, Allison R. Russell, Peter Frumkin

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In a politically charged climate, nonprofit organizations are increasingly pressed to take a stance on a variety of social issues. In line with their advocacy role, nonprofits may seek to mobilize their stakeholders in support of a particular cause, provided it is congruent with their mission. Given the range of options available to signal their support of causes, and the potential controversy associated with some of them, nonprofits must also consider the ways in which their actions in support of social movements may shape the public’s view of their organization. This study uses an online experiment to examine how public perceptions and support are shaped by a range of nonprofit responses to a social justice movement. It finds that while nonprofit actions do influence public perceptions and overall support for the organization’s actions, individuals’ willingness to support in the form of monetary donations and volunteering was not significantly affected. Implications for organizational decision-making and management are discussed.
Open Access
Effectiveness is Not Enough: The Total Effect of the Tax Policy Toward Charitable Giving – Boundaries, Take-Up, and Effectiveness

March 25, 2025

Osnat Hazan

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Tax benefits for charitable giving are widespread. Governments waive tax revenues, aiming to encourage donors to increase their giving to nonprofits. Accordingly, the effectiveness of tax benefits has been widely researched, asking whether the policy increases donors’ giving. However, policy exhaustion is overlooked; therefore, we know very little about the total effect of such policies. In this paper, I suggest we go beyond effectiveness to focus on policy exhaustion as well. That is, exploring the effect of the policy boundaries on the benefit ineligibility range and the patterns of benefit non-take-up by donors. I further suggest that the appropriate approach to assessing the take-up rate of the tax benefit for charitable giving is not calculating the percentage of taxpayers who claim a tax benefit (as sometimes done). Although donors can claim the tax benefit, the “true” target population of the policy is nonprofits’ beneficiaries. Thus, the policy seeks not to improve donors’ conditions but to induce them to donate more to nonprofits as the providers of services. Therefore, estimating the share of donations for which the benefit is claimed is preferable to estimating the take-up of the tax benefit for charitable giving. Based on administrative data and complementary surveys, studying Israel in 2018 as a test case, I find that 23 % of total donations are ineligible for the benefit due to its boundaries (ceilings, floor, and qualified nonprofits); that 41 % of total donations are eligible for a benefit yet a benefit is not claimed for them (non-take-up); And thus, donors claim a tax benefit for 36 % of their total donations. In this case, then, effectiveness is relevant to 36 % of total donations only, and it seems that the most acute weakness of the policy is its low take-up rate. Two main consequences of the poor take-up rate are discussed. First is the scope of donations to nonprofits: if all eligible donations are claimed for a benefit and if all money received via the credit is donated to nonprofits (resulting in neutral effectiveness), donors in Israel could increase their donations to nonprofits by 13 % without spending an additional private cent. Second, since almost 70 % of unclaimed tax benefits apply to individual donations below NIS 20,000 (about €5,000), this pattern significantly undermines the pluralistic agenda implicit in the tax policy, leaving the privilege of allocating public resources to fewer donors. These outcomes are problematic, especially in times of complex crises, such as the COVID-19 health and financial crisis, during which demand for nonprofit services grew while private resources were scarcer, or the current (since 2023) societal-political crisis in Israel in which the liberal democracy is threatened and thus the pluralistic allocation of public resources to civil society via donations’ tax benefit is a powerful tool to exercise pluralism. The comprehensive approach proposed in this paper yields a detailed picture that reflects the actual realization of the tax policy and allows for an informed public dissection.
Open Access
The Inspection of Marketised Models: Audit, Evaluation, and Service Beneficiaries

March 11, 2025

Elizabeth-Rose Ahearn, Cameron Parsell

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Inspection is an institutionalised feature of social services that aims to ensure accountability and improve quality and outcomes for recipients. Successive changes in administration and funding have created a hybridised market of public, private, and third-sector providers, leading to a complex institutional environment. Our study seeks to understand how the chosen modality of inspection in different social services is influenced by this environment. By combining public statements of inspection from social service organisations with qualitative interviews with sector leaders and experts, we reveal a stark divide: audited services operating within quasi-markets, on the one hand and evaluated services relying on block grant-funding, on the other. These differences are underpinned by embedded expectations of whether services should change outcomes or simply provide care, in turn influencing the design, administration, and quality of services.
Open Access
Nonprofit Studies: Are We an Academic Discipline?

