Nonprofit Studies Program¹
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Nonprofit Studies Program (NSP) was organized in 2001 to foster collaborative research on the nonprofit sector within the academic community, to promote policy research that is relevant in today’s political and economic environment, and to serve as a link between scholars and nonprofit practitioners in creating and disseminating knowledge about the sector. The Program involves educational, research and service activities focused on helping nonprofit organizations address their social missions effectively through problem-solving, policy advocacy and effective deployment of their resources. The Program has special strengths in economic analysis, resource development and management, and policy analysis applied to the concerns of nonprofit organizations. Dennis Young is Director of the Nonprofit Studies Program.  

NSP is an interdisciplinary program with 33 core and associated faculty from the Andrew Young School, other schools and colleges of Georgia State University, and other local universities. This year we were pleased to welcome Dr. Janelle Kerlin to our core faculty. Janelle comes to us from the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and is an expert in social enterprise and international dimensions of the nonprofit sector. NSP also welcomed Linda Serra this year, who has joined us as a director of publications. Linda was formerly managing editor of the journal Nonprofit Management and Leadership at the Mandel Center, Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, two of our core faculty have assumed new leadership roles in the NSP. Dr. Harvey Newman is director of educational programs, and Dr. Janet Johnson is associate director of the program, with a special focus on research initiatives.

This year, NSP also was pleased to welcome new members of our distinguished advisory board, including Helene Gayle, President of CARE, and Katie Lincoln, President of The Lincoln Institute. Of special interest, our board has commissioned a resource development committee that will lead our fund development efforts. We also welcomed new members of our Associated Faculty, including James Cox of the Department of Economics, James Wolk of the Department of Social Work, Nicholas Marudas of CARE and Auburn University, and Edward Queen and Peter Topping of Emory University.

This year was filled with new initiatives, making improvements and adding new courses at the master’s level and in our graduate certificate programs, creating new study groups to help with the formulation of productive and relevant research projects, hosting a new lecture series in economic stewardship and leadership, sponsorship of national conferences, undertaking a feasibility study for a new journal on nonprofit policy, and other developments. We look forward to an even more exciting year in 2007.

Projects

Social Service Study Group. Led by James Wolk of the Department of Social Work at Georgia State and Dennis R. Young of NSP, a group of faculty and leaders of nonprofit social services organizations in Atlanta met to discuss a research agenda, focusing on major issues facing these organizations. Members of the group include Janet Johnson, Janelle Kerlin and Eric Twombly of Georgia State, and community leaders including Patricia Showell, Clint Dye, Bill Bolling, Maritza Pinchon, Vince Smith and Bill Matson. A research project is being formulated to examine leadership succession and sources of future leadership for nonprofit social services organizations in Atlanta.

Philanthropy Study Group. This group is a collective effort of the NSP, The Southeastern Council of Foundations, The Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta, The Foundation Center-Atlanta, the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and Alexander, Haas, Martin & Partners. A select group of philanthropy leaders have been convened to review key issues facing philanthropy in Georgia and how research can illuminate and help address these issues. A research agenda is under development.

Selected Publications

Books and Monographs. Faculty published two books in 2006 on the management and leadership needs of nonprofit organizations, and two monographs on the nonprofit sector: Financing Nonprofits: Putting Theory into Practice, edited by Dennis R. Young and published by Alta-Mira Press, articulates new theory and practical advice for determining the appropriate mixes of different sources of income for nonprofit organizations.

Wise Decision-making in Uncertain Times: Using Nonprofit Resource Effectively, edited by Dennis R. Young and published by the Foundation Center, explores the special challenges nonprofits face in making decisions in a dynamic and uncertain environment.

Reid, Elizabeth J. and Janelle A. Kerlin. Monograph. The International Charitable Nonprofit Subsector in the United States: International Understanding, International Development and Assistance, and International Affairs. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 2006.

