Founded in 1971 as the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) is a neutral, open forum committed to strengthening the research community in the emerging field of nonprofit and philanthropic studies. ARNOVA brings together both theoretical and applied interests, helping scholars gain insight into the day-to-day concerns of third-sector organizations, while providing nonprofit professionals with research they can use to improve the quality of life for citizens and communities. Principal activities include an annual conference, publications, electronic discussions and special interest groups.

One of ARNOVA’s commitments (per our strategic goals) is to “manage ARNOVA’s operations so they are exemplary with respect to strong governance, financial stability, and responsiveness to members.” In keeping with that commitment you will find in this section copies of our most recent audit, most recent 990 form, and other financial and other reports that make transparent the finances and operations of ARNOVA.. Audit reports and 990’s from previous years can be made available upon request.

Available Reports

- The 2008/09 Audit Report
- Report on Volunteer Contributions to ARNOVA
- 2007/08 Audit Report
- 2009 990 Form
- 2008 990 Form
- 2007 990 Form
- 2006 990 Form

Goals

(1) Build, improve, disseminate, and promote recognition of knowledge on nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, civil society, and voluntary action.

(2) Create an integrated set of programs and activities that support effective education in nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, civil society and voluntary action.

(3) Manage ARNOVA’s operations so that they are exemplary with respect to strong governance, financial stability, and responsiveness to members.

(4) Attract and retain individuals from under-represented groups into all aspects of ARNOVA's governance, programming, and membership in order to insure that ARNOVA is and continues to be a diverse organization. (Diversity [here] refers to inclusiveness of race and ethnicity, discipline, national origin, region, and theoretical and ideological perspective, with special attention to groups under-represented due to historical patterns of exclusion, discrimination, and lack of resources.)

Click here to view entire ARNOVA Strategic Plan

Click here to view ARNOVA ByLaws

Click here to view ARNOVA Board Policy Manual

President
Ram Cnaan
University of Pennsylvania
(215) 898-5523
cnaan@sp2.upenn.edu

Click here to See All Directors

Conference Planning Committee
H. Woods Bowman (Chair)
Judith Millesen
Pat Bradshaw
Lindsey McDougle
Jennifer Shea
Mark Hager
Shena Ashley
Ram Cnaan (ex-officio)
Rachel Mosher-Williams (ex-officio)

Development Committee
Chao Guo (Chair)
Hillel Schmid
Stephanie Boddie
Mark Light
Pat Lewis
Ram Cnaan (ex-officio)

Diversity Committee
Susan Ostrander (Chair)
Mike Cortes
Kyle Farmbry
Paula Kabalo
Tia Sheree Gaynor
Judith Weisinger
Richard Hung
Steve R. Smith

Membership Committee
Roseanne Mirabella (Chair)
Pat Bradshaw
Steve Smith
Emily Barman

Education Committee
Will Brown (Chair)
Judy Millesen
Wes Lindahl
Jeff Greim
Gemma Donnelly Cox
SueAnn Strom
John Casey
Jessica Sowa
Roseanne Mirabella
Richard Hung
Jon Ronquillo

Finance & Audit Committee
Linda Parsons (Chair & Treasurer)
Teresa Gordon
Karen Froelich

Nominations Committee
Roseanne Mirabella (Chair)
Heather Carpenter
Jennifer Wade-Berg
Emily Barman
Ram Cnaan (ex-officio)

Research Committee
Carl Milofsky (Co-Chair)
Ramon Borges-Mendez (Co-Chair)
Alan Abramson

Publications Committee
Rachel Mosher-Williams (chair)
Renee Bekkers
Susan Chambre
Bin Chen
David Hammack
Janelle Kerlin


Conference & Awards Committees
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Best Dissertation Award Committee
Steven Wernet (Chair)
David Suarez
Chris Einholf
Greg Saxton

Distinguished Achievement Award Committee
Jon Van Til (Chair)
Elizabeth Boris
Roger Lohmann
David Billis

Book Awards Committee
Robert Donmoyer (Chair)
John Wilson
Leslie Hustinx
Nuno S. Themudo
Beth Gazley
Howard Lune
Rene Bekkers
Kathy Agard
Patrick Murphy
Linda Golaszewski

NVSQ Best Article Committee
Jennifer Mosley (Chair)
Avner Ben Ner
Oonagh Breen
Wolfgang Bielefeld

Emerging Scholars Awards Committee
Shena Ashley (Chair)
Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez
Naoto Yamaochi
Greg Saxton

Conference Scholarships Committee
Lili Wang (Chair)
Triparna Vasavada
Eva Witsman

Best Paper (for 09) Committee
Paul-Brian McInerney (Chair)
John McNutt
Robert Silverman

RGK President’s Award Committee
Steven R. Smith (Chair)
Joseph Galaskiewicz
Kirsten Gronbjerg

The annual conference brings together researchers, scholars and practitioners from around the world to present and discuss papers related to issues in nonprofit studies, voluntary action and philanthropy.This cutting—edge research presented at the conference helps build the body of knowledge about the sector and inform those working in the nonprofit sector.