March 10, 2025

Ram A. Cnaan

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Open Access
The Institutional Role of Charity Regulators in Bringing Charities to Account: An International Comparative Study of Charity Regulators in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England and Wales

February 10, 2025

Dara Dimitrov

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Accountability in the charity sector continues to be important, especially since charity numbers continue to grow regardless of the economic cycle. Charity regulators play a critical role in managing the charity sector as its primary task is ensuring compliance with the regulatory framework. However, it is also important to evaluate whether the practices and procedures of charity regulators are effective within the broader context of charity accountability. This paper aims to explore charity accountability from the perspective of charity regulators. In common law countries, the charity regulator has oversight over the charity sector and, therefore, has the opportunity to enhance charity accountability. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper provides an international comparative study of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and England and Wales, all of which share a common law heritage. This study demonstrates how the state regulators in each country have applied different mechanisms of charity accountability by institutionalising the norms and standards required from charities. By identifying and comparing the countries, this paper reveals whether some institutional practices by some regulators have been more effective than others in bringing charities to account.
Open Access
Network Structure and Collaborative Performance Among Environmental NGOs in China

January 30, 2025

Yan Yang, Shuai Cao, Hongtao Yi

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Although the significance of NGO cooperation has been recognized in various studies, little is known about how NGOs in authoritarian states engage in collaboration, and few studies examine the outcomes of NGO collaboration from a network perspective. This article utilizes a questionnaire-based method to gather data on 103 environmental NGOs (ENGOs) in China. First, we confirm the existence of collaborative networks among NGOs in 19 provinces and municipalities in China. Then, informed by the social capital theory, we investigate the impact of bridging and bonding structures on network outcomes. The results show that bridging network structures can promote the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental NGOs in collaboration. In contrast, while bonding structures can also improve cooperative efficiency, they are not always effective. Overall, this study highlights the crucial role of central actors in collaborative networks, enriching existing literature and providing valuable insights for policymakers and NGO managers.
Open Access
Standing Up for Nonprofits: Advocacy on Federal, Sector-wide Issues

January 24, 2025

Jennifer E. Mosley

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Open Access
The War in Ukraine, Volunteers and Non-profit Organizations: Regulatory and Law-Related Challenges

January 22, 2025

Mariia Kostiv, Volodymyr Kochyn, Giedre Lideikyte Huber, Giulia Neri-Castracane

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The military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022, and the further introduction of martial law affected all spheres of Ukrainian society, including the non-profit sector’s activities. As a result, civil society institutions were forced to adapt to new public needs, as well as to emerging security challenges and new regulatory restrictions. In this research note, we examine on one side, how the martial law and previous legislation (and the related societal upheavals) have shaped the new roles and functioning of non-profit organizations in Ukraine and, on the other side, what the challenges to volunteers’ and domestic non-profit organizations’ activities in Ukraine deriving from these regulations and legislations. The identification of these challenges ensues from a survey of the Ukrainian non-profit sector as well as an analysis of Ukrainian regulation, statistical data, and recent scientific papers. Overall, we highlight a key discrepancy between Ukrainians’ concept of charitable activities as well as humanitarian aid and the Western approach to the same concepts and suggest regulatory improvements to address other challenges identified to facilitate philanthropic activities in Ukraine.
Open Access
Social Economy and Public Private Partnerships: Analysis, Drivers, and Prospects from the Local Level for Territorial Development

January 14, 2025

Belen Catala, Teresa Savall, Rafael Chaves-Ávila

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Public private partnerships (PPPs) have traditionally foster collaboration between public administrations and private actors in terms of efficiency and risk sharing. Recent approaches emphasize aligning PPPs with sustainability and social value goals. This study explores PPPs with social economy entities at the local level and its impact to the territory by examining cases in energy, housing, and digitalization in the region of Valencian Community (Spain). The research identifies drivers, benefits, and obstacles in its implementation, showcasing pioneering cases as models for sustainable growth and achieving a green and digital transition. It highlights positive territorial impacts, the promotion of social innovation and the alignment with Sustainable Development Goals.
Open Access
Civil Society in Transition: The Case of Germany in the Field of Education

