Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons^™

Lessons From The Assessment For Learning Project: Strategies For Building An Authentic Learning Community, Heather Lewis-Charp, Daniela Berman, Sarah Lench, Tony Siddall

The Foundation Review

This article explores findings from an evaluation of the Assessment for Learning Project, a grantee engagement strategy led by the Center for Innovation in Education focused on creating a learning community founded in continuous reflection and safety for risk-taking. The article shares the project’s model and approach, grounded in the core design elements of a field-facing learning agenda, grantmaking that leads with learning, and collective leadership.

This article highlights the Assessment for Learning Project’s practices, such as a Request for Learning rather than traditional Request for Proposals; a requirement that grantees provide formative feedback to each other; and public demonstrations …

Coherent Assistance In Education Improvement: How Foundations Can Help, Ann Jaquith, Rosa Chavez

The Foundation Review

Philanthropic organizations are experimenting with ways to support capacity building in order to scale innovations and leverage funding for greater social impact. Increasingly, philanthropies are also attending to their own organizational needs for learning in order to inform strategy, shape future work, and measure effectiveness.

This article shares the lessons of the Aligned Partners Project, a three-year study of a foundation-funded interorganizational collaboration to align the work of three technical assistance organizations to meet the needs of one school district. It identifies challenges to providing coherent assistance as well as grantmaking practices that could address them.

A foundation seeking to …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Turning Changemaking Inward: How One Health Philanthropy Transformed Its Grantmaking Approach To Drive Deeper Impact, Christina Ellis, Laura Pinsoneault, Sarah Deering, Jesse Ehrenfeld, Erin Fabian, Cheryl Maurana

The Foundation Review

In 2014, the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment made a significant shift in focus to supporting adaptive rather than programmatic solutions to address critical health issues, and adopted a new approach that emphasized engagement with key stakeholders, recognizing the importance of contribution over attribution and requiring a long-term perspective on outcomes.

The endowment identified three new “changemaker” roles for itself, alongside new funding mechanisms and a set of conditions where positive change could be supported to influence health. While changemaking began as a description of the endowment’s strategic direction, today this philanthropic philosophy permeates all that …

Women’S Grantmaking For Economic Security: The Work Of One Coalition, Elizabeth May Gillespie

The Foundation Review

Philanthropy has historically been an avenue for citizens to pursue positive social change, yet little is known about what foundations are doing to foster economic security for women. This article seeks to help bridge this gap between theory and practice through an examination of one type of philanthropic organization — women’s grantmaking funds.

Focusing on the work of Prosperity Together, a coalition of 30 of women’s grantmaking funds dedicated to advancing women’s economic security, this article explores what the funds are doing to support this work. It draws on data from a landscape scan of the coalition’s members as well …

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

The Experiences Of A Foundation With A Limited Life: Benefits And Challenges, Lynda Mansson

The Foundation Review

This article discusses the benefits and drawbacks of a limited-life foundation’s philanthropy practice. The strengths, including a sharpened strategic focus and sense of urgency, and the challenges, such as ensuring impact and dealing with grantee dependency, are also relevant when closing a program. Drawing on reflections from the director general of the MAVA Foundation and learnings from foundations that have recently closed, this article also discusses how to prepare for the end date of a limited-life foundation. MAVA, a Swiss-based grantmaking foundation for 25 years, has a planned end date of 2022. The article features key lessons for foundations considering …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

A Canary In The Payout-Rate Coal Mine, John C. Alexander Jr.

The Foundation Review

In this article, we create a capital markets-based indicator to trigger when a discussion about changing portfolio payout rates may be appropriate. Although the payout rate is often a calendar agenda item for foundations and endowments, volatility in capital markets may cause a deluge of ad hoc payout discussions that may decrease the effectiveness of investment committees.

