Non-profit Sector Organizations Research Articles

Heart over profit: unravelling the discourse on the non-profit sector’s added value

ABSTRACT This paper explores Members of Parliament (MPs) perceptions of non-profit sector added value by analysing Norwegian parliamentary debates (2018–2020) through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It examines how parliamentarians discursively legitimize non-profit sector organizations in public service delivery, thereby providing a lens through which this sector’s added value can be understood. We find that members of parliament legitimize non-profit sector participation on the basis of their functional and moral added value, relying on various discursive legitimization strategies. The findings offer new methodological and theoretical insights for non-profit research, contributing to discussions on the non-profits’ role and value in welfare state services, emphasizing their added value.

Effects of University’s Social Media Presence on Students’ Organizational Media Use and Loyalty

ABSTRACT Nonprofit and public sector organizations increasingly rely on social media platforms to strengthen their relationships with key stakeholders. Prior research, especially in the for-profit marketing field, indicates positive effects of customers’ engagement with brand-related social media content on their loyalty toward the brand. The present paper examines these effects in the experientially rich and transformative context of higher education institutions (HEI). Our conceptual model also comprises new potential antecedents relating to the specific context. The results from the structural equation modeling, based on responses from 764 students at a Swiss HEI, indicate significant yet small positive effects of students’ social media engagement (SME) on their loyalty. Positive word-of-mouth behavior and loyalty intentions are primarily influenced by identification with the university. Attitude toward the published content, perceived organizational reputation, and student integration significantly influenced SME, whereby the latter two antecedents showed only a weak effect. In conclusion, SME as a behavioral construct seems to be another expression of existing student loyalty rather than an effective tool to foster loyalty.

Implementing the figure of peer support workers in mental health: an international perspective from the context of its implementation in Catalonia.

In the context of debates surrounding the training of mental health peer support workers and their incorporation into the Catalan Health System, this article presents a literature review complemented by interviews carried out between 2020 and 2021 with both international and Spanish experts. Based on the information obtained, content analysis of elements of their training and integration within the health system was performed. German-speaking countries offer the most homogeneous training and recruitment programs. In the case of English- and French-speaking countries, non-profit or third sector organizations are usually in charge of training programs and recruitment. Various experiences with training programs exist in the Ibero-American world, although they are not recognized as professional qualifications. Recommendations are offered for the development of this figure in Catalonia, which include advancing towards professional training with recognition as health care providers, as well as contracting options from both socio-health or health care providers or from third sector entities.

The Role of Civil Society in the Labour Market Integration of Migrants in Europe: An Introduction

This paper serves as an introduction to a special issue that discusses the role of civil society in the labour market integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. The paper presents a typology of civil society’s involvement in migrant labour integration—a policy-contested field—based on the relationship between non-profit and public sector organisations. Such ideal-type models are traditional public administration delivery, co-management, co-production with a partial or non-existent role for public sector organisations, and full co-production. In the six countries covered by the special issue, the existing relationship between the public sector and the civil society sector is affected by the specific social, cultural and economic contexts that underpin both their labour markets and welfare states. Although one model predominates in each of the six countries, in different ways and with different mechanisms, in all of them there is a trend towards the development of coproduction whereby the state plays either a central or a residual role.

The Impact of Creative Leadership on Enhancing the Level of Organizational Culture (A Field Study on Non-profit Sector Organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

The study aimed to identify the impact of creative leadership in enhancing the level of organizational culture within non-profit organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to identify the impact of the dimensions of creative leadership (sensitivity to problems, perseverance, initiative, creativity) on organizational culture in the organization, to reveal the extent of the difference in opinions and perceptions Participants reported creative leadership due to demographic variables such as educational qualification, years of experience, and job title. The importance of the study stems from the direct discovery of creative leadership within the institutions of the non-profit sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to harness their creative capabilities to enhance the organizational culture of the organization. The results obtained by applying the study tool to the sample members showed: There is a statistically significant relationship with the dimensions of creative leadership, on organizational culture in non-profit organizations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; there are no statistically significant differences between the members of the study sample about creative leadership due to personal data. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which are: The importance of including the concept of the non-profit sector in the administrative education curricula, The importance of establishing independent centers specialized in publishing scientific research and studies on the Saudi non-profit sector in all fields, establishing a center concerned with maximizing and measuring the social impact.

