Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons^™

Nice Food: A Nonprofit Food Truck, Nathan Brooks

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This document is a snapshot of Nice Food, a nonprofit food truck. The truck uses a pay-what-you-can model so that anyone may eat there, regardless of their ability to pay. The chief goal of Nice Food is to lower food insecurity in its community, which will initially be Louisville, KY. The company will be an addition to the strong effort against hunger in Louisville, bringing the additional strength of mobility to the fight.

This document exists to map out the path of a startup for a student, as well as to provide a clear picture of what Nice Food is …

Equinox Ten Year Trend Analysis: Waste, Michelle Jones, Christopher Holguin

San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard

This report summarizes the plans and initiatives of the City and County of San Diego for reducing waste disposal and examines 10 years of data to analyze waste disposal trends over time. Various county and city-level estimates are provided for context. This report was prepared for The Nonprofit Institute by the Center for Sustainable Energy.

Equinox Ten Year Trend Analysis: Housing, Michelle Jones, Christopher Holguin

San Diego Regional Quality of Life Dashboard

This report was prepared for The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego by the Center for Sustainable Energy. This is a ten year trend analysis (2010-2020) on housing in San Diego County.

Crowdfunding Challenges For New Charity Organizations, Katherine M. Lowe

Marriott Student Review

A look into the complicated and competitive world of nonprofit fundraising in the modern world. With a special emphasis on the struggles new nonprofits face in differentiating their services and attracting donors through online crowdfunding.

Living On Heaven's Doorstep: A Multimedia Project With The Warm Beach Senior Community, Justina Grace Brown

Honors Projects

Having a website is no longer a luxury but a requirement. Nonprofits need to take advantage of the digital age to better reach their constituents yet, overall, they struggle to do this well. Because of lack of resources, their reliance on volunteers, and the inability to keep up with the evolving demands of a website, nonprofits (especially small ones) are not using the web to their full advantage. Taking the research and applying it to a nonprofit retirement community—Warm Beach Senior Community—the challenges are seen first-hand.

Learning Together: Cohort-Based Capacity Building And The Ripple Effects Of Collaboration, Sonia Taddy-Sandino, Mary Gray, Danielle Scaturro

The Foundation Review

Foundations frequently commission evaluations and are the primary audiences for findings. Grantee organizations, however, often don’t see the results, or they find in them limited value and relevance to their own work. Funders like the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation are quietly disrupting this status quo by exploring ways to fully engage grantees, co-funders, technical consultants, and evaluators in collective learning and reflection.

The foundation’s comprehensive, cohort-based capacity-building program, PropelNext, was designed to enhance the performance of promising nonprofits that serve America’s disadvantaged youth. With a combination of financial support, individualized coaching, and peer-learning sessions, grantees engage in a test-and-learn cycle …

2019 Improving The Lives Of San Diego County Seniors Through Stable Housing: An Evaluation Of Elderhelp's Homeshare Program, Tessa Tinkler, Lisa Walker, Mary Jo Schumann

Seniors

This report, prepared by the Nonprofit Institute's Caster Center, documents the findings from a program evaluation of ElderHelp's HomeShare program, which is designed to connect individuals who want to share their homes with others looking for alternative housing options.

Major League Impact: A Comparative Analysis Of Youth Programs Within Major League Baseball Club Charities, Hayley Walker

Master's Projects and Capstones

As one of the most common structured activities for youth, sport provides numerous opportunities for children to learn to lead healthy, active lifestyles. Additionally, the popularity of sport among young people makes it an effective platform for Positive Youth Development (PYD). However, merely participating in sport does not guarantee that youth will develop positive character traits or acquire important life skills. For that reason, nonprofit organizations that offer sport-based youth development programs must have targeted approaches to facilitating opportunities for learning and growth. This study focuses on the methods of youth programming utilized by the charitable affiliates of five professional …

The Correlation Between Online Marketing Strategies And Fundraising Performance Of Nonprofit Organizations, Goran Orucevic

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

Through primary and secondary data collection, this research explores the correlation between online marketing strategies and fundraising performance of small nonprofits. The purpose of this research was to identify the needs and challenges of small nonprofit organizations' marketing departments, in order to create a new marketing strategy that would help them reach their goals. The study identified several problems which small nonprofits commonly face. As a result, a new Influencer Marketing Platform has been designed, with an intent to solve the issues of volunteer based or part-time marketing staff, the lack of budgets for promotional campaigns, and the inability to …

2019 Collaborative Species And Habitat Conservation Efforts In San Diego County: A Systematic Needs Assessment To Guide The San Diego End Extinction Initiative, Tessa Tinkler, Michelle Ahearne, Mary Jo Schumann

Environment

This report, prepared by the Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research documents the results of a systematic needs assessment prepared for the San Diego End Extinction (SDEE) initiative. The needs assessment was designed to assist SDEE to align its goals and priorities with San Diego County’s existing strengths and gaps in order to proactively prevent the loss of native plants and animals.