Recent market performance provides a poor foundation for decisions related to a sustainable payout. The most sustainable portion of the investment return is the portfolio yield. We construct a metric using equity and bond market yields as a quantitative leading indicator of when …

Building For Culture: How Municipal Ownership Of Cultural Facilities Influences Annual Arts Funding In American Cities, Adam M. Sachs

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis explores how local government support for arts and culture varies across 24 American cities. It has proven to be challenging for researchers to accurately measure municipal arts support. Research on cultural policy has also often focused on the federal level, despite total city expenditures far exceeding national or state government support. This thesis attempts to take an accurate pulse of city expenditures in 2017 and correlates those spending levels to the variation in city ownership of arts facilities. Rooted in the historical perspectives of the ‘new institutionalism’ and path-dependency, this paper argues that past decisions about taking ownership …

The Mental Health Of Black Men: Stabilizing Trauma With Emotional Intelligence, Davis Brandford

School of Professional Studies

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the impact of historical trauma and barriers on African-American males and the effects of emotional intelligence in reducing traumatic experiences. This research study is based on previous research and studies that explores the historical review of African- American oppression, trauma in black males, and mental health in the African American community. This study will utilize the historical trauma and emotional intelligence theories to explore barriers that African Americans have experienced over time and the role emotional intelligence can play to reduce trauma. It also explores the relevance of historical …

Crisis Communication And Executive Leadership: Ethical Shortcomings In Government, Daniel Davidoff

School of Professional Studies

This research thesis project is an analysis of how and why governments fail in their attempts at crisis communication. The hypotheses tested are: there exists a negative correlation between unethical leadership and successful crisis communication practices. And governments are more likely to experience these failures due to ethical disconnects in modern politics. Research includes a review of relevant academic literature regarding crisis communication theory, as well as the ethical framework that can be applied to that theory. Cases considered are Hurricane Katrina, the choking death of Eric Garner, and the COVID-19 global pandemic. The research project concludes with a recommendation …

Becoming A Trauma Informed Care Organization, Katie Robery

School of Professional Studies

The Brockton Area Mutli Services Inc or BAMSI is a private, non-profit human services organization providing services to adults and children with developmental disabilities, mental illness, behavioral health, and public health needs. Founded in 1975, BAMSI is in the business of “bringing people and services together.” BAMSI transforms lives by building the capacity of individuals, families, organizations, and communities to learn, thrive, and achieve their goals. BAMSI services promote the recovery, resiliency, and self-determination of the people we serve. As a human services leader, we strive to be the provider of choice. (Duffy, 2019) With an emphasis on respect and …

Diversity And Inclusion In The Workplace; Benefits, Challenges And Strategies For Success, Margaret Leone

School of Professional Studies

In this case study I have explored the topic of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and learned how it can transform a business. When D&I is a serious business strategy supported by senior management it can help recruit and retain top talent, increase profits, and unleash creativity among other benefits. It is important to have leadership that is inclusive so they can set the tone for their staff

This case study evaluates the D&I culture at The Children’s Study Home (CHS) and explores best practices for improvement. CHS is a non-profit human service agency in Western MA, that’s mission …

Young People, Social Media, And Impacts On Well-Being, Andreana Nop

School of Professional Studies

Millennials and Generation Z were born into an age where social media and digital technology have been integrated in nearly all aspects of their lives. While social media has proven to be a valuable communication tool in connecting with each other and sharing information, the long-term psychosocial effects are beginning to become more apparent as social media matures. This study analyzes what these effects are and how communication is impacted for these young people. It questions how young people can leverage social media and decrease harm. The study will be conducted through a literature review and analysis. Its goal is …

Managing Burnout And Secondary Traumatic Stress In Human Service Organizations, Naomi Ingram

School of Professional Studies

This Case Study explores how burnout and secondary traumatic stress impact staffing, service delivery, and organizational effectiveness in a human service agency. The Case Study is focused around Ascentria Care Alliance’s Children & Family Services in Massachusetts, which encompasses three foster care programs: the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM), Division of Children’s Services (DCS), and Intensive Foster Care (IFC) programs. Both individual and organizational approaches are needed to most effectively address burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Individual workers need to build resilience factors such as self-compassion and mindfulness, set appropriate boundaries with clients, engage in ongoing training, support, consultation, and supervision, …

Rest Homes: Their Value On Massachusetts Healthcare Continuum, Ronald Pawelski

School of Professional Studies

In Massachusetts, rest homes provide cost effective care for elderly residents in a community setting. Rest homes, however, are not well-understood and the rest home industry itself suffers greatly, not only from a lack of understanding of the services they provide, but also from the strain on their financial resources due to both competition from other healthcare options and insufficient reimbursement rates for residents’ care.