December 20, 2024

Jana Priemer

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The field of education has undergone a profound transformation in recent decades due to shifts in public governance in numerous Western countries. This transformation has been particularly evident in the realm of civil society organizations (CSOs) operating in the education sector. This article illustrates this phenomenon in the context of Germany, where education has evolved into a quantitatively significant and highly diversified field of CSO activities within a relatively brief period of three decades. The study is based on the theoretical assumption that the flourishing of CSOs depends on conditions set by the government. It follows that changing educational governance has led not only to the prospering of civil society but also to structural changes of CSOs in the field of education. Therefore, it outlines the main developments in educational governance in Germany that resulted in increased collaboration between CSOs and schools. Analyses of a dataset of 6,334 German CSOs demonstrate that the field of CSOs in education is currently pluralized and diverse, comprising service providers, support organizations, and advocacy organizations. New collaborations between CSOs and the state result in the adaptation of these organizations to new tasks and professionalization. Nevertheless, CSOs representing a novel type of civil society actor have also emerged. This article contributes to a broader discussion of structural change in civil society in the context of new public governance.
Open Access
Government-Foundations Partnerships: Rationales and Influence on Policy

December 16, 2024

Galia Feit

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This study explores the perceptions of senior professionals from government ministries and philanthropic foundations regarding the potential to influence public policies through regulated “joint venture” partnerships. Through interviews, the study highlights the reflections of these stakeholders on precautions to prevent disproportionate influence by philanthropic foundations. The findings indicate that both sectors recognize the complementary advantages each party brings to the partnership, including flexibility and innovation from foundations and the authority and resources of the government. However, the study also underscores the need for further research to clearly define and evaluate the concerns and boundaries for influence. By providing insights into the dynamics of these partnerships, the study contributes to understanding the balance of power and the mechanisms required to ensure ethical partnerships.
Open Access
Is Government Policy a Barrier or Facilitator to the Work of Place-Based Community-led Nonprofits?

December 5, 2024

Michael J. Roy, Jack Rendall, Emma Clewett, Julie McMullan, Rosie Read, Jennifer McLean, Liam O’Hare, Marcello Bertotti, Mike Kelly, Rachel Baker

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In this paper we explore whether government policy acts as a barrier or facilitator to the work of nonprofits, and in what ways (if at all) different policy contexts influence the work of place-based community-led nonprofit organizations working to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities. Employing ‘abductive’ analysis of qualitative data collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 20 non-profit leaders located in different parts of the UK, we found that government policy can act both as barrier and facilitator at various times. There is often a disconnection between policy intent and the realities of local context, funding arrangements for nonprofits was often dependent on developing and maintaining successful relationships, and there were clear tensions between the pursuit of mission and alignment to government priorities.
Open Access
What Millennials Want from Their Nonprofit Workplaces

November 22, 2024

Samantha Plotner

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This research article focuses on how nonprofits can recruit and retain Millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1996, by examining what they want in a nonprofit workplace. Millennials are the largest generation in the American workforce, so their workplace needs are critical for employers to understand. As this paper will explore, Millennials are advocating for the types of changes that benefit all workers, regardless of generation, such as living wages, comprehensive and affordable health coverage, schedule or location flexibility, and better management practices.
Open Access
The Role of Healthcare Conversion Foundations in Investing in Population Health

November 20, 2024

Casey P. Balio, Nicole Galler, Michael B. Meit

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Healthcare conversion foundations (CF) are charitable entities with endowments of varying sizes that are created as the result of a sale of a hospital or health system. Limited current research focuses on the impacts of CF grant-making and philanthropy within the communities they serve. In this study, we use a panel analysis of CF financial information from 2011 to 2021 to characterize CF investments by geography, and as compared to required tax-exempt hospital community benefit spending. Of the 51 foundations included in the analysis, CFs invested over $382 million into the communities they served through contributions, gifts, and grants in fiscal year 2021 alone. On average, CFs invested $20.21 per-capita on contributions, gifts, and grants in their communities, with CFs that serve non-metropolitan areas investing significantly more per-capita than those that serve only metropolitan areas ($32.97 vs $10.09, respectively), although non-metropolitan CFs may represent a larger proportion of overall community charitable investment as compared to metropolitan CFs within a given community. In conjunction with prior evidence, findings from the current study suggest that CF investments in the communities they serve appear to be on a similar scale as community benefit spending of tax-exempt hospitals, although there is significant heterogeneity in spending across both CFs and tax-exempt hospitals. Further understanding of the impacts of conversion foundations within the communities they serve and how they may change over time in response to changing communities, health care context, and regulations is important to understanding the scope and impact of philanthropic funding for population health.
Open Access
How Effective Are Civil Society Promotion Laws? Mixed Patterns from 3 Mexican States

