Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons^™

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Teri Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Partnerships, Paradigms, And Social-System Change, Patricia Jessup, Beverly Parsons, Marah Moore

The Foundation Review

Social systems structures stem from underlying paradigms that are made up of beliefs, perspectives, and assumptions. Changing paradigms is a powerful way to change social systems. Such change is difficult and old paradigms keep pulling systems back to their former state.

This article examines three types of partnerships that focus on these deep structures and paradigms, and that go beyond implementing a project or initiative to create fundamental, lasting change in the underlying beliefs, perspectives, and assumptions on which such systems are grounded.

The functions of each type – project focused, formal-systems-focused, and community-grounded partnerships – are identified, along with …

Building A Field: Blue Shield Of California Foundation's Strong Field Project Leaves A Legacy And Valuable Lessons, Hanh Cao Yu, Jennifer Henderson-Frakes, Lucia Corral Peña

The Foundation Review

Relatively few comprehensive evaluations have assessed the principles, elements, and impacts of philanthropic organizations’ field-building endeavors. To help fill this gap, this article shares the results of a five-year evaluation of a large-scale field-building initiative: Blue Shield of California Foundation’s Strong Field Project.

The project’s goal was to strengthen the domestic violence field by equipping it with a critical mass of diverse individuals and organizations to lead a stronger movement to end domestic violence in California. Its approach aimed to strengthen field leadership and organizations, and to create vibrant collaborative networks.

Evaluation data show that the project achieved much of …

Developing A Framework For Grant Evaluation: Integrating Accountability And Learning, Shelley Scherer

The Foundation Review

Despite broad consensus among foundations on the value of capturing grant outcomes, there is no consensus on what to evaluate and how to define success, which makes it difficult for staff and grantees to navigate and apply multiple interpretations of evaluation “best practices.”

This article presents three questions designed to help foundations develop a framework for grant evaluation that reflects their beliefs about accountability and learning, balances evaluation costs and benefits, acknowledges the diversity of grants within the foundation’s portfolio, and allows their grantees to understand the foundation’s expectations for evaluation reporting.

A key takeaway from this article, drawn from …

Enhancing Foundation Capacity: The Role Of The Senior Leadership Team, Melissa A. Berman

The Foundation Review

This article examines the issue of foundation organization design and assesses how foundation leaders might think about their organizations as institutions.

Noting that any organization structure inhabited by human beings creates silos and territorial issues, foundation leaders are increasingly using two primary mechanisms to minimize these artificial barriers and maximize collaboration: enhanced headquarters functions to help integrate across the organization, and senior leadership teams.

This article reviews the structure, roles, responsibilities, and value-add of senior leadership teams at 19 foundations. The senior leadership team plays a crucial role in foundations, functioning as an advisory group to the president and chief …

Key Ingredients For School Food Systems: An Evaluation Of The Orfalea Foundation’S School Food Initiative, Holly Carmichael Djang, Barbara Andersen, Tatiana Masters, Jan Vanslyke, Blair Beadnell

The Foundation Review

In 2007, the Orfalea Foundation launched a nine-year strategic effort aimed at empowering public school districts in California’s Santa Barbara County. The purpose was to implement food-service operations that offered nourishing meals and to create a culture that prioritized the health and wellness of children and families.

The initiative, which involved 84 schools and more than 50,000 students, assessed the capacity of the county’s school food services, including existing skill levels and equipment needs. Striving to tailor programming to specific needs, the foundation emphasized stakeholder involvement throughout the process.

The foundation took a number of steps to understand the value …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Critical Team-Building Tools In Philanthropy, Ali Webb, Michael F. Bell

The Foundation Review

Using the experience of a team at a large, U.S.-based foundation over a four-year period, this article examines four essential tools for cultivating high-performing teams in the philanthropic sector.

The tools are giving and receiving feedback, the art of appreciations, organizing meetings to produce accountability, and assessing team communication styles, all applied with a racial equity lens. Use of these tools resulted in a more cohesive team that performed well when buffeted by changing priorities and substantial global problems.

The tools are likely applicable in every sector. But when used by foundations where large-scale social issues are the crux of …

Appendix - Program Officer Practice Profile - Using Implementation Science To Translate Foundation Strategy, Allison Metz, Douglas Easterling

The Foundation Review

APPENDIX Program Officer Practice Profile

The Art And Science Of Place-Based Philanthropy: Themes From A National Convening, Giannina Fehler-Cabral, Jennifer James, Hallie Preskill, Meg Long

The Foundation Review

This article shares insights and implications generated at a convening titled Is This a Better Place? The Art and Science of Place Evaluation. Participants included funders, evaluators, and community partners who came to discuss and share effective learning practices and the role of evaluation in place-based work.

Place-based work requires a long-term investment in collaborative partnerships to create, nurture, and sustain local and systemic changes. In order to support this complex work, partners have to incorporate approaches that are nimble, iterative, and responsive to the changing needs of a “place” over an initiative’s life span.