The paper explores the financial challenges facing the industry and outlines the data that speaks to the value of the rest home care option for both the residents themselves and Massachusetts state healthcare budget. It …

A Case Study On The Best Practices Of The Facilitating Organization For Peer Recovery Support Services In The State Of New Hampshire, Maggie Ringey

School of Professional Studies

In working with the Facilitating Organization for Peer Recovery Support Services through Harbor Homes, I have found that the Recovery Community Organizations that receive support through the FO provide valuable services that help individuals that struggle with substance use disorder achieve and maintain long term sobriety and recovery. The RCOs throughout New Hampshire bridge gaps in services and treatments that are left untouched by traditional clinical methods and through regular check ins, participants at the RCOs have reported that the services provided resulted in positive outcomes in their lives. Throughout the course of this research, I found that the RCOs …

Elder Isolation In Immigrant Communities, Jessica Da Silva

School of Professional Studies

This paper examined loneliness, as a measurement of perceived social isolation, in older immigrant adults. Previous research shows that older adults are more likely to experience social isolation and loneliness. Both of which have a direct correlation with their overall health (Wilson & Molton, 2010, Cacioppo et al., 2002) and mortality rates (Holt-Lunstad et al, 2015). Another international study found that immigrants in particular are at a higher risk for experiencing loneliness (Government of Canada, 2018). In this study, 35 immigrants and non-immigrants participants answered a survey which included 20 questions from the UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3 (Russel, 1996). …

Dallas, Tx: The Staggering Wealth Gap, Macy Golman

School of Professional Studies

In the summer of 2019, I had the privilege of serving as an AmeriCorps member with an organization called Equal Heart. One of Equal Heart’s main initiatives was to provide meals to children in underserved populations, to make sure that without school in session, these children would still be receiving food. Unfortunately, in many instances, without these meals, many of the children we served would likely not know when they would be eating their next fulfilling meal. There were certain pockets of Dallas that we would travel to everyday, places that were fifteen minutes maximum from my house, but places …

Examination Of Online Voter Registration Within Non-Profit Organizations Post 1993, Jonathan Mcnicholes

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Voting is a key eliminate to the validity of our democracy. Nonprofit organizations are one of the fastest growing organization structures within our society, with growing opportunities to engage voters in pursuit of their goals along with enhanced pressure following the movements surrounding the 1993 voter registration act. In this Thesis I analysis what categories of nonprofit organizations promote voter registration using their websites, to order to establish which organizations are utilizing their resources to promote their goals. The data I use is taken from the Washington Representatives studies which consists of 43,012 nonprofit organizations within Washington DC. My research …

And Lettuce Is Nonanimal: Toward A Positive Theory Of Voluntary Action, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Much recent conceptual and theoretical effort to identify and define the kinds of voluntary action that take place outside households, economic markets and governments has a consistent emphasis on negation: It seems to define these matters by what they are not: not for profit, or nonprofit, nongovernmental, unproductive, inefficient, examples of contract failure, market failure, government failure and more. This paper is a beginning effort to shift the emphasis to the positive and the describe and explain what voluntary action is and what it consists of. It proposes the beginnings of an economics of common goods production, and differentiates such …

Lindblom County: Philanthropic Insufficiency, Amateurism And Paternalism, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In this fictionalized case study, a group of friends from graduate school compose a community elite with responsibility for human services decision-making in rural Lindblom County. They must deal with issues of insufficient resources, amateurism among other community officials, and challenges posed by opposing and emergent groups of aspiring community leaders. Discussion questions and questions of strategy and calculation are posed for further examination of the issues raised.

