Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Let The Music Play:Using Community Engagement To Develop A New Sustainable Audience, Leslie D. Wilcher

Student Capstone Projects

Abstract

The Symphony is a dying breed of live music. The lack of classical music education and interest has left barriers to the symphony. Around the country, nonprofit symphonies are adapting to build a sustainable audience. So, how do we stop the closures of the orchestras? How does the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra engage the community through programming and events to accommodate a new sustainable audience for the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra (KSO)? My research will show that new audience members are waiting to be introduced to the symphony.

This research shows that community engagement is the key to bringing a sustainable …

An Imc Plan For The Blue Dolphin Company, A Local Nonprofit, Allison Evelyn Campbell

Journalism

Alan Godley's journey into marine preservation began as a dock boy, a role that brought him face-to-face with the environmental impact of boat cleaning practices. Witnessing the washing of harsh chemicals into the ocean and waterways fueled his environmental consciousness. Years later, he founded the Blue Dolphin Company in 1989, an “organization focused on furthering the awareness of whales and dolphins, and all marine life … [supporting] the rehabilitation and release of marine mammals and other wildlife”. Over the three decades, Mr. Godley has operated this nonprofit and small business, leveraging educational initiatives to inform people of all ages about …

Intergenerational Factors That Contribute To Millennial Church Engagement, Parker Sanderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Millennial church attendance has declined since the beginning of the new millennium. Intergenerational ambivalence has been known to contribute to this phenomenon. Through this action research, the researcher sought to determine what intergenerational factors have led to millennials’ continued or discontinued attendance within churches. A phenomenological qualitative approach centered around interviews for this study was used to determine these intergenerational factors. The sample was taken from a 1,100-member church in a major Texas metropolitan area. The goal was to help church leaders decrease relational distancing and reduce ambivalent factors to increase millennial engagement in this local congregation.

Alumni Giving From Online Learners: A Logistic Regression Study, Jaqlyne S. Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alumni giving is increasingly important to the vitality of institutions of higher education. With governmental financial support of public institutions steadily declining, understanding philanthropic giving is more important than ever. Advancement offices that serve alumni populations benefit from analyzing predictors of the behavioral phenomenon of charitable giving. It is also known that enrollment in distance education programs is on the rise in the United States. For university administrators and advancement professionals to be proactive in cultivating relationships with alumni that attended through an online modality, more research was needed to understand what motivates philanthropic giving from this alumni constituency. Using …

Design Guidelines For Homeless Shelter And Resource Center Site Plans, Samuel Johnson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Homelessness is one of the most pressing humanitarian issues facing the country today. Lack of affordable housing, among many other complicating factors, have led to many cities scrambling to find both short-, middle-, and long-term solutions to the issue. The Covid-19 pandemic added a disruption in services, critical record-keeping, and data-gathering, which has further confounded experts looking for an effective path forward. As it stands, there is a significant gap in academic research addressing best practices for shelter site design, particularly as it relates to landscape. The role of landscape and greenspace within and around a shelter is not well …

The Puzzle Of Debutant Ingo Participation In Guatemala’S National Reading Program Leamos Juntos: A Comparative And Multi-Sited Case Study, Jacob A. Carter

Doctoral Dissertations

The dynamics of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) working in Guatemala can be understood as processual, evolving with and being shaped by social and cultural events in Guatemala and around the world. Central to understanding these dynamics is NGOs’ historical relationship to the State, which has ranged from collaborative to homicidal. However, as the number and activity of NGOs increase globally and in Guatemala, specifically within the education sector, some scholars characterize them less by their opposition to the State and more by their provision of education and myriad affiliations with the State. The purpose of this dissertation is to situate …

Resource Allocation In Subsidy Welfare Programs: Managerial Insights For Nonprofits, Governments, And Service Providers, Wei Wei

Doctoral Dissertations

Subsidy welfare programs provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged individuals and families to access essential and life-altering services (e.g., education, child care, and housing) that they might not otherwise have access to. Access to these services is considered critical to achieving a better and more sustainable future for all. As such, these high-quality services are directly related to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted as a universal call to action to end poverty, save the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere." In particular, the need for these affordable and high-quality services has been …

A Descriptive Study Of Louisiana 4-H 8th Through 12th Graders' Perceptions Of Career And College Readiness, Carrie M. Lane

LSU Master's Theses

As youth leave primary education and enter college or a career path, preparing those youth to ensure success has fallen, in large part, upon formal and non-formal youth educators. Encouraging students to apply and complete college has been a focus of education professionals for many years. Historically, gauging college and career readiness (CCR), academic institutions have relied on academic performance in areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics (Mattern, et. al, 2014). The use of academic focused measures instead of student-based evaluation had its drawbacks. While core education is important, measuring soft skills needed for the workforce and college environment …