De Vita, Carol J., Eric C. Twombly, and Jennifer Claire Auer. The Nonprofit Human Service Sector in the United States. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, forthcoming.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters. Faculty and associates of NSP also published many different articles and book chapters on issues dealing with the operations and effectiveness of nonprofits. The following is a selection of these articles:

Harvey K. Newman and David M. Van Slyke. “Venture Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship in Community Redevelopment,” Nonprofit Management and Leadership, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 345-368, Spring 2006.

Susan Laury and Laura Taylor. “Altruism Spillovers: Are Behaviors in Context-free Experiments Predictive of Altruism Toward a Naturally Occurring Public Good?” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming.

David M. Van Slyke, Shena Ashley and Janet Johnson. “Nonprofit Performance, Fund-Raising Effectiveness and Strategies for Engaging African Americans in Philanthropy,” American Review of Public Administration, forthcoming.

Christopher Horne, David M. Van Slyke and Janet Johnson. ”Charitable Choice Implementation: What Public Managers Should Know About Public Opinion and the Potential Impact of Government Funding on Private Giving,” International Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 29, No. 10-11, pp. 819-836, 2006.

David M. Van Slyke and Janet Johnson. “Nonprofit Organizational Performance and Resource Development Strategies,” Public Performance and Management Review, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 466-495, June 2006.

Janelle A. Kerlin. “Social Enterprise in the United States and Europe: Understanding and Learning from the Differences,” Voluntas, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2006.

Janelle A. Kerlin. “U.S.-Based International NGOs and Federal Government Foreign Assistance: Out of Alignment?” chapter in Nonprofits and Government: Collaboration and Conflict, 2nd Edition, Elizabeth T. Boris and C. Eugene Steuerle (eds.), Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 2006.

Janelle A. Kerlin. “Social Enterprise in the United States and Abroad: Learning from Our Differences,” chapter in Research on Social Entrepreneurship, Rachel Mosher-Williams (ed.), ARNOVA Occasional Paper Series, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2006.

Janelle A. Kerlin and Supaporn Thanasombat. “The International Charitable Nonprofit Subsector: Scope, Size, and Revenue,” policy brief, Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, 2006.

Janelle A. Kerlin. “U.S. Government Funding for International Nongovernmental Organizations,” policy brief, Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, 2006.

Dennis R. Young. “Mission-Market Tension in Managing Nonprofit Organizations,” (published in Hebrew), Social Security, 2006.

Dennis R. Young. “Complementary, Supplementary or Adversarial?: A Theoretical and Historical Examination of Nonprofit-Government Relations in the U.S.,” Chapter 1 (revised) in Government and Nonprofit Organizations: The Challenges of Civil Society, 2nd edition, Elizabeth T. Boris and C. Eugene Steurele (eds.), The Urban Institute, pp. 37-79, 2006.

Dennis R. Young. “Alternative Perspectives on Social Enterprise,” Chapter 1 in Nonprofits and Business: A New World of Innovation and Adaptation, Joseph Cordes and Eugene Steuerle (eds.), The Urban Institute, forthcoming.

Dennis R. Young. “A Unified Theory of Social Enterprise,” chapter in Non-market Entrepreneurship: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Gordon E. Shockley, Peter M. Frank and Roger R. Stough (eds.), Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming.

Bruce Seaman. ”Empirical Studies of Demand for the Performing Arts,” Chapter 14 in Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, V.A. Ginsburgh and D. Throsby (eds.), Amsterdam: North-Holland, 2006.

Bruce Seaman. “Competition and the NonProfit Arts: The Lost Industrical Organization Agenda,” reprinted from Journal of Cultural Economics, 28(3), in Recent Developments in Cultural Economics, by R. Towse (ed.), Cheltenham, U.K: Edward Elgar, forthcoming.

Eric C. Twombly and Martin David. “Nonprofit Staffing and Compensation: Current Trends and Future Directions,” chapter in Nonprofits and Business: A New World of Innovation and Adaptation, Joseph J. Cordes and C. Eugene Steuerle (eds.), Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, forthcoming.