Examining The Role Of Environmental Nonprofits In Shoreline Management For Coastal Resilience In Virginia, Taiwo Oguntuyo, Ogechukwu Agim, Ren-Neasha Blake, Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf, Marina Saitgalina, Michelle Covi

College of Business (Strome) Posters

Environmental Nonprofits emerged over the years to attend to the environmental needs of communities and individuals, as well as address environmental issues that concern the public. These issues are usually those that have been neglected, given insufficient attention, or cannot be singularly handled by the government. In advocating for coastal resilience, environmental nonprofits have been identified in the literature as actors with critical roles in addressing coastal issues such as sea-level rise, flooding and shoreline management. In recent times, shoreline management has emerged as one of the foremost areas of focus expedient for the achievement of coastal resilience, and the …

Prescribing Public-Private Partnerships To Global Health Initiatives, Elizabeth Rhoads

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For six weeks I served as a finance intern with the Toilet Board Coalition (TBC) and created a Portfolio Presentation to deliver to TBC’s corporate board members in May. With my background in Public Health and interest in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, I was interested in learning how cross-sector partnerships can help accelerate global health development. My internship with TBC provided me with valuable firsthand experience in my topic of research, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), which I was able to compare alongside a formal literature review. In this research paper I combine my research with my internship experience to …

An Overview Of Supply-Chain Logistics In International Humanitarian Aid: Finding Challenges And Solutions, Arjun Ganga

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Humanitarian supply chain logistics concern the flow of goods and services in public health delivery. Such supply chains operate in both general development contexts and in acute crisis situations. In this paper, I give an overview of supply chains and then explore some of the challenges and potential solutions in delivering goods and services effectively and efficiently. Specifically, I analyze procurement, maintaining quality goods, incentivizing countries to act, collaboration, verification, possible losses in the supply chain, and ensuring appropriate use of product. I conclude that although humanitarian supply chains pose unique challenges, there is surprising efficiency in the system. This …

Ensuring Accountability To Affected Populations In Humanitarian Settings: "Holding Humanitarian Organizations Accountable To People.", Jazmin Williamson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Aim: This research aims to examine what guidelines and regulations help ensure that humanitarian organizations are held accountable to their beneficiary populations.

Background: Although people have always been the focus of humanitarian aid, their voice and participation didn't become a centralized part of the conversation until the 1990s and later gained real traction in the early 2000s. During these times, many new foundational documents were created to highlight the "centrality of local participation in aid." Among the documents that enshrined this new principle of population participation included the 1992 Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent …

Human-Centered Design And Foundation Staff: A Case Study In Engaging Grant Beneficiaries, Nicholas G. Randell, Megan Macdavey

The Foundation Review

As part of ongoing efforts to engage grant partner voices in their work with young people who have intellectual disabilities, program staff at the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation have explored the notion of being physically proximate to these young people as a way to more authentically listen to them and their families — those for whose benefit the foundation’s grant dollars are ultimately intended.

The staff’s most recent engagement strategy looked at a way of solving problems and designing solutions for people that puts those people at the focal point of the process: human-centered design. For the Tower Foundation, …

Using Social Network Analysis To Understand The Perceived Role And Influence Of Foundations, Todd L. Ely, Katie Edwards, Rachel Hogg Graham, Danielle Varda

The Foundation Review

Collaboration between foundations and other organizations is critical to the success of foundation-supported initiatives, but the power dynamics among foundations, grantees, and their broader communities can be challenging. Social network analysis is a tool to assess collaboration among organizations and its outcomes. A unique yet often underemphasized benefit of this method of analysis is its focus on dyadic relationships between organizations, which presents an opportunity for foundations to evaluate their role in a network and how they are perceived by the very organizations whose missions they support.

This article leverages a social network analysis of community partners focused on addressing …