Navigating Complexity Of Serving Displaced Communities: A Study Of Yemeni Community-Based Organizations In Egypt, Alya Mohammed Al-Mahdi

Theses and Dissertations

Forced displacement is a global crisis that poses challenges for nations like Egypt. Despite international NGO support, escalating displaced individuals have overwhelmed existing capacities. Refugee Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) have emerged as a natural response from the communities themselves to bridge the gap between the state and NGOs and the refugee community. However, CBOs in Egypt face challenges that impact their operation and continuity. Through qualitative research, this study aims to explore the experience of the Yemeni CBOs. Through interviews with seven people from six CBOs conducted through field visits and online calls, this research uncovers the dynamics of Yemeni CBOs …

The Jewel In The Lotus: Humane Education, Engaged Buddhism, And Farming Compassion, Francy Jenko

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This thesis explores the relationship and intersectionality of Engaged Buddhism and Humane Education and demonstrates how they support the development of a farm sanctuary to cultivate compassion. It is supported by peer-reviewed literature, which reflects the importance of understanding why compassion is necessary to decrease suffering and how these disciplines complement one another, facilitating compassion and action. The research component of this thesis encourages the ongoing exploration of Engaged Buddhism and Humane Education. Further, it contributes to the scholarly literature on their intersection, highlighting farm sanctuary work as an avenue of engagement and offering implications for future study. The creative …

A Blackgirl Artivisionary Mosaic: Art-Based Participatory Refusals To School Punishment, Tyese A. Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study participants were co-research partners and engaged in a Project Based Learning six-week summer project in an urban northeastern metropolis community-based non-profit where they received stipends for participation. This dissertation explored how Blackgirls (aged 14 -21) express their experiences with disparate school punishment through community-based participatory artmaking. We called the photos, poems, collages, sculptures, storyboards, digital art, visual art, songs, spoken word, and videos Artivisions (art I vision). In the Jam Sessions, a subset of the partners we called curators discussed the pieces, shared their experiences, and offered insight into Blackgirls’ responses, coping skills, and decision-making regarding school punishment. …

Advocating For Social Change: How A Human Service Nonprofit Organization Makes Sense Of Its Advocacy Successes And Failures, Megan Pontes

Dissertations

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are uniquely positioned to play a vital role in social change, and many integrate advocacy in their efforts. This dissertation examined how one human service nonprofit organization working to help the unhoused engaged in advocacy and advocacy evaluation using formal and informal methods. Through an in-depth case study of Think Dignity, a San Diego-based NPO engaged in the day-to-day work of social change, this research revealed how it developed its advocacy efforts, collaborated with partners, and assessed its successes and failures. Informed by the framework of social change leadership, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with Think Dignity. …

Opportunity Discrimination: Resettlement Efforts Made By Ngos In The United States, Sarah Rauf

Capstone Collection

Social identity plays a key aspect in life. This research tests whether homogeneity between refugees and their host communities correlates to the immigration process and resettlement success. The analysis helps form a conclusion that people want to help those who look like themselves before those who appear more foreign. This is related to the central theories of social identity and prejudice stemming from stereotyping. Data collection comes from interviews with staff at a number of NGOs in the United States. The immigration and resettlement policies of these NGOs have been researched, and members were interviewed on the reformation of their …

Irs-Sanctioned Secrecy For Religious Nonprofits: Stepstone Or Stumbling Block?, Mark W. Smith

Master's Projects and Capstones

Internal Revenue Service code automatically confers 501(c)3 nonprofit charity status on religious nonprofits which appear to be “A church, convention of churches, or association of churches described in section 170(b)(1)(A)(i),” as labeled in the IRS Form 990. Additionally, religious charities functioning as a part of a church have no requirement to report any financial information or policies to the IRS or anyone else. This acquiescence to secrecy keeps most of the data on these nonprofit organizations unavailable for research or to inform legislative action or agency policies. This automatic status may also lead to complacency in organizations in financial accountability, …

Using Community Organizing Best Practices To Redesign The Dart Organizers' Institute, Anna Long

Capstone Collection

This Training-of-Trainers Course-Linked Capstone project explores three approaches to community organizing from three different scholar-practitioners. It begins with the father of grassroots organizing, Saul Alinsky’s, neighborhood-based and congregation-based approach. Alinsky’s approach is followed by Alicia Garza’s approach; Garza is the founder of the international Black Lives Matter movement. It ends with author and organizer adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy approach. This paper will synthesize all three approaches, ultimately identifying four recommended approaches to community organizing: power, motivation, emotion, and centering impacted voices. The four recommended approaches will be used to evaluate the new organizer training (Organizers’ Institute) for the Direct …

Advocacy On Facebook: A Content Analysis Of How Small Los Angeles- Based Npos Use Social Media To Engage Audiences, Wen Chen Denq