Environmental Crisis as an Enabler of Entrepreneurial Activities in a Non-Profit Organization: A Case Study on Kendriya Vidyalaya

Although extant research shows that the environmental crisis enables entrepreneurial activities in for-profit firms, the relationship between the environmental crisis and entrepreneurial activities in the non-profit public sector organizations could not draw sufficient attention from the researchers. These organizations enjoy limited flexibility within a bounded framework under government rules and protocols. Hence, the scope of implementing creative and innovative measures is restricted by those guidelines. It leads to a pertinent question about the possibility of entrepreneurial activities in public sector organizations. To explore the sources of such activities, we conduct participatory case research at a government school—Kendriya Vidyalaya Ordnance Factory Dum Dum, located in Kolkata, India. The usual teaching-learning process in the school has stopped at the onset of the COVID pandemic. The school has undertaken various novel and innovative steps within a guided framework mandated by the government to ensure continuity of education. Our reflexive process study uncovers that the strict rules, usually followed in regular times, are relaxed in the event of an environmental crisis, and the organizations are provided flexibility to adopt various unique measures considering the broader objective. The crisis enacts sensemaking that causes the organizations to implement entrepreneurial activities beyond the pre-defined path. In this process, the organizations can unearth hidden potentials and strengthen their usual operation in various dimensions, making the delivery mechanism more focused and effective. The theorization contributes to the extant literature by proposing a process model in which environmental crisis acts as an enabler to transform the existing mode of operation through entrepreneurial activities. It also shows the possibility of such activities in a restricted setup during a crisis.

Understanding social influence in Facebook fundraising: Relationship strength, immediacy of needs, and number of donations

AbstractCrowdfunding through social media has presented challenges and opportunities for nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations. To better understand how organizations can harness the power of social media in fundraising, the current research examined the effects of different types of Facebook fundraising posts on donor engagement. Based on Social Impact Theory, three factors of social influence were investigated, including relationship strength with the fundraiser creator, immediacy or urgency of the fundraising need, and number of donations. An online experiment was conducted using samples recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. A repeated measures test was performed to explore the effects of three social influence factors on perceived source credibility, feeling of social presence, attitude toward the post, and intention to click, share, and donate. Strongest main effects were found for immediacy of needs. Facebook fundraising posts for an urgent need generated much more positive responses than posts for a nonurgent need. Interaction effects were also found among three variables in perceived credibility and intention to click. Personal relevance and perceived risk moderated the effects of number of donations on intention to donate. Implications for nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations were discussed.

Involvement of the population of the region in online participation: experience of non-profit organisations

The study examines the practices and problems of online involvement of the population in the activities of non-profit sector organisations depending on socio-demographic characteristics based in statistical observation, and data from a sociological survey on the territory of the Vologda region. It has been substantiated that when implementing socially significant projects and events, it is advisable for non-profit organisations to assess the territorial features of digitalisation, the possibilities of potential and target audiences. A toolkit for assessing the involvement of the population in the activities of non-profit organisations in the digital environment has been proposed based on the analysis of three parameters: awareness, goal-setting, and the effectiveness of online platforms and its approbation has been carried out. A portrait of a user of the network resources of non-profit organisations has been presented. It has been concluded that at present society is more focused on the implementation of the practices of civic participation in real, and not in the virtual space, which is shown by the experience of non-profit organisations.