Non-Monetary Motivation In The Nonprofit Sector, Brianna Gulchuk

Senior Honors Theses

The nonprofit industry is currently in a state of flux. With the shifting dynamics of generations entering and leaving the workforce and the high turnover rates of volunteers, there is an increasing need for organizations to adjust current practices to hold on to skilled workers. This cannot be accomplished unless organizations make an effort toward sustainable motivational practices that train and retain their workers. This paper examines motivation strategies and how they can presently be seen in the nonprofit sector. There are also several practical applications of these motivational theories, referred to as motivational strategies, which will be presented. Special …

2019 Empowering Aging Adults To Improve Health: An Evaluation Of Olivewood Gardens Cooking For Salud Program, Tessa Tinkler, Michelle Schneider

Seniors

The report, prepared by The Nonprofit Institute's Caster Family Center for Nonprofit & Philanthropic Research, documents the findings from a program evaluation of Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center's Cooking for Salud program which is an adult nutrition education program designed to support the health and well being of adults 55+ years in National City and San Diego's southeastern region.

2019 Navigating The Future: Making A Difference For Transitioning Service Members And Families, Kim D. Hunt, Mary Jo Schumann, Lisa Walker

Military

This report, prepared by the Caster Center, is an evaluation of Year 4 of zero8hundred. Zero8hundred is a cross-sector community initiative whose mission is to proactively link transitioning service members and their families to resources and opportunities in the community, helping them successfully transition to civilian life.

Study Of University Donor Recognition Event, April Smith, Sarah Sargent, Gina Fe G. Causin, Mary S. Olle

Faculty Publications

Festivals, fairs, conventions, ballgames, concerts and fundraising activities are types of special events that individuals typically attend to participate in the festivities and enjoy with friends, family and colleagues (Causin & McCarthy, 2017; Causin et. al, 2010). Fundraising in higher education has been around for hundreds of years. In the early 1900’s, the driving motivator for fundraising was to provide funds for students specifically for housing expenses, books and food (Cook & Lasher, 1996).

Research has shown that donors are more likely to give when their contributions are made known to the public (Sheremeta & Samek, 2017). In an effort …

Board Recruitment And Development For A Nonprofit Farmers' Market Organization, Tammy B. Bass

Education Dissertations and Projects

Community nonprofit organizations operated by a Board of Directors rely heavily on the commitment and goodwill of volunteers. By 2017, Foothills Farmers’ Market (FFM), a community nonprofit organization, had experienced rapid growth in sales, grant funding, and programs while experiencing highs and lows in volunteer Board leadership. The organization needed very committed volunteer Board members who would put in the time to run the small nonprofit business that was growing quickly. Board members were becoming less committed as the demands of the organization became greater, to the point that there often were not enough Directors present to meet quorum and …

2019 Causes Count: The Economic Power Of California's Nonprofit Sector, California Association Of Nonprofits, The Nonprofit Institute, University Of San Diego

State of Nonprofits in California

California’s nonprofits bring more than $40 billion into California each year from out-of-state sources, and one in every 14 California jobs is at a nonprofit.

Like the inaugural Causes Count report in 2014, this “Causes Count 2.0” report summarizes the noteworthy size, variety, diversity, activities, accomplishments, and overall magnitude and importance of California’s nonprofit sector.

The research was conducted by The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego, working alongside Calnonprofits staff. The research involved finding and scrutinizing many different sources of data to create this synthesized exposé of the breadth, depth, and strength of California’s nonprofit sector.

Policymakers, …

2019 Pathways And Intersections In The Military Lifecycle: How San Diego Supports The Military And Veteran Connected Community, Kim D. Hunt, Mary Jo Schumann, Lisa Walker

Military

This report, prepared by the Caster Center, is an asset mapping and ecosystem project in collaboration with SDMFC and SDVC. This report outlines the military lifecycle and is the result of community conversations throughout San Diego County.

An Analysis Of Mergers And Acquisitions In Non-Profit Organizations, Shakiyla K. Davis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This paper hypothesizes that poor planning of merger or acquisitions will lead to increased issues within the organization. To effectively examine the hypothesis, the paper provides an overview of mergers and acquisitions. The paper highlights the process and considerations of a merger and acquisition and uses examples to provide insight on successful and unsuccessful partnerships.

A New Tool For New Times? Using Geographic Information Systems In Foundations And Other Nonprofit Organizations, Jeffrey L. Brudney, Christopher R. Prentice

The Foundation Review

The literature on nonprofit organizations exhorts them to understand and develop their communities’ strengths and capacities. Yet, identifying those communities, appreciating the conditions that affect them, and integrating organizational stakeholders can pose difficulties for any nonprofit, including foundations.

This article examines how a tool relatively new to nonprofits — geographic information systems — can be used to support community building by bringing together different stakeholders. A geographic information system is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data, thus allowing an organization to map its community and share that visualization with its stakeholders.