The convening produced a number …

Using Implementation Science To Translate Foundation Strategy, Allison Metz, Douglas Easterling

The Foundation Review

New strategies sometimes require foundations to shift their staffing, organizational structures, administrative processes, and, possibly, their culture. The field of implementation science offers guidance to foundations as they effectively implement strategies that depart from prevailing practice.

This article focuses on two specific tools from implementation science: the practice profile and the Implementation Drivers Assessment. The practice profile answers the question, "What does the strategy require of particular foundation staff?" The implementation drivers analysis explores the broader question, "What does the strategy require in the way of organizational change within the foundation?”.

These two tools were used by the Kate B. …

The Foundation Review 8.2 Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Outreach, Understanding, And Teamwork In The P-12 Schools, Carrie Anne Thomas

Purdue P-12 Networking Summit & Poster Session

Abstract:

The Purdue Boiler Out Volunteer Program, which is coordinated through the International Programs Office, provides international and American students with meaningful community service projects that reflect its three core values of Outreach, Understanding, and Teamwork. As a semester-long, application-based program, Boiler Out accepts a cohort of approximately 200 Purdue students from over 30 countries every fall, spring, and (soon to be implemented) summer. Almost daily throughout the semester, Boiler Out sends a group of 6-8 students, led by a student leader or staff member, out into the community or out on campus to do a volunteer project alongside other …

Immersions In Global Equality And Social Justice: A Model Of Change, Kevin Guerrieri, Sandra Sgoutas-Emch

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

In the work for global equality and social justice, how should “change” be understood? Who determines what must change or be changed? In the efforts to carry out social change, what is the academy’s relationship with the community, society at large, and the broader world? This article parts from these and other key questions and then proposes a model of change that can be used as a lens for examining any project, program, or organization with the aim of creating positive change that is meaningful, sustainable, and holistic. The article provides both an explanation of the underlying interdisciplinary theoretical framework …

Revitalizing Classical Music Interest And Concert Attendance: Why Today's Youth Are Deterred From Classical Music And Why Symphony Orchestras And Businesses Need To Get Involved, Caroline M. Clouse

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper seeks to explore the divide between classical music institutions and the youth of today. Interest in classical music is on a steady decline among Millennials and this paper provides a discourse on some of the prevailing reasonings behind the deterrents to classical music concert attendance. German studies concerning the current state of classical music and it's standing among youth that previously have never been translated are described within, so that this important information may be disseminated. Lastly, there is a discussion on the importance of innovative marketing techniques and concert offerings as well as how and why today's …

Ngo Collaboration In Natural Disaster Response Efforts- A Comparative Case Study Of Earthquakes In Asia, Richelle S. Grogg

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper examines the response of NGOs to natural disasters, specifically in regards to collaboration efforts. The study utilizes a comparative case study methodology of most-similar design to look at three specific disasters- The Kashmir Earthquake, The Sichuan Earthquake, and The Japan Earthquake. Within each of these earthquakes the organizations Doctors Without Borders, the International Red Cross, and Oxfam International’s specific responses will be highlighted. The collaboration efforts will be examined utilizing general questions focusing on willingness to collaborate, commitment, and compatibility of objectives. Ultimately, this study found that all three components seem to be hypotheses worthy of further study.

Assessing The Fundraising Impact Of Power2give On Local Arts Councils, Diana M. Berti

Graduate Theses

Nonprofit arts organizations, like all nonprofit organizations, are always in search of a fundraising “silver bullet.” Does a program or product exist that raises more money, engages more donors, and minimizes effort and expense? The Arts & Science Council in Charlotte, North Carolina launched a new online crowdfunding platform in 2011 hoping to do just that. Power2give was designed specifically for nonprofit arts organizations to add crowdfunding to their fundraising arsenal. The platform was designed to be an inexpensive and easy to use option for local arts councils to adopt for their communities. Now four years later, power2give has expanded …

Charlton Fire Department Resident Expectations: Survey And Analysis, Natalie Omary, Jingxin Wen, Junchen Chen, Denis Kornev

School of Professional Studies

The Town of Charlton is located in the heart of the Massachusetts with a resident population of just under 14,000 people. The Charlton Fire Department serves the town for needs related to fire fighting, fire prevention, burning permits and inspection services along with emergency medical services. The Department has requested the assistance of the Clark University COPACE Capstone students in creating and conducting survey in order to get a sense of what the resident of the town know about the fire department and to better gauge their expectations about what the department can provide for them. The survey was formulated …

Comparative Organizational Assessments And Partenship Potential For Sekou Pou Nanm-Yo And Asirans Community Counseling Center, Lauren M. Mawe