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the Facebook activities of seven small nonprofits in Los Angeles to understand their social media use and audience responses. Prior research has distinguished three broader engagement strategies used by Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), including information provision (awareness-raising), action-related messaging (mobilizing), and community-building efforts (organizing). These strategies can play essential roles in drawing in audiences, but also in moving individual supporters toward greater levels of engagement by increasing donations or becoming more engaged champions for the cause. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of organizational Facebook messages and audience responses was conducted over 3 months. The NPOs included in this …

Equalizing Community Voice In An International Service-Learning Project: A Narrative Inquiry Of A Social Entrepreneurial Peruvian Women's Group, Monica D. Hernandez

Theses & Dissertations

Traditionally, international service-learning (ISL) programs are created and led by host groups, which frequently overlook the international communities’ learning process and perspectives and the long-term impact of service missions on the community. Fundamentally, ISL is meant to address community needs. With the principal focus being on enriching students’ learning, community voice is often eclipsed. The research aim was to investigate the empowerment and efficacy of an ISL project to strengthen relationships between engaged scholars and international communities and improve future service-learning trips. Using a qualitive narrative research design, I investigated a 2021-2022 ISL Based Photovoice Project applying Kolb’s Experiential Learning …

Housing Is Safety: An Evaluation Of A Transitional Housing (Th), Rapid-Rehousing (Rrh), And Joint Th/Rrh Program For Survivors Of Interpersonal Violence, Bridget L. Claborn

Capstone Experience

In this capstone project, I created a program evaluation plan and conducted preliminary analysis for the Mar􏰀 Parrish Center􏰁s (MPC) transitional housing (TH), rapid-rehousing (RRH), and joint TH/RRH programs for survivors of interpersonal violence and their families. The intent of the project is: (1) to better understand the impact of MPC housing programs; (2) to inform strategies for continuous improvement in client outcomes, access, and satisfaction; (3) to further evaluation capacity for the organization; and (4) to generate practice-based evidence to inform the field at large. As a practitioner in the field of interpersonal violence and former MPC staff member, …

Long-Term Outcomes Of Equine-Assisted Therapy For Veterans With Ptsd., Carleigh Emanuel

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a group program for veterans with PTSD who had completed the equine-assisted therapy program at Horses & Heroes in Leavenworth, KS. The group program was designed to promote long-term outcomes and generalization of skills after completion of the initial program. The group program utilized meaningful activity, opportunity for social engagement with like-minded peers, further development of the horse-human bond, and consistent exposure to the therapeutic environment of being outside and around horses. Participants reported an overall improvement in their satisfaction with social engagement and well-being after participation in group sessions. This program …

Improving The Land Trust Model’S Impact On Environmental Conservation In Northern California, Peter Talbot

Master's Projects and Capstones

For years, the land trust sector of California and much of the United States has operated with a dollars and acres mentality that has prioritized fundraising as a result of acreage protected. Within California, nearly 5.8 million acres of land have been protected by 132 land trusts throughout the state. To accommodate for the diverse cross-section of land and the many needs of the population, land trusts take on numerous shapes and sizes. A unique aspect of this diversity is the rich agricultural and natural spaces found throughout the state. This mix of land and variety of land uses has …

The People's Food Project, Grace Barrett

Masters Theses

The architectural design of spaces offering food assistance has received little to no attention since food pantries emerged in the 1970s. Non-profit food initiatives are often sited quickly with limited resources, producing inadequate spaces unable to fully support a food insecure community, prioritize the experience of users, and create a sense of belonging. The current spaces limit services to merely food distribution. They do not take advantage of the opportunity to expand socioeconomic capital through the power of shared food experiences: growing, cooking, eating, and learning.

This thesis redefines the traditional food pantry model, responding to explorations in psychological comfort …

Building Up Cal Poly Global Brigades Student Group: Reflections On Designing And Implementing One Undergraduate-Led Community Info Session, Caroline Nicole Smith, Jafra D. Thomas

Kinesiology and Public Health

Intro: Global Brigades, an international non-profit organization, trains college students and other pre-professionals in community-based health promotion by mobilizing community service trips around the world, which are taught and led by local community groups. Cal Poly’s Global Brigades student group was founded in 2018, and thus far, they have carried out three annual, medically-focused brigades to Honduras (two in-person, one virtual).

Purpose: The aim of this report is to present the findings of one experiential senior project to promote Cal Poly’s Global Brigades student group^[1] (conducted January to March 2023).

Methods: The student designed material for …

Safeguarding From Scrutiny: Toward A Critical Consciousness Of Organizational Culture In Humanitarian Ngos, Andrew Henck

Dissertations

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs) face a moment of reckoning brought on by decades of operational complexity and conceptual tensions between self-espoused values and external pressures as social change movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demand organizational accountability. Humanitarian aid is being questioned systematically as most HNGOs continue reconciling with their colonialist origin stories from the Global North. Alongside a shrinking British foreign aid budget, and mounting pressures for proving value for money, HNGOs face a record number of natural disasters, energy crises, armed conflicts, and other major emergencies to respond to across the globe.