This article …

Interpersonal Problems Of The Nonprofit Workforce: Evaluating The Wounded Healer As The Reason For High Turnover, Crystal A. Evans, Judy Thomas, Sharon Macdonnell

Journal of Ideology

The research goal was to identify a potential explanation for the high levels of turnover in nonprofit organizations. First, nonprofit employees’ levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were evaluated and found to be significantly higher than for for-profit and government employees. This phenomenon could speak to a self-selection bias whereas wounded healers are drawn into the helping fields because of some perceived personal benefit they gain or because they might feel they can offer something more given their experiences. Having higher ACEs has been linked to job instability, and could be a contributing factor in the sector's turnover rates. Nonprofit …

An Analysis Of Rating Systems Used By Watchdog Organizations For Nonprofit Charities In The Health And Human Services Sector, Sara Strathmann

Senior Theses

In the United State, lack of trust and accountability are developing trends among donors in regard to charitable nonprofits in the health and human services sector. Watchdog organizations are working diligently to provide useful data to donors to combat this growing issue. While some watchdog organizations focus on quality of statistics, others focus largely on quantity of metrics. Additionally, some rating systems are solely based on financial data, while others consider nonfinancial data as well. Although different methodologies concentrate on varying metrics, this thesis seeks to find a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use rating system that allows users to understand both financial …

2018 Learning How To Think Like An Engineer: A Design-Based Research Study Of Kid Spark Education’S Curriculum In Kindergarten, Tessa Tinkler, Megan Kelly, Ida Rose Florez

Youth, Education, and Literacy

This report, prepared by the Nonprofit Institute's Caster Center, documents the findings from a design-based research study of Kid Spark Education's early childhood engineering curriculum.

Exploring Grit In The Experiences Of Higher Education Development Officers: A Phenomenological Study, Jessica A. Mccann

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to gain insight into experiences of grit by development officers in higher education as they pursued their goals and processed their disappointments in the course of soliciting major gifts. Three main domains of literature underpinned the research: (a) motivation theory, (b) goal-setting theory, and (c) the grit model. An extensive literature review revealed little is known about how individuals make sense and assign meaning to their experiences of passion and perseverance, and less is known about how development officers in higher education foundations and institutionally-related nonprofit organizations decide how to set and pursue goals …

2018 Study Of San Diego County Local Child Care Needs And Barriers: Data And Insights For San Diego County Individualized Child Care Subsidy Pilot And Local Child Care Policies, Tessa Tinkler, Mary Jo Schumann, Meghan Kelly

Youth, Education, and Literacy

This report, prepared by the Caster Center, is a study of local child care conditions in San Diego County and includes an analysis of the demographics of families in need of child care; San Diego County’s self-sufficiency income level; availability of, and enrollment in, subsidized child care; and the cost of providing child care. This report originated from a required independent analysis of local child care conditions for Bill AB377, authorizing the County of San Diego to develop a pilot child care subsidy plan that takes into account the county’s unique demographic and economic environment.

The Reality Of The Refugee Crisis In Italy: A Look Into The Lives Of Illegitimate Refugees And The Unofficial Organizations That Support Them, Cole Mcquirk

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

The words written on the United States of America’s famous Statue of Liberty, written by poet Emma Lazarus over a century ago:

Give me your tired, your poor,

your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. . . .

America and Europe alike have forgotten the sacred words that gave hope to so many 100 years ago. Many use phrases like “floods of people” or “swarms” to describe those who leave their countries for a life in the Western world. Which of the refugees welcomed into the most powerful country in the world were …

A Strategic Approach To Employee Retention At Nebraska Families Collaborative, Rachel Walters

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Nebraska Families Collaborative (NFC) is a nonprofit organization that supports children and families who are at risk, in eastern Nebraska. They offer a variety of services with the goal of moving children toward safety, permanency and well-being. Organizations such as NFC rely heavily on the commitment of the employees to carry out their mission, as do many other non-profit social service agencies across the country. The overall goal of the project was to identify reasons for high turnover and to identify potential solutions to reduce turnover and increase retention in the workplace at NFC. The main objectives were to analyze …

Empresa Social E Innovación Sustentable: Soluciones Para El Desarrollo, Marco Tavanti

Public and Nonprofit Administration

Keynote presentation to define the lessons and fields and Latin American context of social enterprise. The slides introduce and clarify the notion of social enterprise from global lessons in poverty reduction and sustainable development and in relation to social economy.

2018 Navigating The Future: Transforming The Transition Experience For Service Members And Their Families, Kim D. Hunt, Mary Jo Schumann, Aya Tore

Military

This report, prepared by the Caster Center, is an evaluation of Year 3 of zero8hundred. Zero8hundred is a cross-sector community initiative whose mission is to proactively link transitioning service members and their families to resources and opportunities in the community, helping them successfully transition to civilian life.

Big Theories In Small Places: Lean/Six Sigma In The Small To Medium Size Nonprofit – Can They Work?, John Lochner

School of Business Student Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing emphasis by donors and the public towards accountability and demonstration of results in the nonprofit sector. Quantitative measures are increasingly expected from donors of the nonprofit organization, whether individuals or larger foundations, to demonstrate value and generate further support. As such, there have been many efforts to introduce practices of private sector management theory, specifically performance management theories, to the non-profit sector. Enterprise Performance Management, Business Process Management, Total Quality Management, Balanced Scorecard, and other programs of this type are all the trend to enable the more agile, responsive, effective organization. These initiatives have however focused …

Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney

Senior Honors Theses

Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …