Non-profit Project Research Articles

Investment Risks in the Field of Social Entrepreneurship

In this article, the authors investigate the types and causes of risks of entrepreneurs working in the field of non-profit social projects. The authors draw conclusions about the high importance of such risks as reputational risks, the risks of negative attitude to the project by interested audiences, the risks of underfunding

Profitable Nonprofits? Reward-Based Crowdfunding in the Czech Republic

AbstractThis paper deals with crowdfunding as a new and alternative mechanism of nonprofit funding which has thus far attracted little scholarly attention in the Czech context. It focuses on the factors that affect a campaign’s overfunding rate and determines whether these factors are consistent among different forms of project creators. A comprehensive analysis of reward-based crowdfunding in the Czech Republic was conducted based on the data from 617 projects using the Czech crowdfunding platform Hithit that were categorized according to the status of the project creator. Using binary logistic regression, a statistic estimation on an overall sample and on a sample of purely nonprofit projects was executed in order to observe if the outcomes diff er. Th e key empirical finding is that NGOs tend to raise fewer additional funds than other forms of project creators. Except for certain specific factors, the effects of the examined factors were consistent across all samples. Th is new and innovative approach to resource insufficiency by using alternative funding sources presents an important and unexplored research gap in the (post-) transitive context of nonprofit sector studies, enabling a view of policy implications for Czech NGOs.

Building a Small Cinema: Resisting Neoliberal Colonization in Liverpool

In its stated aim of “creating cinemas not supermarkets,” the Small Cinema project voiced its alterity to the recent redevelopment of Liverpool’s city center and those of other former industrial cities throughout the Midlands and the north of the UK. These regeneration projects addressed the problem of a shrinking manufacturing base by replacing them with service industries, a move which has entailed the privatization of vast tracts of public space. Conversely, the building, functioning, and general praxis of the Small Cinema project suggests a mode of practice that more accurately fits within the paradigm of a collaborative commons than a capitalist marketplace. The project’s exemption from market criteria grants it the freedom to pursue public over private goods, thereby constituting a point of resistance to the ongoing neoliberalization of the city and changes to government policy that make it increasingly difficult for non-profit projects to exist. Historically speaking, cinemas have been accessible to the working class in a way that other artistic media have not. However, while the history of film as a tool for political subversion is well documented, less attention has been paid to the physical construction of independent cinematic space, its programming/running, and its potential as a node of resistance to neoliberal colonization. This paper uses the case study of the Small Cinema project in Liverpool as a means by which to understand how cinematic spaces can counteract the effects of policies that continue to have such a detrimental impact on the arts and education, as well as social health and well-being.

Governing nonprofit platform ecosystems – an information platform for refugees

ABSTRACTThe number of refugees arriving in Europe increased dramatically in 2015. Following arrival at the host country, refugees need access to information on various topics such as applying for asylum, medical care, educational offerings, jobs, or social activities. As many different parties using different channels provide this information, refugees struggle to access relevant information at the right time. Our goal in addressing this information deficit is to support a digital information platform for refugees by developing a governance strategy for the ecosystem of information providers. Within an action research study based on a nonprofit project, we evaluate the implementation of governance mechanisms derived from platform and community governance literature. Our results show that governance mechanisms are implemented differently for nonprofit platform ecosystems than for commercial platform ecosystems. These results enhance the societal impact of the information platform developed in the project. The study contributes to theory on governance of platform ecosystems and IT-enabled collaboration by evaluating established governance mechanisms in the context of nonprofit platforms.

The new structural economics: patient capital as a comparative advantage

The world economy needs a growth-lifting strategy, and infrastructure financing seems to hold the key. Based on the New Structural Economics (Lin, 2010; 2012) we discuss the heterogeneity of capital focusing on the long-term versus short-term orientation (STO). Traditional neoliberalism assumes that capital is homogenous, complete capital account liberalization is “beneficial”.However, previous studies have found evidence of long-term orientation (LTO) in the culture of many Asian economies (Hofstede, 1991). In this exploratory paper, we suggest that the LTO can be considered a special endowment which, under certain circumstances, can be developed into a comparative advantage (CA) in patient capital. If these countries can turn their latent CA into arevealed CA in patient capital, and develop the ability to “package” profitable and non-profitable projects in meaningful ways, they would have a “revealed” competitive advantage in infrastructure financing. The ability to “package” public infrastructure and private services is one of the key institutional factors for success in overseas cooperation.

Turning Patient Engagement into Scientific Disruption

Turning Patient Engagement into Scientific Disruption

‘Value for Whom, by Whom’: Investigating Value Constructs in Non-Profit Project Portfolios

In most non-profit organisations (NPOs), there are multiple programs, projects or initiatives running simultaneously. The management of multiple projects in organisations can be coined as project portfolio management (PPM) (Archer & Ghasemzadeh 1999; Pennypacker & Dye 2002). In any project-based organisation, it is critical that selected projects align with and deliver the organisation’s strategy or mission. Decisions about project funding are strategic decisions, particularly when there are resource limitations. In PPM decision making, the allocation of resources to projects requires a clear judgement of value across multiple perspectives. Value has often been expressed in financial terms, however increasingly research indicates that non-financial considerations are equally important in evaluating value.A key task in project portfolio management is to maximise value across the portfolio. However, value can be a subjective notion, as each person may have different expectations of what is valuable. The involvement of diverse stakeholder interests could create complexities in decision making in non-profit organisations due to value being interpreted in different ways by the stakeholders. Furthermore in order to achieve its purpose, non-profits depend heavily on donors, patrons and sponsors - stakeholders who contribute to the portfolio but are often not the direct recipients of the services provided by the non-profit organisation (Kaplan 2012). Non-profit portfolios often compete with other initiatives for resources and attention from the same donors and sponsors, and may need to constantly justify the value they provide to these stakeholders.Most research about value in PPM has been conducted in the ‘for-profit’ sector. Recent value-based studies in the project portfolio field stress the importance of considering both commercial and non-commercial value in portfolio decision making (Killen, du Plessis & Young 2012; Kopman 2013; Martinsuo & Killen 2014; Thiry 2001, 2002). Non-commercial value includes the ecological, social, and learning dimensions of value (Martinsuo & Killen 2014), whilst commercial value is characterised by financial and economic measures like market value. The research reported in this paper is distinct as it investigates non-commercial value in the non-profit sector. The study extends our knowledge about strategic value and multi-stakeholder management in the non-profit sector. The findings also contribute to the overall understanding of PPM by providing insights about the multi-perspective aspects of value and the management of portfolios in complex environments involving multiple stakeholders.This paper commences with an outline of past and contemporary views about value and discusses how these views might relate to PPM and NPOs. Next, it deliberates the extent to which multi-stakeholder perspectives of value are discussed in the literature. An empirical qualitative research design is used to explore value in project portfolios from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in two inter-related case NPOs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings to highlight several value perspectives drawn from the non-profit sector that have significant theoretical and practical contributions to understanding value typologies that underline stakeholder constructs of value and decision making in project portfolios.

The construction of the coordinated dynamic model of owners’ integrated management organization of governmental non-profitable investment projects

The owner of governmental non-profitable investment projects needs to build integrated management organization to achieve the construction goal. Synergy refers to the elements beyond its own separate function produced by the subsystems coordination in the complex large system. It forms the unity function and joint action of the whole system. The synergy of governmental non-profitable investment projects owners’ integrated management organization can help owners coordinate the relationship of the participators. In full-life span cycle the management organization can be integrated. The system dynamics is the link of the natural science and social science. This theory can help owners to realize the synergy of owners’ integrated management organization. The social optimal benefits can be realized. Firstly, by the subsystem of owners’ synergy effect model the construction units, design units, supervision units and management/consulting units are built. The coordination model of owners’ integrated management organization is constructed. The dominant dynamics equation of owners’ integrated management organization is the basis of the synergy analysis of governmental non-profitable investment projects. The owner can build integrated management organization, ensuring governmental non-profitable investment projects being built successfully. This template explains and demonstrates how to prepare your camera-ready paper for Trans Tech Publications. The best is to read these instructions and follow the outline of this text.

From world health to world heritage

In a pedestrianized area in the midst of San Francisco, a United Nations flag flutters alongside an American one. Granite columns flank the plaza bearing the names of United Nations Member States and the year in which they joined the Organization. There is a sunken fountain designed by Lawrence Halprin to symbolize the seven continents of the world tied together by oceans. Designed in the mid-1970s to commemorate 30 years since the creation of the United Nations, the plaza raised controversy among architects and San Francisco residents, including for the plaza’s addition into the non-profit group Project for Public Spaces’ Hall of Shame. Though the group criticized the placement of the fountain, it simultaneously praised the plaza’s potential to foster thriving and dynamic community interaction on market days and to provide an entrance to the Civic Center. The Project for Public Spaces called for the United Nations Plaza to “stay true to its name and do all it can to showcase the assets of the multiple cultures that are part of the market”.