As the British aid sector …

Utilizing New Technologies To Measure Therapy Effectiveness For Mental And Physical Health, Jonathan Ossie

Dissertations

Mental health is quickly becoming a major policy concern, with recent data reporting increasing and disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, increased substance abuse, and elevated suicidal ideation. One specific population that is especially high risk for these issues is the military community because military conflict, deployment stressors, and combat exposure contribute to the risk of mental health problems.

Although several pharmacological approaches have been employed to combat this epidemic, their efficacy is mixed at best, which has led to novel nonpharmacological approaches. One such approach is Operation Surf, a nonprofit that provides nature-based programs advocating the restorative …

Creating Systemic Support: Cross-Sector Partnerships As A Catalyst To Institutional Transformation For Southeast Asian Student Support, Brianna Lourdes Edoria Pascua

Master's Projects and Capstones

This paper investigates the potential impact of cross-sector partnerships between nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and universities on the educational attainment of Southeast Asian American (SEAA) students, particularly those from disenfranchised or nontraditional backgrounds. Guided by the research question, "Can cross-sector partnerships between NPOs and universities contribute to increased educational attainment among SEAA students?", the study seeks to comprehensively explore SEAA student experiences, challenge the Model Minority Stereotype, enrich SEAA higher educational achievement literature, underline the significance of disaggregated data and cross-sector collaborations, and create an adaptable framework for other communities. By adopting an Asian Critical Race Theory (AsianCrit) lens, the research …

Addressing Funding Disparities In Women Of Color-Led Organizations, Christy J. Thomas

Master's Projects and Capstones

Women of color who are founders and/or leaders of nonprofit organizations typically come from the communities they serve. While their experience within their communities gives them an edge on service delivery and impact, these leaders face funding disparities compared to other organizations. This report highlights the stories and experiences of three women of color founders and nonprofit leaders to provide insight into the funding barriers and how to mitigate these barriers. Suggestions for improvement include Trust based philanthropy, listening sessions, and Women of color-leader development circles.

The Right People In The Wrong System: Examining The Tension Between Nonprofit Individuals And Organizational Structure, Erin Vong

Master's Theses

Nonprofit organizations pursue missions of social good while still operating within the confines of systems of oppression, creating a tension between organizational values and operational success. Previous research focuses on the micro-level role of individuals and the macro-level role of ideologies that create these tensions for nonprofit workers in these spaces. Through a qualitative case study, this thesis seeks to uncover the meso-level role of organizational structures in the experiences of nonprofit workers. The research questions that guided this case study were (a) How does one organization present equitable working conditions for its staff? (b) How do staff at this …

Hungry For Student Food Security: A Comparative Analysis Of University Food Pantry Policies, Anastasia Jones-Burdick

Honors Theses

This undergraduate research thesis aims to explore the relationship between public institutions of higher education and the operational policies of their university food pantries. The increasing rates of nontraditional students entering public universities correlate to an increasing population of students facing food insecurity, placing strain on institutional interventions, especially university food pantries (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015; Nazmi et al., 2019, p.2). This research conducted a qualitative comparative case analysis of university food pantry policies and semistructured interviews with pantry informants through a USDA-adapted evaluative framework to understand the evolution of public universities’ interventions (Barale et al., 2017). The …

Odds At A Job: The Post – Graduate Success Of Nngo Students, Dasha Denia Randle

Student Capstone Projects

This capstone is a case study on graduates from Northern Illinois University who majored, minored, or received a certificate in Nonprofit and NGO studies. This qualitative and quantitative study seeks to measure the employment trends of graduates from the Nonprofit and NGO studies major. As well as make a comparison between the post-graduate experiences of graduates who interned via the Center for Nonprofit and NGO studies and graduates who didn’t. Prior research suggests that paid internships generally have a positive correlation with entry-level career success. However, there is not much research on this relationship within the social sector. I’m interested …

Examining And Developing Environmental Stewardship Funding Networks In Los Angeles: A Research Proposal, Lily Maddox, Michele Romolini

Honors Thesis

Similar to other types of non-profit funding, environmental grants have a continuing history of being inaccessible to the groups that could benefit from them the most. While many environmental stewardship organizations are in need of funding for community projects, Los Angeles lacks a clear network of environmental funders that is accessible to all potential actors. This project is a proposal to study existing environmental funder coalitions as well as philanthropic trends in Los Angeles. The findings from this research will ultimately be used to compile a database of environmental grant sources in Los Angeles detailing both funders and their grant …