Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Reciprocity in informal helping, or informal volunteering, is often seen as a way to ensure that people who are not altruistically motivated exchange help. Yet, it could be problematic for those who are unable to help, as they would be excluded from this exchange. We study to what extent people’s reciprocity expectations affect informal helping intentions and whether necessity of helping and perceived helpfulness (indirect reciprocity) compensate and moderate this relationship. Expectations are tested with a factorial survey conducted among the Longitudinal Internet studies for the Social Sciences panel (N vignettes = 3,299). Multilevel regression analyses show that people have stronger intentions to help those who are likely to reciprocate but that a strong need for help and having helped others in the past are more important reasons to help. Furthermore, the effect of likelihood of reciprocity on informal helping intentions is stronger for neighbors who never helped others. Policy implications of these results are discussed.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have long been recognized as playing vital roles in society. Nevertheless, a coherent understanding of how these roles align with broader social theory, and how to conceptualize the interface between nonprofits and society is still lacking. In pursuit of a solid theoretical foundation, we conducted a systematic literature review encompassing 119 publications spanning from 1959 to 2021 that delve into the societal roles of NPOs. We reason that much of prior research has implicitly adhered to a functionalist perspective akin to that proposed by Talcott Parsons nearly seven decades ago. Our review identifies four overarching societal roles fulfilled by NPOs: service delivery, advocacy, integration, and the development of cultural patterns. Recognizing the limitations of Parsonian functionalism, we advocate for a shift toward a neo-functionalist, systems-theoretical framing to allow for an analysis of societal functions that is more sensitive to the heterogeneity and contradictions pervasive in contemporary society.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. The aim of this study is to compare the levels of volunteering by German baby boomers, who are currently in their fifties and sixties, to cohorts born earlier. Using data from the German Aging Survey (DEAS), logistic and negative binomial regressions were employed to analyze the prevalence and time contributions that baby boomers invest in volunteering. The study indicates a higher prevalence of volunteering by baby boomers compared with earlier-born cohorts and suggests that the large size of this cohort will imply high levels of volunteering that could increase even further as the cohort approaches retirement. Moreover, our findings suggest stability in voluntary time contributions by baby boomers compared with earlier-born cohorts; this contrasts with the existing research showing decreased overall time contributions to volunteering. The study underscores the importance of considering cohort-specific differences in voluntary engagement behavior to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of volunteering.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. This article explores the evolving nature of volunteering in fluid forms of organizing and their potential for civic action. While previous research suggests that highly individualized volunteering can undermine collectivity and disconnect tasks from change-oriented goals, thus diminishing its civic character, this study employs Lichterman and Eliasoph’s conceptual framework of civic action and Dewey’s concept of ends-in-view to demonstrate how civic action arises in fluid forms of organizing through the ongoing coordination of organizational maintenance. Drawing on an 18-month ethnographic study of female breakers aiming to improve women’s access to a male-dominated street dance scene, we find that fluid organizing produces a distinct form of volunteering that invigorates a collective and change-oriented endeavor. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding and investigating new contexts and forms of volunteering to shed new light on contemporary volunteerism, its multifaceted nature, and its potential to mobilize collective efforts for societal change.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Many large-scale crises require rapid responses from spontaneous volunteers (SVs). The more effective the way in which volunteers develop organizationality, the better they are able to coordinate individual activities, and the better they can cope with demands imposed by a disaster. However, we currently know too little about how SV collectives emerge and develop organizationality in the context of crises. We, therefore, explore organizationality’s emerging phases and determinants by grounding our study on the “communication constitutes organizations” research stream, that is, the four flows (4 F) model. In our qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews, as well as (social) media data from five large-scale crises in Germany, we identify the role of space, symbols, and support (3 S), and their effects as enablers of legitimacy and collective identity. By complementing the 4 F model, we contribute to “communication constitutes organizations” research and draw implications for managing loose SV collectives in practice.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Nonprofit organizations are vital to the implementation of social policy and provide myriad benefits to those nearby, yet few studies consider founding patterns in small areas. Conceptualizing ecological processes at the local level and in the context of developmental regimes, this article investigates nonprofit founding events among neighborhoods with a unique data set aggregated by census tract from 2010 to 2016 in one northeast Ohio county (United States) using a hierarchical Bayesian model. The results broadly support the density dependence hypothesis, however, suggest high density is required to reduce founding rates in small areas. The results indicate nonprofit founding rates are lower in tracts with higher levels of economic disadvantage and higher shares of Latino residents. The paper calls for further research into nonprofit population dynamics among small areas and for policymakers to closely consider nonprofit founding events, as founding determines the future of a region’s nonprofit infrastructure.