Making Decisions in Times of Change
By Russell A. Cargo, Ph.D. (racargo@vcu.edu) and Deborah Barfield Williamson, M.P.A., J.D. (dfbarfield@vcu.edu)
Across the country, nonprofits of all sizes and types are responding to a period of economic contraction--a period of reduced revenues from fees, contributions, grants and investments. A well-run nonprofit organzation will position itself to face uncertain times by having in place a strategy to address downturns. In the event a nonprofit must downsize, a number of legal issues exist that must be considered so as to protect the organization’s fiscal security as well as its reputation. This article provides nonprofit organizations with guidelines for preparing for possible downturns. Click here for article.

Research on John Carver’s Policy Governance Model Reveals Its Implementation and Effectiveness
By Patricia Dautel Nobbie, Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, Athens, Ga. (pnobbie@dhr.state.ga.us)
New research on John Carver’s Policy Governance Model is shedding some light on the implementation and effectiveness of the model in nonprofit boards of directors. Patricia Nobbie’s doctoral dissertation, “Testing the Implementation, Board Performance, and Organizational Effectiveness of the Policy Governance Model in Nonprofit Boards of Directors,” is the first comprehensive, empirical examination of the model in use. The research examined relationships between implementation of the Policy Governance model, performance of the board of directors, and the effectiveness of the organization. Click here for article.

What’s in a Name? Selecting, Keeping and Changing Nonprofit Organizations’ Names
By Susan M. Chambre, Baruch College, City University of New York (smchambre@aol.com)
The name an organization chooses and the decision to change its name tells us a great deal about how an organization presents itself to donors, board members and clients. Names are an important part of an organization’s identity, a symbol of the organization. Despite their significance, we know little about nonprofits’ naming practices. This article maps the empirical and theoretical issues regarding how nonprofits select, keep and change their names and the functions their names serve in their growth and survival. Click here for article.

   

On Being Nonprofit: A Conceptual and Policy Primer (2002)
By Peter Frumkin, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 213 pages, $35.00 (Hardcover)
Provides a road map to the evolving conceptual and policy terrain of the nonprofit sector. Drawing on prominent economic, political, and sociological explanations of nonprofit activity, Frumkin clarifies the debate over the underlying rationale for the nonprofit sector’s position in America by examining four functions that have come to define nonprofit organizations.

Nonprofit Nation, A New Look at the Third America (2002)
By Michael O’Neill, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 336 pages, $35.00 (Cloth)
In this significantly revised edition of The Third America (1989), Michael O’Neill, professor of nonprofit management, College of Professional Studies, University of San Francisco, offers more extensive and updated statistics on the nonprofit sector and nine subsectors, a chapter on theories of the sector, and more detailed analyses about the future of the sector.

The Law of Intermediate Sanctions: A Guide for Nonprofits (2003)
By Bruce R. Hopkins, Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons, 362 pages, $45.00 (Hardcover)
To establish an adequate system for punishing nonprofit abuse, Congress created intermediate sanctions as a means of imposing special punitive taxes on transactions involving excessive benefits paid by tax-exempt organizations. Nonprofit legal expert attorney Bruce R. Hopkins explains these new rules in this book. Hopkins details the intent and implications of intermediate sanctions, how nonprofits might ensure that their organization does not get caught up in these penalties, and how to respond if sanctions are imposed.

Strengthening Nonprofit Performance: A Funder’s Guide to Capacity Building (2002)
By Paul Connolly and Carol Lukas, Saint Paul, MN, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 163 pages, $35 (Paperback)
Scans the many strategies that grant-makers can use to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations and communities and provides examples of strategies employed by various grant-makers. Paul Connolly, senior vice president at the Conservation Company, and Carol Lukas, director of National Services for the Wilder Center for Communities at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, have organized the book for readers who want an overview of current thinking on capacity building and specific, how-to ideas about seven different capacity building strategies that grant-makers can utilize.

   

September 2-3
9th Researching the Voluntary Sector Conference, University of Central England in Birmingham; Contact: Jayne Blackborow at 0207-520-2484; e-mail: jayne.blackborow@ncvo-vol.org.uk.

September 24
Ninth Annual Indiana Fundraising Day, Marriott Hotel, Indianapolis; Ph: 317-842-9268; e-mail: afpic@iquest.net; website and registration: http://events.indianafundraisers.org.

October 8-10
8th Annual Midwest Conference on Philanthropy (Association of Fundraising Professionals—Chicago Chapter), “Vision in Action,” Navy Pier, Chicago, Ill.; Ph: (630) 416-1166; website: www.afpnet.org.

November 2-4
2003 Independent Sector Annual Conference, The Westin St. Francis, San Francisco, Calif.; Contact: Independent Sector, 1200 Eighteenth St., NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036; Ph: 202-467-6100; website: www.independentsector.org; e-mail: info@independentsector.org.

November 20-22
2003 Annual ARNOVA Conference, Marriott City Center, Denver, Colo.; Contact: ARNOVA at 317-684-2120; website: www.arnova.org.

   

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