The TEVAR App: a contemporary guide to thoracic endovascular aortic repair†.

There is a growing number of devices used for thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). The designs of stent grafts and their delivery systems differ substantially. The success of TEVAR is based on the correct use of stent graft delivery systems, the identification and understanding of radiopaque markers, and the stent graft's accurate placement. In this brief communication, we introduce the TEVAR App-a novel guide for thoracic endovascular aortic repair. It is a tool that provides key information that is quick to access and easy to understand on the thoracic aortic stent grafts currently available. It includes instructions for use, animations demonstrating the stent grafts' deployment, troubleshooting information, size tables, the locations of radiopaque markers, stent graft and delivery system photos, chest X-rays, and information on magnetic resonance safety and compatibility. Furthermore, it contains the TEVAR Calculator, which assists one in planning stent graft size according to individual aortic dimensions and oversizing factors. The TEVAR App is cost-free, and its development has not been supported financially by any industry. It is a non-profit project that aims to educate and help physicians performing TEVARs.

Development of a Breast Cancer Treatment Program in Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Experiences From the Field.

PurposeThe nonprofit Project Medishare launched a breast cancer treatment program in Port-au-Prince in July 2013 to address the demand for breast cancer care in Haiti. We outline the development of the program, highlight specific challenges, and discuss key considerations for others working in global oncology.MethodsWe reflected on our experiences in the key areas of developing partnerships, building laboratory capacity, conducting medical training, using treatment algorithms, and ensuring access to safe, low-cost chemotherapy drugs. We also critically reviewed our costs and quality measures.ResultsThe program has treated a total of 139 patients with breast cancer with strong adherence to treatment regimens in 85% of patients. In 273 chemotherapy administrations, no serious exposure or adverse safety events were reported by staff. The mortality rate for 94 patients for whom we have complete data was 24% with a median survival time of 53 months. Our outcome data were likely influenced by stage at presentation, with more than half of patients presenting more than 12 months after first noticing a tumor. Future efforts will therefore focus on continuing to improve the level of care, while working with local partners to spread awareness, increase screening, and get more women into care earlier in the course of their disease.ConclusionOur experiences may inform others working to implement protocol-based cancer treatment programs in resource-poor settings and can provide valuable lessons learned for future global oncology efforts.

HTT-DB: horizontally transferred transposable elements database.

Horizontal transfer of transposable (HTT) elements among eukaryotes was discovered in the mid-1980s. As then, >300 new cases have been described. New findings about HTT are revealing the evolutionary impact of this phenomenon on host genomes. In order to provide an up to date, interactive and expandable database for such events, we developed the HTT-DB database. HTT-DB allows easy access to most of HTT cases reported along with rich information about each case. Moreover, it allows the user to generate tables and graphs based on searches using Transposable elements and/or host species classification and export them in several formats. This database is freely available on the web at http://lpa.saogabriel.unipampa.edu.br:8080/httdatabase. HTT-DB was developed based on Java and MySQL with all major browsers supported. Tools and software packages used are free for personal or non-profit projects. bdotto82@gmail.com or gabriel.wallau@gmail.com.

BY THE EXPERIENCE OF FOREIGN INTERNSHIP AMONG RUSSIAN STUDENTS’ OF CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF IZHSTU AT BRNO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (2013)

The aim of the study is to investigate the possibilities of foreign internships among Russian students. Methods . The methods involve general-scientific methods of theoretical research – analysis and synthesis. Results . The article is devoted to the analysis of foreign internships of Civil Engineering Department of Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University in foreign universities for a specific period of time. The authors analyze the entry of Russian students into the European educational process. Additionally, the authors describe the educational process of training among Russian students of the Industrial and Civil Construction Department in Brno University of Technology. The training is conducted in accordance with the project of the European Union «Lifelong Learning Programme», which involves some non-profitable projects of foreign exchange of students and teachers; e.g. Erasmus Mundus, that is accessible more or less for all universities all over the world. A brief assessment of teaching subjects in the Czech University is given. The concept of students’ foreign internships as a part of preparation of intended graduates with a degree in «Construction» is extended. Evident, current and future advantages and benefits of such foreign internship projects are noted. Scientific novelty and practical significance. The research findings include the developed recommendations for students’ internship organization in foreign universities.

Data Processing in Risk Research on Non-Profit Government Investment Project of Agent Construction System Based on FATP

The non-profit government investment project (Non-profit Government Investment Project, hereinafter referred to as NGIP) own huge investment, large-scale, long cycle, involving a wide range of social benefits and it is related to the country's macroeconomic development, in its implementation period does not great certainty. Under Agent Construction System NGIP has its own risk, the paper will be based on Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process, FAHP) establish NGIP risk assessment model, through data processing the final use of the evaluation model for empirical analysis to achieve the agent system NGIP risk assessment.