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. While little evidence supports the notion that financially responsible nonprofits must maintain low overhead ratios, the persistent preference for reduced overhead costs endures. Our study explores (a) the extent of underreporting behaviors, (b) the level of trust (or distrust) that nonprofit leaders have in overhead ratio reports, and (c) the motivations perceived by managers that drive nonprofits to adjust their overhead ratios and the resulting consequences. Experiment results from the “item sum double-list technique” (ISDLT) reveal that nonprofit managers may artificially lower their overhead ratios by approximately 10 percentage points, a range spanning from 7 to 16 percentage points. This adjustment aims to enhance their competitiveness in the funding market. Our vignette-based experiment uncovers significant trust issues related to reported low overhead ratios, potentially indicating accounting manipulation within the field. Complemented by open-ended survey responses from nonprofit managers, our research offers valuable insights into this domain.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. This study examines the role of learning and evaluation data utilization in nonprofit accountability practices. Survey data of 243 nonprofit managers were used to assess the pathway between learning environments and practices to evaluation data utilization and the subsequent sharing of evaluation information. Results from partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) indicate that supportive learning environments, where nonprofit managers and staff engage in learning practices, can facilitate data utilization for internal decision-making, thereby resulting in stronger linkages to sharing evaluation information. Our research suggests the need for intentional strategies around learning and data cultures in nonprofits, as nonprofit managers serve as the linchpin to internal accountability through using evaluation results to inform decisions, assess progress, improve programs, and train staff. Our research contributes to the nonprofit literature by showing how the combination of learning environments and practices serve as drivers for data-driven decision-making, which in turn improves nonprofit accountability practices.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Volunteers represent an important resource for nonprofit organizations. The competition for volunteers is rising, increasing the pressure to optimize volunteer recruiting. One way to recruit volunteers is the use of volunteering appeals. To help optimize such volunteering appeals, we conducted two conjoint studies to identify the importance of design attributes of volunteering appeals as well as the utilities of the different attribute levels for potential volunteers by using choice-based conjoint analysis. The conjoint analyses are based on two student samples. We provide a segmentation of volunteers, allowing nonprofit organizations to design volunteering appeals according to specific target groups.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Although people of Asian descent are the fastest-growing ethno-racial group in the United States, there has been limited research on how racialized experiences are related to their civic engagement behaviors. This study examines how perceived racial discrimination relates to political and community civic engagement among people of Asian descent living in California. Analyzing novel data from the 2021 California Health Interview Survey, we find that after the onset of COVID-19 people of Asian descent showed both the sharpest rise in perceived racial discrimination and the lowest level of civic engagement among all ethno-racial groups in California. Moreover, perceived racial discrimination was significantly associated with political engagement but not with community engagement among people of Asian descent. Finally, people of Asian descent showed some unique dynamics in comparison with other minoritized groups. We discuss the implications of these findings for nonprofit and voluntary sector research on the racialization of civic engagement.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. This paper studies the impact of motivation types on altruism levels among the nonprofit organization (NPO) workforces in Turkey. To measure altruism, we used a probabilistic dictator game with real stakes. In a sample of 228 NPO workers, 73% opted to donate an average of 50 out of approximately 100 USD instead of retaining the entire 100 USD for themselves in the case they might win. Our results show that the NPO workforce’s altruism levels vary greatly depending on their motivation type. Religiously motivated NPO workers show the highest levels of altruism, whereas career-oriented NPO workers show the lowest levels of altruism. Moreover, paid NPO workers show significantly lower levels of altruism compared to unpaid workers. In addition, motivation types partially explain the differences in altruism between unpaid and paid workers.