November 1, 2024

Lina Ochoa-Carreno

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Policies constraining nonprofit and civil society activity have been documented in multiple countries. A less widespread phenomenon, but one that is also worth exploring, is the enactment of laws intended to promote civil society. What happens when laws are enacted to promote these organizations? How effective are these laws? Building on insights from the literature on nonprofit formation and organizational ecology, this paper adopts a quasi-experimental approach, to analyze the effect of passing a state-level law of Civil Society (CSO) sector promotion on the number of newly-constituted CSO organizations. Using data from Mexico, between 1990 and 2018, the paper uses the synthetic control method to examine this effect, separately, in 3 Mexican states, against a pool of 13 states which had not enacted a law of this kind during the period under study. The results show quite different effects across states, and point to the need of exploring in depth the policy process surrounding the passing of the law. These mixed patterns also call for further examination of the broader context where CSO laws take effect, and the incentives and disincentives local actors may perceive in the content of the laws.
Open Access
Does Rigorous Government Regulation on Nonprofits Improve Their Outputs? Evidence from China

October 21, 2024

Cuili Lyu, Shun Xie, Ying Li

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This study mainly takes China as an example to explore the logic between government regulation and outputs of nonprofit organizations in the context of authoritarian countries. Based on the theory of embeddedness and organizational legitimacy, using the panel data of 29 mainland provinces from 2010 to 2019, and applying the fixed effect model, it is found that government regulation has a positive effect on outputs of non-profit organizations. However, it is also found that there exists a single threshold, only government regulation intensity keeps in a certain range, the positive effect is made. Further research finds that government regulation positively impacts nonprofit outputs through encouraging social donations. Our findings fill the gap of exploring the logic between government regulation and nonprofits outputs, giving some enlightenment to regulators of similar regimes countries. We also have improved the current government regulation theory based on legitimacy and embeddedness theory empirically, extended and enriched embeddedness theory.
Open Access
Social Capital Inside Out: An Empirical Examination of the Relationship Between Organizational Social Capital and Communal Social Capital in Public Organizations

October 18, 2024

Sefit Hashavia-Tzuri, Eran Vigoda-Gadot, Amir Hefetz

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This study investigates the effect of organizational social capital (OSC) in non-profit organizations on communal social capital (CSC) in the communities where these organizations operate. The study has two goals: First, to theoretically establish rational for the relationship between internal organizational social capital (IOSC) and external organizational social capital (EOSC), especially with relation to public administration agencies in liberal democracies where social capital plays a major role in public policy. Second, to empirically analyze the reciprocal relationship between EOSC, CSC, and IOSC which constitutes an important product of the optimal public administration model in modern nations. A theoretical model was developed to study these relations and suggest several hypotheses. The field study was conducted in 72 community centers operated by the Israel Association of Community Centers. Participants were 1,015 employees (72 general managers, 501 middle managers, and 442 line employees) and 1,816 community members. The findings demonstrate partial support for the relationship between IOSC and EOSC and indicate that IOSC has a moderating influence on the relationship between the EOSC and CSC. Implications and suggestions for future studies in public organizations and their social and administrative sphere are highlighted.
Open Access
The Growth of Food Aid in Sweden – How Demand and Supply are Transforming Charitable Organisations

October 2, 2024

Johan Vamstad, Elinn Leo Sandberg, Anna Angelin

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The purpose of this article is to describe and analyse the growth in food aid in Sweden, and how it affects the non-profit organisations providing it. The particular type of food aid in focus is large-scale collaborations between charitable non-profit organisations and the food industry, through which food surplus is turned into food aid for people in food insecurity. The first examples of such food aid emerged less than 10 years ago in Sweden, but it has since experienced a dramatic growth. The development in Sweden follows a pattern known from many other European countries, with the exception that it is going faster, as if Sweden is catching up. This makes food aid in Sweden an interesting case for an empirical study. The article is based on an interview study performed in 2022. Staff and managers at two large, national organisations were interviewed about how the rapid growth in food aid has affected their work and the institutional logics of their organisations. They also provided their thoughts on the role of food aid in Swedish society. One of the main findings is that the growth in food aid bring both the benefit of more people in need receiving help, and the challenge of strain as well as concerns regarding ethics and mission drift in the organisations. Another finding is that the growth is driven by both a growth in demand for food aid, but also by a growth in supply of food from the charities and their corporate partnerships.
Open Access
Going Around in Circles? A Review Essay of Reimagining Nonprofits: Sector Theory in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Ewa Witesman and Curtis Child, Cambridge University Press, 2024