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper assesses the organizational capacity of two small Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Port-Au-Prince Haiti. Each NGO has a staff of under 15 members. At the time of the assessment, they were both in early stages of their development, with one in its first year of operations, and the other in its fifth year. Both embody grassroots, community organizations because of their connections to the communities in which they work, their willingness to travel to those communities, and their predominantly Haitian staff. The fieldwork included interviews, focus groups, and three months of participant observation and work with these organizations. In …

Shareholder Advocacy In Corporate Elections: Case Studies In Proxy Voting Websites For Retail Investors, Robin Miller

Sustainability and Social Justice

One of the key rights shareholders retain is the right to vote on issues affecting the companies in which they invest. This voting right is seen as one of the primary means of exercising diligent corporate governance (Cole 2003, Fairfax 2009). Only 28 percent of individual investors vote in corporate elections compared with 91 percent of institutional investors. Informed voting decisions at corporate elections can be very information intensive, and theories of rational apathy and the free rider problem may explain a lack of participation from individual investors.

Many shareholders cannot attend annual corporate meetings, so they …

Information Technology Proposal For The Town Of Spencer, Vijay Basava, Corey Kenyon, Mahdi Soltani

School of Professional Studies

The Town of Spencer came to us looking for a plan to build and maintain their own personal fiber network for connection between departments and to improve data security for important information. After assessing the existing landscape and determining the various paths forward, we created network diagrams and plans for the movement forward of this project.

After assessing a variety of plans, we found that a full single-mode fiber network would be the best system for the implementation in Spencer. While it was the highest cost, it also scored the highest in our assessment.

"Refugee Industrial Complex," Neoliberal Governance Within The Resettlement Industry And Its Effects: Is An Alternative Structure Possible?, Amira F. Al-Dasouqi

Sustainability and Social Justice

Within the current political climate and discussions surrounding displacement, refugee resettlement is a ‘hot-button’ issue. While working at one of the largest resettlement agencies in New England, the author began to analyze how power itself is structured within the Refugee Resettlement Industry (RRI) nationally. This paper argues that the RRI is embedded within neoliberal governance and can be better understood and improved with this understanding. The author argues for the term “Refugee [Resettlement] Industrial Complex,” to more adequately understand the ways that power is enacted through the current structure, and how it inhibits social justice work rooted in advocating for …

Developing An Online Database Of Experts For The Worcester Regional Chamber Of Commerce, Zikan Chen, Douglas Grey, Pranjal Shah

School of Professional Studies

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce as part of their mission to attract business to the Worcester area, want to create an online searchable database of industry experts made up of faculty members of the Colleges and Universities in the Worcester area. This online database will be placed on the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce Higher Education – Business Partnership page on their website. The limitations placed on this request are that the Regional Chamber as of this moment have no monetary or Information Technologies resources to provide for the realization of this request.

The proliferation of as A Service …

Cybersecurity Awareness Shrewsbury Public Schools, Brittany Crompton, David Thompson, Manuel Reyes, Xueyan Zhao, Xueke Zou

School of Professional Studies

In the 21st Century, technology reaches every aspect of our lives. As “digital citizens” we must be aware of the dangers both to our technological equipment and our personal information stored, transmitted, and processed on this equipment. The Cybersecurity Awareness curriculum developed for the Shrewsbury Public School district is designed to meet this need, as well as foster an interest in technology and ethical computer use.

Analysis Of The Point Of Sales System At Tower Hill Botanical Garden And Suggested Courses Of Action, Brian Dunn, Keerthi Bandi, Chantal Kopwa Epse Kassa, F.N.U Shelly

School of Professional Studies

As Tower Hill Botanic Garden continues to improve on its operations and enhance the experience of its visitors and members, they are on a quest for a new Point-Of-Sale (POS) system that not only works with its existing hardware and interface with Raiser’s Edge, a smartcloud fundraising and relationship management software central to the garden’s operations but also, have a restaurant module and the capability of operating both in a wireless and hard-wired environment.

2016 The Promise Of A New Day: Support For Service Members Transitioning To Civilian Life In San Diego, Kim D. Hunt, Mary Jo Schumann

Military

This report highlights the first year program evaluation of zero8hundred, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to proactively link transitioning military families to a broad range of resources, helping them successfully transition to civilian life in San Diego County.

The Financial Stability Of Nonprofit Organizations, Heather M. Blalack

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

This thesis evaluates the financial stability of nonprofit organizations and their ability to effectively facilitate the accounting functions of a business. Specifically, it focuses on the companies’ ability to maintain steady cash flow and fulfill all financial obligations while also achieving commitments stated in the company’s mission statement and core values. In addition, this analysis concentrates on the immense lack of knowledge and experience pertaining to financial management within many nonprofits as well as the scarcity of related trainings. As most administrators of nonprofits lack the proper training or background pertaining to financial oversight, there is often an imbalance …

Crowdfunding For Congregations And Faith-Related Non-Profits, Adam J. Copeland

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.