Non-profit project portfolio evaluation and selection: a multi-criteria approach

We study the problem of evaluating a set of project proposals and selecting a subset of the best projects among them. Through a review of the relevant literature, we found that the sector in which the analysed projects are carried out impacts the design of the project portfolio selection methodology to be used. In this paper, we focus on the project portfolio evaluation and selection processes in the non-profit sector. We propose new rule-based multi-criteria methodology based on SWOT analysis. The proposed approach is based on an original preference elicitation framework in which a key novelty is the definition of the relative importance of criteria on a two-dimensional scale.

The Market for Cryptocurrencies

Although it is sometimes considered one of a kind, or a first-mover monopolist in the market for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is surrounded by effective competitors. Between March 2013 and December 2014, while the market capitalization of Bitcoin grew four-fold, the market cap of other cryptocurrencies (“altcoins”) in the aggregate grew twelve-fold, eroding Bitcoin’s market share to 84% from 95%. Where Bitcoin is a non-profit project, the growth of altcoins has been driven by for-profit enterprises. Altcoins have introduced improvements in speed, robustness, and privacy. Contrary to the predictions of economists who tried to imagine what private irredeemable currencies would look like, cryptocurrencies have attained positive valuations by implementing a nominal quantity commitment with an observable public ledger, rather than by the traditional method of redeemability or a purchasing-power commitment. Cryptocurrencies are not all bubbles, although a number of bubble-like crashes (to below 98% of peak value) can be observed in the record. There is no reason to suppose that the market is plagued either by insufficient competition or by too much competition.

A Supervision Model Study of Non-Profit Government Investment Project under Information Asymmetry

The develop policy and management issues of Non-profit Government Investment Project, hereinafter referred to as NGIP, are important parts of Chinese investment management system reform. The study of information asymmetry generated during the management process of NGIP, is becoming more and more popular now. Based on the features of NGIP under information asymmetry, this article firstly analyzes the generation mechanism and the influences of asymmetric information. We then built up a game model towards the supervision process of NGIP. The key factors which influence the subjects most are quantified and compared in this paper. Supervision countermeasures are proposed towards information asymmetry problems, among which the information construction and improved supervision system are emphasized.

“Long Gone Hippies in the Desert”: Counterculture and “Radical Self-Reliance” at Burning Man

“Long Gone Hippies in the Desert”: Counterculture and “Radical Self-Reliance” at Burning Man

Optimization of Non-Profit Projects’ Portfolio: Chosen Aspects and Assumptions

The chosen aspects and assumptions of the author’s proposal of the optimization model of the non-profit projects’ portfolio are presented. The functional model of the non-profit sector (third sector), which is the base for the further analyses, is also characterized. The article also contains the quantification of fundamental conditions of portfolio optimization. There is developed the utility model for the management system in the non-profit portfolio, in the framework of which there are specified the scope of the model and relationships between four categories of the non-profit portfolio’s participants/stakeholders: non-profit organizations, donors, co-participants and customers (recipients of the basic benefits/values associated with the realization of the non-profit projects). The main optimality conditions and optimization algorithm of the non-profit portfolio are also given. The paper is concluded with exemplary analytical matrixes used for optimization of the non-profit portfolios and based on the evaluation of both the optimization utility conditions and added parameters. only basic and chosen aspects of the optimization of the non-profit projects’ portfolio have been described here.

PLUME-FEATHER, Referencing and Finding Software for Research and Education

PLUME-FEATHER is a non-profit project created to Promote economicaL, Useful and Maintained softwarEFor theHigher Education And THE Research communities. The site references software, mainly Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) from French universities and national research organisations, (CNRS, INRA...), laboratories or departments as well as other FLOSS software used and evaluated by users within these institutions.Each software is represented by a reference card, which describes origin, aim, installation, cost (if applicable) and user experience from the point of view of an academic user for academic users. Presently over 1000 programs are referenced on PLUME by more than 900 contributors. Although the server is maintained by a French institution, it is open to international contributions in the academic domain. All contained and validated contents are visible to anonymous public, whereas (presently more than 2000) registered users can contribute, starting with comments on single software reference cards up to help with the organisation and presentation of the referenced software products.The project has been presented to the HEP community in 2012 for the first time [1]. This is an update of the status and a call for (further) contributions.