Global Surveillance Networks and International Health Regulations in the Early Detection and Control of Epidemics

An elaborate global health system has been developed around the world as a bulwark against infectious disease threats. The system consists of various networks of formal and informal organizations serving different stakeholders. This network has different purposes, methods, resources and accountability; it consists of public institutions operating in different fields of influence (at local, national, regional or global level), profit-oriented and non-profit private sector organizations. The current global health system has done important work to protect and improve human health. However, the world continues to face long-standing and emerging or re-emerging infectious disease threats. These threats vary greatly in severity and probability of risk, and each requires separate struggle dynamics. In addition, as with morbidity and mortality rates, these infections have many complex social and economic effects and consequences that differ. It is discussed whether the global health system with its current situation can provide effective protection against a number of communicable disease threats. Due to the recent emerging threats of Ebola, Zika, dengue fever, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), COVID-19, and influenza epidemics, and the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance, this system is being put to the test. Weak health systems, urbanization, globalization, climate change, civil wars and conflicts, and the changing nature of pathogen transmission between human and animal populations, uncontrolled population growth in some risk areas aggravate current concerns. "Human-induced outbreaks resulting from laboratory accidents" or deliberate biological attacks are considered as other potential risks, making international cooperation and coordination important. International epidemiological surveillance systems and international health regulation coverage are expanding their scope as early intervention practices and tools that are critical in preventing infectious diseases from reaching epidemic levels and minimizing global risks. Also, the effectiveness of early warning surveillance systems is being improved with the use of new technologies.

Comparing Employer Attractiveness of Public Sector Organizations to Nonprofit and Private Sector Organizations: An Experimental Study in Germany and the U.S.

Sector preferences in job choice have rarely been tested empirically across different administrative systems. We address this gap and apply a between-subject experimental design to examine the attractiveness of public, private, and nonprofit employers in two countries in different administrative traditions. Respondents ( n = 362) from an Anglo-Saxon (i.e., the U.S.) and continental European country (i.e., Germany) were exposed to job advertisements that only differed in the employer’s sector affiliation, with other job attributes, such as payment and working hours, held constant. Contrary to expectations, and consistently across the two country samples, respondents evaluated public sector jobs more positively compared to vacancies in the private sector. In contrast, we found no such comparative advantage of public over nonprofit employers. By providing counterevidence to the prevalence of negative attitudes toward public organizations, our study warns against overgeneralizing previous findings on negativity biases to the context of employer attractiveness.

Assessing the effectiveness of financial support for socially oriented non-profit organizations: The main approaches

Subject. This article discusses the specifics of the existing systems of State and municipal support for non-profit organizations. Objectives. The article aims to develop a methodology for assessing the effectiveness of financial support for socially oriented non-profit organizations. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of analysis, synthesis, and generalization. Results. Based on the analysis of the methods used to assess the effectiveness of financial support for socially oriented non-profit organizations, the article identifies their advantages and disadvantages and offers an original methodology that takes into account the practice of providing financial support to non-profit organizations and existing information limitations. Conclusions. Assessment of the effectiveness of financial support for socially oriented non-profit organizations requires simultaneous consideration of the current legislation, multidirectional activities of non-profit sector organizations and the projects implemented by them, the specifics of the result of the work of non-profit organizations and existing information restrictions.

Documents in a Field of Action: Using Documents to Address Research Questions About Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations

In this article we show the potential of using documents to answer research questions pertinent to nonprofit and voluntary sector studies. We start by introducing what the methodological literature has to say about how documents are employed as a data source, along with their strengths and weaknesses. Then, we review 178 articles in three main nonprofit journals to analyze how researchers have used documents to understand nonprofit and voluntary sector organizations. We also provide a case example of document analysis to reveal the processes involved in using documents as a source of evidence. We emphasize that situating documents in a field of action invites researchers to pay attention not only to the information they contain but also what their production and consumption reveal about organizational life. Finally, we conclude with the implications and considerations for using documents in nonprofit and voluntary sector research.

Partnerships and Network Governance for Urban Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus

ABSTRACT Few studies have examined the critical role of policy and network governance mechanism in addressing sustainability and FEW nexuses. This study aims to examine the efforts in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the urban environment. More specifically, the study seeks to examine how growing demands on the food-energy-water (FEW) nexuses can be met through partnerships in dense urban areas as population growth and human migration continue to accelerate in metropolitan areas worldwide. The goal of the article is to address the role of multi-stakeholder partnership in the successful implementation of FEW nexus projects. The study highlights how FEW nexus projects can improve urban sustainability and equity with the aid of stakeholder involvement. The study contributes how FEW nexus projects can improve urban sustainability with stakeholder engagement with varying degrees of partnerships with public, private, and nonprofit sector organizations in both policy and governance.