Carol J. De Vita and Eric C. Twombly. “Nonprofits and Federalism,” chapter in Nonprofits and Government: Collaboration and Conflict, 2nd Edition, Elizabeth T. Boris and C. Eugene Steuerle (eds.), Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 2006.

Eric C. Twombly. “Service Diversity in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations,” Social Science Quarterly, forthcoming.

Working Papers.  Associate faculty also produced a number of working papers documenting their research in progress.  These papers are available on the NSP website:

NP 06-05
The Relationship Among Regional Economic Impact Models: The Case of Cultural Assets
Bruce Seaman
November 2006

NP 06-04
Faith and Philanthropy in Atlanta
Harvey K. Newman
October 2006

NP 06-03
How Nonprofit Organizations Manage Risk
Dennis R. Young
July 2006

NP 06-02
Why are Nonprofits Exempt from the Corporate Income Tax?
Michael Rushton
July 2006

NP 06-01
Survey of Nonprofit Academic Centers
Dennis R. Young and Ron Chapman, Jr.
June 2006

Educational Initiatives

New MPA and MS/UPS Courses

This year, the school approved three new courses to become part of the nonprofit concentrations of the Master of Public Administration, Master of Science in Urban Policy Science and the Graduate Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management. These courses will be offered in the 2007-2008 academic year, and resulted from an intensive review of nonprofit studies graduate programs during the last year. The new courses are:

• PAUS 8213: Nonprofit Financial Resources
• PAUS 8223: Nonprofit Human Resources
• PAUS 8203: Nonprofit Advocacy, Law, and Policy

New Certificate Program Options

The school also approved new variations of the Graduate Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management to allow students greater flexibility to focus on their particular needs and interests. These variations reflect emphases on Nonprofit Finance, Nonprofit Administration and Nonprofit Emergency Management. Other combinations of courses, reflecting other specializations, are also available on approval.

New Doctoral Concentration

The Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies has restructured the concentrations in its joint doctoral program with the Georgia Institute of Technology. One of the four major concentrations is now Public and Nonprofit Management. Currently two students have declared this concentration.

EDEN Doctoral Program

From October 30 through November 3, Dennis Young was a member of the faculty team for the EDEN Doctoral Seminar on Non-Profit Organisation and Management sponsored by the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management in Brussels, Belgium. Other members of the faculty team were Filip Wijkstrom of the Stockholm School of Economics and Gemma Donnelly-Cox of Trinity College in Dublin. Fourteen doctoral students from various countries in Europe as well as Australia and the U.S. participated in the program. The purpose of the program was to orient early-stage doctoral students to the field of nonprofit sector research and to guide them in formulating their doctoral studies. Nicholas Harvey, a student in Georgia State’s nonprofit doctoral concentration was one of the participants.

Executive Leadership program with GNC and Emory

Over the past year, leaders of the Georgia Center for Nonprofts and the Emory University School of Business have been working with NSP leaders to develop a new, high-level one-week executive leadership program for nonprofit organization executives. The course is expected to be offered in June 2007 and will emphasize strategic thinking, economic stewardship and qualities of leadership. The target audience is the next generation of CEOs of major nonprofit organizations, both locally and nationally.

Barcelona Distance Learning Program

NSP is beginning collaboration with the University of Barcelona, Spain, to extend its Spanish language, web-based distance learning, master’s degree programs in Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. The purpose of the collaboration is to help extend the reach of this program in North and South America and to enhance its content with American perspectives. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Harvey Newman and Dennis Young have been appointed to the faculties governing and teaching in these programs.

Visiting Scholars

The NSP was fortunate to host several distinguished visitors during 2006. These included Prof. Masayoshi Fukuda, Nihon University, Tokyo, who is studying social enterprise initiatives, and Prof. Robert Herman, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Prof. Mary Tschirhart, Syracuse University, who advised NSP on its master's degree program curricula.

