Author: Ben Barge
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Playing It Safe Won’t Save Us
Appeasement is in vogue. That doesn’t make it a good idea. We’re barely a month past the 2024 election, and the hot takes are flying. But a clear theme is already emerging. Former Hewlett program officer Daniel Stid captured it recently for the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In his op-ed, he calls on philanthropy to stop “funding…
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Reading through a new lens
Zuckerberg, Musk, and Bezos are paying for and hosting parties for the incoming. Don’t get worked up about that – you’re not invited. DO get worked up about the fact that, starting a few weeks ago, you should NOT trust any information you see on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. Why? Because Mark owns them. He…
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Calling All Donors (and Would-Be Donors): The Vital U.S. Nonprofit Sector is Under Threat and Must Be Protected
Nonprofits are facing significant, arguably unprecedented, challenges and it’s crucial that donors, whatever their ideologies or particular programmatic goals or priorities, pay attention. Three developments, in particular, worry me: a […] The post Calling All Donors (and Would-Be Donors): The Vital U.S. Nonprofit Sector is Under Threat and Must Be Protected appeared first on The…
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Where User Perceptions of Charities and Independent Nonprofit Ratings Meet: Inside the Black Box of Nonprofit Performance
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Scholars have pointed to the multidimensional nature of nonprofit performance, but some contend that user perspectives are often overlooked. To the extent that users rate their experiences and interactions with nonprofits on public online platforms, such as Google, this content presents an opportunity for tapping into user…
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Message Content and Diversity as an Effective Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy on Social Media
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. This article explores the relationship between solicitation messages posted by nonprofit organizations on their Facebook profile and attracting donations during online fundraising events. Recent studies suggest that certain types of messages are more effective at spurring donors to give, but the evidence base is founded mainly on…
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Bold Leadership and Uncommon Decency: In Memory of Mike Bailin
When I first met Michael Bailin in the office of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF) in New York in 2001, he described a new effort the Foundation was undertaking: […] The post Bold Leadership and Uncommon Decency: In Memory of Mike Bailin appeared first on The Center for Effective Philanthropy. Goto full post >>
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From Mission to Market: Assessing Sector Overlap Between Nonprofits and For-Profits
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. The ongoing debate about the distinctiveness of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors has intensified, particularly in light of recent research suggesting increasingly blurred boundaries due to the marketization of the nonprofit sector. In this study, we are the first to analyze mission statements (n = 611,077) from…
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Why Cooperation in Volunteer Work Can Fail Despite the Best Intentions: Conflicting Ideas in Narrations From Volunteers
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. This article provides an analysis of narratives about day-to-day cooperation between volunteers. It shows what challenges there are to cooperation, even when those involved share the same objectives and want to cooperate. Our analysis of the narrative interviews revealed two contrasting ideas volunteers have about cooperation: The…
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Participatory Grant-Making as a Social Innovation: Examining Relational Processes in Social Finance
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. This study examines how philanthropic foundations develop innovative approaches to grant-making by collaborating with social entrepreneurs who are embedded in marginalized communities. Traditionally, foundations award grants that meet predetermined strategic objectives that support their theories of change. However, this study explores an alternative approach known as participatory…
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Organizational Culture and Effectiveness in Community-Based Nonprofits
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Community-based nonprofits have traditionally emphasized group and developmental cultures which stress the importance of people and transformation. However, evolving institutional environments that champion competing cultures associated with professional and enterprising ideals have increasingly interpenetrated contemporary nonprofits. Drawing on the Competing Values Culture Framework (CVCF), this research explores…
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Many Things to Many People: The Diversity of Motivations for Joining Diasporic Organizations in the Global South
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Small, grassroots organizations in the Global South play an increasingly prominent role in political advocacy and service provision for displaced populations. Literature on both diasporic organizations and civil society organizations has largely focused on those based in the Global North, however. This article examines the formation of…
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The Combined Effect of Professional and Community Strategic Orientations on the Adoption of High-Commitment HRM in Nonprofit Organizations
Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. High-commitment human resource management (HRM) includes practices, such as autonomy, information, suggestion-making, recognition, equity of rewards, training, and career management. Drawing on notions of horizontal and vertical fit, previous research highlights the relationship between strategic orientation and the adoption of high-commitment HRM. We further examine this relationship…