October 2, 2024

Helmut K. Anheier

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Open Access
In Search of Systemic Impact: The Cooperative Assistance Fund and Program-Related Investments

September 10, 2024

Peter Weber

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Scholars investigate philanthropy’s ability to effect change but pay less attention to strategies changing practices within the philanthropic sector. The Cooperative Assistance Fund (CAF) pioneered program-related investments (PRIs) as a philanthropic strategy that merged commercial and philanthropic logics, thus moving beyond traditional grantmaking practices. Adopting an institutional work perspective, the study describes the types of institutional work that promote a new philanthropic model. Historical evidence shows that CAF’s leadership reframed philanthropic approaches (framing work) and developed strategies influencing policy (political work), promoting PRIs (cultural work), and supporting interested foundations (technical work), but failed to develop a clear identity around these strategies (internal practice work). Taking advantage of historical methods, the study historically embeds the diverse types of institutional work that were employed, showing how these practices were often more reactive than proactive. The study contributes to our understanding of PRIs in linking their limited use to tensions between different institutional logics, while paradoxically contributing to the establishment of market-based approaches.
Open Access
How did the Pandemic Crisis Affect the Financial, Economic, and Social Performance of Social Enterprises? Insights from Italian Social Cooperatives

September 4, 2024

Alessandro Montrone, Elizabeth A.M. Searing, Simone Poledrini

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The COVID-19 crisis affected the world’s economic and social system in many ways. Social enterprises (SEs) play a necessary role in delivering social value during such crises (Bacq, S., and G. T. Lumpkin. 2020. “Social Entrepreneurship and COVID‐19.” Journal of Management Studies 58 (1): 285–8; Sarma, S. K., K. K. Kumar, and S. K. Mishra. 2022. “Strategic Response to COVID-19: How Do Social Enterprises Navigate Crisis Situations?” Social Enterprise Journal 18 (4): 626–42; Weaver, R. L. 2020. “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Social Enterprise Sector.” Journal of Social Entrepreneurship 14 (2): 177–85). However, there is still a lack of empirical evidence that analyzes the impact of the pandemic on the performance of SEs and how that performance differs from traditional, non-social companies. Therefore, the purpose of this contribution is to fill this gap. This study compares two types of organizations in the same Italian context: social cooperatives and private limited companies. We present and compare their performance using ratio analysis in a three-dimensional perspective: economic, financial, and social, where the latter concerns the ability to create and distribute value-added to stakeholders (Riahi-Belkaoui, A. 1996. Performance Results in Value Added Reporting. Westport: Quorum Books), with particular emphasis on distributional fairness (Haller, A., C. J. van Staden, and C. Landis. 2018. “Value Added as part of Sustainability Reporting: Reporting on Distributional Fairness or Obfuscation?” Journal of Business Ethics 152: 763–81). In addition to policy recommendations, this study provides guidance on how to use existing accounting data to approximate social elements in business.
Open Access
Understanding Environmental NGOs’ Inclusiveness: A Comparative Analysis of Two Australian Climate Action Groups

September 2, 2024

Patrick Chang

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It is a perennial challenge for different political organisations, including environmental NGOs (ENGOs), to accommodate diverse social and political groups’ interests, opinions, and experiences. Without sufficient inclusiveness, ENGOs struggle to help create social and political change at a much faster pace, with climate action in Australia being a key example. In this regard, this paper argues that inclusiveness needs to encompass three dimensions, diversity, equity, and procedural justice, which are critical to managing internal tensions, disagreements, and conflicts. Evidence from two different ENGOs, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Extinction Rebellion Australia (XR Aus), shows that despite different types of organisational structures and resource availability, there are different challenges and opportunities for the two ENGOs in trying to establish and maintain higher inclusiveness. While diversity remains challenging to both groups, XR Aus’s self-organising and decentralisation have much easier access to decision-making and autonomous participation than ACF. However, it remains to be seen if XR Aus could harass its organising features to establish and maintain a higher level of procedural justice. These findings are relevant not only to issues in climate action problems but also to other collective action problems such as ethnics equality, domestic violence, income disparity, and gun control.
Open Access
True Grit: Exploring Nonprofit Sector Resilience Following Economic Recessions