Activities

Nonprofit Executive Roundtable. The sixth annual Nonprofit Executive Roundtable was held April 12, 2006. The keynote speaker was Virginia Hodgkinson, Research Professor of Public Policy at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University, whose speech was entitled “Amid Retreating Resources and Growing Income Inequality: Whither Nonprofits?” Dr. Hodgkinson’s presentation was followed by a panel discussion. The panelists were Doug Ammar of the Georgia Justice Project, Gary Nelson of Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Pat Showell of Families First, and Eric Twombly of the Nonprofit Studies Program. NPS Prof. Bruce Seaman served as moderator.

UPS Lecture on Nonprofit Leadership, Governance and Economic Stewardship. The first UPS Lecture on Nonprofit Leadership, Governance and Economic Stewardship took place on October 27, 2006. The speaker was Herrington Bryce, Life of Virginia Professor of Business Administration at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The lecture was entitled ”Challenges of Nonprofit Leaders in a Time of Scarcity and Scrutiny.”

This lecture was made possible by a generous grant from the UPS Foundation. The event was open to the public, and especially targeted for nonprofit community leaders.  Approximately 100 people attended.

Research Seminar Series. Our research seminar series in 2006 offered opportunities for faculty, students and interested members of the Atlanta community to discuss research in progress. The sessions were led by faculty and researchers associated with the NSP:

• Jeffrey Brudney, Young-Joo Lee and Michael Wald, “All in a Day's Work? Testing a Benefits-Costs Approach to Volunteering,” December 15, 2006
• Bruce Seaman, “The Relationships Among Regional Economic Impact Models: The Case of Cultural Assets,” November 28, 2006
• Dennis R. Young, “How Nonprofit Organizations Manage Risk,” October 3, 2006
• Edward L. Queen, “Management Implications of Concerns about Terrorist Financing,” September 12, 2006
• Gary Henry, Dana Rickman, and Kevin Fortner, ”The impacts of foundations on higher education policy,” April 18, 2006
• Susan Laury, “Applications of experimental economics to nonprofit fund development,” March 21, 2006
• Harvey Newman, “Faith and philanthropy in Atlanta,” February 21, 2006
• Eric Twombly, “Privatization and devolution,” January 17, 2006

Local Workshops. Several NSP faculty offered workshops through The Foundation Center – Atlanta. William Waugh, Bruce Seaman, Dennis Young and John O’Kane spoke on disaster management, economic impact of the arts, and nonprofit finance, respectively.

National and International Activity. The NSP was very actively engaged professionally at the national and international levels in 2006. Highlights of these activities include the following:

• The NSP was formally admitted as a full member in good standing to the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council, a professional association which advances the work of nonprofit programs in North American universities.
• The NSP hosted the plenary session of the Public/Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management during its annual conference, Atlanta, Ga., August 2006. Dennis Young chaired a colloquy on Social Enterprise at this conference and gave the plenary session at its doctoral consortium session. Alicia Philipp, chair of NSP’s Advisory Board and Executive Director of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, gave the keynote speech for the Public/Nonprofit Division.
• The NSP participated in the Host Committee and sponsored student scholarships to attend the annual conference of the Social Enterprise Alliance, held in Atlanta, March 2006. 
• Faculty of the NSP gave papers and led sessions at several other national scholarly and professional conferences related to nonprofit study in 2006, including the annual conferences of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR), the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), the American Political Science Association, the Benchmark3 Conference on Nonprofit Management Education, the UK Social Enterprise Research Conference, London South Bank University, and the Conference on The Role of Diasporas in Developing the Homeland, George Washington University.

Community Service

In a variety of ways, in addition to activities listed above, NSP faculty have been quite active in community service work in the Atlanta region. For example, faculty are working with the Georgia Nonprofit Center to develop competencies for nonprofit leadership training. Faculty serve on various nonprofit governing and advisory boards and committees. Individually, faculty also advise key local organizations including Pathways, the Regional Council of Churches, the Foundation Center – Atlanta Chapter, and others.

1. For a complete listing of AYSPS Active Research Sponsored Grants from CY2006, see the Appendix: Report on External Funding.