Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons^™

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Editorial, Teresa R. Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Knowledge Translation To Enhance Evaluation Use: A Case Example, Alison Rogers, Catherine Malla

The Foundation Review

Knowledge in the form of information suitable for decision making or advocacy by foundations is not always readily available — a situation unacceptable for those who need such information for accountability, learning, and influencing policy and practice. This article addresses how essential information about monitoring, evaluation, and lessons learned can be made available to foundations.

The Fred Hollows Foundation identified a gap in this area through an evaluation capacity-building readiness assessment, and introduced the concept of participatory, real-time monitoring, evaluation, and learning bulletins grounded in the principles of knowledge translation. This article describes how those bulletins were developed and used …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Strategic Learning In Practice: A Case Study Of The Kauffman Foundation, Matthew Carr, Brett Hembree, Nathan Madden

The Foundation Review

Increasingly, foundations and nonprofits are seeking to engage their staff in learning and reflection activities that assess successes and challenges, and then generate insights that can improve programs and funding strategies. Yet, despite the intuitive benefits, there are common challenges that often stand in the way of promoting strategic learning for continuous improvement.

For the past year, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has been focused on creating more systematic and intentional strategic learning across our organization. As part of this work we cultivated a select cohort of staff to be “learning champions,” created simple tools and processes that can more …

Reflective Practice For Learning From Experience: Navigating The Back Roads At Work, Jan Jaffe

The Foundation Review

What are the roadblocks that limit reflective practice in the field of philanthropy? Between the desire to move the needle on social change and the pressure to be productive, philanthropy as a field is understandably driven to focus on doing and resistant to taking time to reflect on practice. This article is designed to help foundations encourage leadership and staff to put their expertise into play as a learning strategy.

This article defines reflective practice and traces roots and research that can inform its use. It also reports on interviews with philanthropy practitioners about how they use various reflective practice …

Shifting Mindsets: How Meaningful Accountability Systems Can Strengthen Foundation Learning And Improve Impact, Marc J. Holley, Marcie Parkhurst

The Foundation Review

This article explores what it looks like when a foundation attempts to integrate accountability and learning practices, and presents a framework for the unique and complementary contributions that accountability and learning can make to the work of foundations.

The article also looks at the tensions that can arise when a foundation’s internal evaluation staff attempt to design, implement, and make use of accountability systems. Specifically, it identifies three problematic perspectives that can hold foundations back from full engagement in internally driven accountability initiatives, and offers practical guidance on how to shift these mindsets to more productive practices.

It concludes by …

Building A Culture Of Learning: Teaching A Complex Organization How To Fish, Tiffany Clarke, Hallie Preskill, Abigail Stevenson, Pamela Schwartz

The Foundation Review

Many social sector organizations are looking to balance their strategic plans with an ability to respond more quickly to change as it unfolds in their communities. For many years — but gaining particular urgency in 2015 — Kaiser Permanente Community Health saw a need to better understand the progress and impact of its portfolio and use its data to adapt strategy in response to its changing context.

To increase its capacity for strategic learning, Community Health worked with FSG to develop and implement a system called Measurement and Evaluation for Learning and Outcomes. While this process was tailored to Community …

Building Principle-Based Strategic Learning: Insights From Practice, Kelci M. Price, Chera Reid, Suzanne Kennedy Leahy

The Foundation Review

Strategic learning is a powerful tool for foundations to achieve greater impact, yet foundations have struggled to create practices and behaviors that effectively support them in learning about strategy. Given that many foundations are engaged in strategic philanthropy, where they have specific conditions in the world they are trying to change, it is critical that they have the capacity to effectively learn about and improve their strategies.

This article offers three principles for strategic learning, informed by the field of strategic learning and insights from practice across three foundations. Each principle is explored in terms of what it means and …

Challenges And Opportunities In Philanthropic Organizational Learning: Reflections From Fellow Grantmakers, Jennifer Chubinski, Kelley Adcock, Susan Sprigg

The Foundation Review

As the field of philanthropy has matured, increasing attention has been paid to evaluating the impact of philanthropic investments. In recent years, the scope of evaluation has expanded to include an intentional focus on organizational learning with the goal of learning from ongoing work, informing decision-making, and ultimately improving impact.