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. The promotion of social innovations by non-profit and business organizations has gained increasing interest. Yet, there has been limited research on routines that organizations use to facilitate social innovations. This paper uses a dynamic capabilities framework to understand the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities for social innovation in small non-profit organizations. Through analysis of routines of 20 small organizations in five European metropolitan areas, the paper demonstrates that many microfoundation aspects resemble generic abilities of opportunity identification, alliancing, user engagement, networking, and organizational learning. However, their orientation toward public values requires incorporating commitments to social value and principles of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability, into different organizational processes. We suggest that social impact does not always require substantial investment and can be achievable through modest changes such as repurposing surplus resources. Building flexible routines that enable such incremental changes is a key element of organizational capability to adapt to changing contexts.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Involving volunteers to perform tasks through crowdsourcing projects is gaining popularity. However, attracting volunteers and keeping them engaged throughout a project sets great challenges to project managers. This article analyzes the effectiveness of recruiting and engagement instruments on volunteers’ activity. A mixed-method approach has been used, including interviews with project managers and quantitative data from a large Dutch crowdsourcing platform. The research results show that crowdsourcing projects benefit from being part of a platform because of the higher activity of experienced participants. The study also provides empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of timely communication and the speed of quality checks, both of which require project management resources. Finally, the study suggests that material rewards are less important for volunteer engagement than the intrinsic motivation of a point-based reward system.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. In debates about the role(s) and scale of entrepreneurial philanthropy in democracies, scholars discuss the erosion of distinctive public and private spheres and interests, and the replacement of the public sphere. This has occurred at the expense of public deliberation and participation, in favor of the reification of individuals and the role of experts/expertise. Drawing upon John Dewey’s The Public and Its Problems (1927/2016), I argue that there is an eclipse of the publicity of the public. This informs my case for the (re)conceptualization of philanthropy as a public, characterized by (a) the philanthropist as a social rather than an atomistic being, (b) the philanthropy-state dynamic and the publics’ claims, and (c) part of the radical vision of philanthropy. To ensure that private and public have analytical and practical resonance, it is imperative to (re)frame and (re)conceptualize what these concepts mean to entrepreneurial philanthropy and for its role in democracies.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Community businesses contribute to the economic and social well-being of the communities in which they operate. As a subset of hybrid organizations, community businesses have unique challenges and opportunities related to their community embeddedness. Our study adopts an institutional logic perspective to understand the evolutionary boundaries of community business, which we argue, are shaped by the interplay of tensions between the social, market, and community logics. While existing literature discusses institutional logics from a dichotomous angle, focusing mainly on the social and market logics, we argue that the introduction of a third logic (i.e., community logics) has ramifications for the evolution of hybrid organizations. The different trajectories may have implications for the social, community, and economic impact that organizations can have. We draw on 39 qualitative interviews to provide useful insights for policy and practice on supporting community businesses.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. Previous research has shown that monetary compensation can crowd out intrinsic motivation for various activities. However, the existing evidence regarding voluntary work is limited and has produced inconclusive findings in the past. This study aims to address this research gap by investigating how monetary compensation affects the supply of voluntary work in the context of volunteer coaches in sports clubs in Germany. A propensity score matching approach is employed to consider a potential selection bias. The results show no evidence for a crowding-out phenomenon and instead indicate positive effects on the supplied hours and numerous items measuring the retention and recruitment of volunteers. The findings are robust when analyzing the sample based on whether the motivation leans more toward intrinsic or extrinsic.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print. In his theory about the role of nonprofit enterprise, Henry Hansmann suggested that nonprofit status provides important information to consumers in low-information environments. In this article, we assess whether consumers use nonprofit status to form purchasing preferences as Hansmann predicted. Using choice-based conjoint analysis, we find that under different types of low-information circumstances, study participants prefer goods and services provided by nonprofits to those offered by businesses. In the absence of additional information (such as customer ratings and third-party certifications), nonprofit status serves as an important value signal to consumers. In the presence of additional information, nonprofit status is still relevant in some cases, although it becomes less so. The findings suggest that additional forms of information do not necessarily displace the value to consumers of information about organization type. We reflect on these findings in light of Hansmann’s thesis.

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Volume 52, Issue 6, Page 1513-1514, December 2023.

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