ARNOVA currently has two primary publications. The Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, the official journal of ARNOVA, is the leading scholarly journal in the field of nonprofit, philanthropic and civil society studies. It is now published six times a year. ARNOVA News , a quarterly newsletter for members, contains not only news of the Association and its members, but also articles about members’ research, and essays on issues in the field. ARNOVA is currently exploring new publication projects and media that would allow it to bring both new, and significant but out of print material in our field to the public.

In addition, ARNOVA has published three volumes in its Occasional Paper Series. The latest volume — Research on Social Entrepreneurship: Understanding and Contributing to an Emerging Field — sheds light on the most promising new approaches to researching social entrepreneurship, from both academics and practitioners, and covers the following topics: developing an evidence—based definition of and theoretical framework for social entrepreneurship research; the extent of institutionalization of the social enterprise field; methods for assessing the impact of social entrepreneurs' work; a comparison of social entrepreneurship in the United States and abroad; and a case study on a specific social enterprise. The volume concludes with recommendations for several promising areas of social entrepreneurship research, including new legal forms for hybrid organizations, capitalization of enterprise activity, the state of education for the next generation of social entrepreneurs, and international comparisons of social enterprise models.

The second volume — Emerging Areas of Volunteering — includes articles on episodic volunteering, virtual volunteering, cross—national volunteering, and employee volunteer programs. This volume also revisits two longstanding forms of volunteer involvement — volunteering to government and volunteering to nonprofit organization boards of directors — to propose theoretical or empirical advances in how we address these topics. Philanthropy in Communities of Color — the first volume published in the Occasional Paper Series — focuses on giving and volunteering traditions in communities of color.

The ARNOVA-L listserv was established as an international electronic forum for anyone using or interested in nonprofit organizations, voluntary action or philanthropy, to facilitate the rapid sharing of concerns, interests, problems and solutions among interested scholars and practitioners.

ARNOVA has a number of special interest groups for members:

The Community and Grassroots Associations (CGA) Section of ARNOVA is a formal subgroup of ARNOVA members interested in community organizations grassroots associations, self-help groups, and other phenomena related to these kinds of groups, such as voluntary associations, all-volunteer groups, small paid-staff nonprofits, faith-based volunteer groups, volunteerism in independent groups, volunteer participation and motivation, social action/advocacy groups, social movement groups, smaller interest groups and citizen participation groups.

The Pracademics Section's purpose is "to build more effective academic-practitioner relationships in order to foster and disseminate high-quality research and strengthen nonprofit management education, community service, voluntary action, and philanthropic studies."

Social Entrepreneurship/Enterprise Section (SEES) facilitates the interaction among ARNOVA members who are interested in increasing the level of research, debate, and understanding regarding organizations, projects, and activities/initiatives associated with social entrepreneurship and/or social enterprise. Broadly defined, these terms refer to initiatives that are associated with aspects of innovation and modes of earned income generation by nongovernmental organizations (i.e., nonprofit organizations).

The Teaching Section of ARNOVA provides a forum for discussion, information sharing, networking and research among those who teach about the nonprofit sector and philanthropic studies. This section attempts to build a community of scholars and practitioners who are committed to improving the teaching and learning of nonprofit sector and/or philanthropic studies.

Theories, Issues, and Boundaries (TIBS) explores the broad and fundamental questions related to the nature and identity of the field of nonprofit studies. This involves examining, discussing, and debating its epistemological, philosophical, and political dimensions and assumptions. This endeavor will provide critical analysis that will hopefully influence future research agendas, both theoretically and practically oriented.

The Values, Religion, Altruism, and Drawbacks Section (VRADS) seeks to provide a home within ARNOVA for those scholars of the Voluntary Nonprofit Sector (VNPS), broadly conceived, who are engaged in theoretical and/or empirical exploration of the role of values in the sector. Values can range from very beneficial, altruistic, and "good," to those forms that are harmful, self-serving, and "evil" at the other extreme.