With this momentum to carry out organizational learning strategies and share successes, the sector has not yet stopped to reflect on challenges and lessons learned in the process of building the capacity for organizational learning — the messy yet meaningful middle between a desire for learning and the implementation of …

Evaluators As Conduits And Supports For Foundation Learning, Clare Nolan, Meg Long, Debra Joy Perez

The Foundation Review

Evaluators play a critical role in supporting philanthropic learning, programming, and strategy, but evaluation and learning in philanthropy is often limited in ways that impede deeper resonance and impact.

Most philanthropic evaluation is focused on the needs of individual foundations, knowledge sharing with the broader field is limited, and foundations struggle to integrate evaluation and learning as a management tool. This article makes the case that evaluators and funders can do more to build the collective capacity of evaluators working in philanthropy in order to enhance their contributions to community change.

This article also examines the ways that evaluation in …

Full Issue #11.1

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Mobile Food Pantries: A Marketing Opportunity, Deirdre T. Guion Peoples

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

An Emotional Perspective On Political Attack Advertising, Kirsten Passyn

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Dallas Refugee Engagement Project, Anna Landreneau, Kovan Barzani, Uroob Haris, Lawrence Jiang, Michael Park, Thomas Schmedding

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

The full capabilities of well-structured project management are rarely realized outside of the scope of the respective profession. The tools and skills in which project managers specialize are furthermore often considered in high-level business contexts, but are far less remembered as crucial components to many other endeavors. This project portfolio serves as an insight into the structure and process of managing a short-term social awareness project and an exploration and application of various project management tools. It also provides a review of the success of implementing sound project management toward humanitarian work on a community level. Public Equity, the team …

Knowledge Commons In Ancient Greece, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper reviews a variety of published sources by specialists in ancient history and philosophy written for students of philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, commons and other, related social sciences. It discusses Plato's Academy, Aristotle's Lyceum, and other philosophical schools as real historically significant organizations, not merely ideas or symbols. It was expanded from one section of Chapter 3 of the author's book, The Commons: New Perspectives on Nonprofit Organizations, Voluntary Action and Philanthropy (1992).

The Principles Of Organizational Inaction, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Organization inaction and the absence of change are seriously understudied topics. This article (a spoof) reports on a research problem that identifies and studies four principles of organizational inaction: The time, subject matter, group size and controversy theorems together and separately explain a great deal of committee and organizational inaction. The article also introduces innovative techniques of invariant statistics and mystery sampling. The article is an extensive rewrite of a 'research report' that originally appeared in a peer-reviewed administrative humor journal, The Bureaucrat, in 1979.

An Indentured Servant: The Impact Of Green Card Waiting Time On The Life Of Highly Skilled Indian Immigrants In The United States Of America, Pooja B. Vijayakumar, Christopher J. L. Cunningham

Industrial and Organizational Psychology Translational Research and Working Papers

Highlighting the archaic immigration system in the United States of America (US), the present study demonstrates for the first time the impact of green card waiting time on the work and family life of Indian immigrants living in the US. Our present findings show that 93.4% of our participants are very concerned about the estimated green card waiting time in the US. We find 70% of the total participants are seriously thinking at the present time about emigrating to a more visa-friendly country. Also, 30% of the participants have already applied for permanent residency in a visa friendly country and …

I Landed A U.F.O. On Main Street: An Autoethnography Of The Founding Of An Arts Education Organization In Appalachian Kentucky, Elise L. Kieffer Phd