August 14, 2024

Xintong Chen, Kerry Kuenzi, Lindsey Evans, Amanda Stewart

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The nonprofit sector has been portrayed as resilient, describing a sector that persists despite challenges. We investigate nonprofit resiliency by examining how organizational characteristics, strategies, and community factors equipped organizations to recover following economic recessions. Utilizing a fixed effects panel regression model, our study covers a period of 29 years (1989–2018), encompassing three economic crises in the United States. The primary focus is examining the sector’s financial health and the resilience of the constituent organizations. Our findings describe a sector buoyed by the resilience of larger and older organizations, earned revenue, and contribution revenue, as well as the role of community factors in influencing the sector’s resilience. This study examines a wider timeframe and employs a more expansive sampling approach compared to previous studies on nonprofit resilience. In doing so, it contributes valuable insights to our understanding of the resilient sector .
Open Access
A Commentary on Nonprofit Policy Development and Reform: The City and County of Denver’s Investment in the Wellbeing of the Nonprofit Sector

August 8, 2024

Julia Mahoney, Wil Alston, Ken Seeley

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Governments and nonprofits partner with one another to provide services, with governments typically the funders of services and nonprofits the deliverers of these services. The City and County of Denver, similar to cities around the country, rely on nonprofits to provide vital services to their communities for a multitude of reasons. For Denver, this is particularly evident in the extensive annual funding that the City and County provides to nonprofits. However, even as they receive government funding for their service delivery, nonprofits regularly report significant challenges in their partnerships with government. This commentary reviews the current state of Denver’s nonprofit sector and its government-nonprofit partnerships, and suggests process and policy recommendations to strengthen the nonprofit sector and its partnerships with government.
Open Access
Philanthropy, the 2030 Agenda and UN Diplomacy

May 24, 2024

Raymond Saner, Lichia Yiu

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An increasing number of philanthropic organizations (inter alias, POs) are contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs and are involved with the multi-stakeholder process at the UN and other international Organisations. POs’ interest in participating in the SDG process has over the years increased due to the multiple crises that the world has to face caused by pandemics, war, food insecurity, poverty, and climate change. The interventions of POs are in general greatly appreciated but also questioned by some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) who have some reservations about the intentions of POs. Within the family of UN agencies, several International Organizations (IOs) welcome POs and provide mechanisms of engagement (UN, UNDESA, UNDP, WHO). Some POs are taking part in the implementation of the SDGs and the related UN processes and are creating intermediary actors or organizations and platforms for greater scale and impact. Some POs are interested in creating a joint representation at the UN in the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). This new development is the subject matter of this short commentary.

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Stefan Toepler, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, USA
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Mirae Kim, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, USA
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The senior editorial board consists of twenty distinguished senior scholars recognized nationally and internationally as nonprofit policy experts in their disciplines. Each has a particular specialization, such as tax policy, transnational policy issues, or arts and culture policy. Senior editors will work with the editor-in-chief and managing editor to identify, recruit, and review papers reflecting each institution’s specialization. They will also be encouraged to submit articles to the journal.

Helmut Anheier, Hertie School in Berlin & University of California, Los Angeles
Andrea Bassi, University of Bologna
Elizabeth T. Boris, Urban Institute
Gemma Donnelly-Cox, Trinity College
Philippe Eynaud, Sorbonne Graduate Business School, France
James Ferris, University of Southern California
Robert Fischer, Case Western Reserve University
Beth Gazley, Indiana University, Bloomington
Benjamin Gidron, School of Business Administration, College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon LeZion, Israel
Virginia A. Hodgkinson, Georgetown University
Kevin Kearns, University of Pittsburgh
Michael Layton, Grand Valley State University, USA
Eliza Lee, Hong Kong University
Michael Meyer, Vienna University of Economics
Myles McGregor-Lowndes, Queensland University of Technology
Marta Reuter, Stockholm University
Mark Rosenman, Caring to Change
Michael Roy, Glasgow Caledonian University
Shariq Siddiqui, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
James Allen Smith, Rockefeller Archives Center
Melissa Stone, University of Minnesota
Simon Teasdale, Queen’s University Belfast
Isabel Vidal, University of Barcelona
Filip Wijkstrӧm, Stockholm School of Economics
Naoto Yamauchi, Osaka University
Dennis R. Young, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA

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Social Sciences Political Science Political Science, other

Journal information

Additional information

eISSN:

2154-3348

Language:

English

Publisher:

De Gruyter

Additional information

First published:

January 1, 2010

Publication Frequency:

4 issues per year

eISSN: 2154-3348

Creative Commons

BY 4.0

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