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Abstract: The Appalachian region in the southern mid-west has long been the source of stereotyping for dramatic and political affect. Through the course of nine years as a resident in an Appalachian community in south-central Kentucky, the author experienced life as it is lived by the local people. Through the establishment of an art education organization, the author became entwined with local families and became familiar with the origins of many of those stereotypes. Using autoethnography to interpret her experiences, through the lens of academic research, the author will confront the primary issues that surfaced: the acute designation of outsider …

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 …

Reviewing Egyptian Community Social Fund (Village Savings And Loans Association, Vsla) As An Approach For Community Social Fund, Safaa Shaaban

Business Administration

This paper reviews a study of the best approach for women economic empowerment and social cohesion approached by introducing the case in Egypt by using Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) and Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) approaches as interventions for economic empowerment for women and social cohesion in Egypt. ROSCAs and VSLA Approaches aims to empowering marginalized women to live be better community and to be able to improve their socioeconomic conditions, improving their social, and economic situation and strengthening gender equality. These two interventions of ROSCAs and VSLA in Egypt were welcomed by the local community and …

Foundations In Wisconsin: A Directory [38th Ed. 2019], Mary C. Frenn, Clare Casey, Madeline Murphy, Sareene Proodian, Catherine Simmerer

Foundations in Wisconsin: A Directory

The 2019 publication of Foundations in Wisconsin is the 38th edition of the print directory and the 19th year of the online database. The directory is designed as a research tool for grantseekers interested in locating information on private, corporate, and community foundations registered in Wisconsin. Each entry in this new edition has been updated or reviewed to provide the most current information available. Most of the data was drawn from IRS 990-PF tax returns filed by the foundations. Additional information was obtained from surveys, foundation websites, and annual reports. Wisconsin foundations once again grew in two significant areas: grants …

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 …

2018 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

The San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative is a network for public agencies that serves the San Diego region to share expertise, leverage resources and advance comprehensive solutions to facilitate climate change planning. By partnering with academia, nonprofits, and businesses, the SDRCC also works to leverage the profile of regional leadership. This is the 2018 San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative Annual Report.

Climate And Water One-Pager For Resilience, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

Climate change is impacting the way water is managed in the San Diego Region. Precipitation, temperature, and sea level are three primary climate indicators that will affect regional water resources over the next few decades.

Performance Measurement In Maine’S Social Sector: The Intersection Of Philanthropy And Nonprofits, Susy Hawes, Sarah Goan

Children, Youth, & Families

The Data Innovation Project undertook this project to better understand foundations’ expectations of grantees in terms of performance measures and outcomes as outlined in their grant applications. Over the past two years, the Data Innovation Project has engaged with over 250 Maine nonprofits who are navigating the data reporting requirements of a diverse portfolio of funders with varying degrees of success and challenges. This paper looks more closely at how the important relationship between foundations and nonprofits may benefit from increased understanding and clarity around measurement approaches so that both dollars and efforts lead to meaningful and measureable results across …

The Battle For Commercial Hearts And Minds And The Internal Brand Within A Charity Shop Network In Ireland, Edmund O'Callaghan

Articles

Charities are increasingly adopting commercial branding strategies to capture consumer hearts and minds for competitive gain, with little attention on the internal organisational battle for hearts and minds within a not-for-profit context. This paper explores the internal brand of a charity that currently operates 227 charity shops on the island of Ireland, using Hankinson’s 2004 framework that focuses on functional, symbolic, behavioural and experiential components. An exploratory case study was developed based on a survey of organisational members (n = 138), interviews with six regional shopmanagers, observation in retail stores and supplemented by organisation documentation. Findings indicate a clarity of …

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.

Let Me Upgrade You: Common Measures In Public Health Accreditation Action Plans, Gurleen K. Roberts

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand the success rates for health departments pursuing and achieving accreditation in version 1.0 and 1.5 of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards and measures. During the accreditation process, health departments that present performance gaps are asked to complete an Action Plan to specify how they plan to improve to meet the desired conformity. This study will highlight specific measures that are often included in Action Plans so that health departments pursuing accreditation can be better prepared to address these common pitfalls.

Methods: This study is a non-experimental, secondary …