The non-profit sector during the spread of the new coronavirus infection: restrictions and mechanisms to overcome them

Subject. The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for the healthcare system, people's daily lives, and organisations, which have faced new risks and restrictions affecting their stability and further development. The study examines the state of Russian non-profit sector organisations during the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Objectives. The article provides a description of restrictions for the development of non-profit sector organisations and various mechanisms to overcome them in the context of numerous restrictions introduced as a result of the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Materials and methods. The information base for the study included statistical data, analytical and reporting documents of non-governmental and governmental institutions, and the results of the studies on the subject obtained by Russian and international researchers. The following methods were used: secondary analysis of sociological surveys; content analysis of official documents; systematisation and generalisation of the data. Conclusions. The analysis showed that during the coronavirus pandemic Russian non-profit organisations as well as other economic entities faced a lot of challenges. The main restrictions for the sector were determined. They included financial and organisational restrictions. The measures of state support for non-profit organisations were framed into a unified organisational and economic mechanism and individual quantitative indicators were analysed: preferential loans, subsidies for activities to prevent the coronavirus infection, exemption from advance payments and insurance fees, the results of a special unscheduled contest of the Presidential Grants Fund for the Development of Civil Society. The analysis of quantitative indicators revealed that there is a demand for governmental anti-crisis measures among non-profit sector organisations. It was found that together with governmental measures aimed at overcoming the difficulties associated with the restrictive measures, a private organisational and economic mechanism was established to support non-profit organisations at the expense of business resources, which was studied by the authors based on the example of charitable funds. In conclusion, it was noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced the development of inter-sector cooperation aimed to solve common problems. Reliance on consolidation and partnership in difficult economic conditions will allow non-profit organisations to expand and select the most appropriate ways to support their activities.

German Digital Council: An 'Inside-Out' Case Study

In 2018, German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel appointed a group of nine scholars and practitioners, including BKC’s Urs Gasser, to the German Digital Council (GDC). The GDC was formed with the unusual mission to ask both critical and constructive questions about government projects from a digital perspective, to alert the government to new technical and economic developments, and operate as a symbol for 'digitalization' during its interactions with the government. While the GDC has made significant contributions since its founding, its operation has been fairly opaque; this opacity was an intentional part of the GDC’s operational strategy. As a consequence, the basic design, structure, operation, and impact of the GDC have not been easily accessible beyond a relatively small group of involved parties. At the same time, the unusual mission, composition, and mode of operation of the GDC have been met with interest from governments around the world and other stakeholders that are confronted with the question of how to bring outside expertise into the workings of a government. This case study is an attempt to bridge this knowledge gap by documenting and sharing some of the important and, thus far, undocumented details about the formation and operation of the GDC. The insights shared are based on a series of group and individual interviews that the authors conducted with members of the GDC and members of the Chancellery that worked closely with the GDC. German Digital Council: An “Inside-Out” Case Study is an output of the BKC Policy Practice, a program that helps governmental, nonprofit, and private sector organizations work through challenging questions related to technology and society.

Board Capital and Board Effectiveness: An Examination of Florida Community Foundations

Community foundations have considerable potential for positive social change in the communities they serve yet are understudied in nonprofit management literature. This exploratory study considers board capital of community foundations and the impact this has on board effectiveness. Based on survey data from 71 community foundation board members and executive directors representing 13 community foundations, the study uses regression to test hypotheses. The study finds that board capital, measured by human capital, structural capital, and social capital, plays a factor in board effectiveness. Further, community foundation boards in the survey population are highly effective and have unique attributes that make them distinct from other types of boards. Findings have potential for significant insight on an important segment of nonprofit sector organizations.

ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ НЕКОММЕРЧЕСКИХ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЙ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ТЕОРИИ КОЛЛЕКТИВНЫХ ДЕЙСТВИЙ

The article analyzes the activities of non-profit organizations in terms of the theory of collective action. The results of the study are presented from the general issues of the creation and characteristics of the activities of non-profit sector organizations to private practices that reflect the results of their work in the context of organizing joint activities of citizens. The theoretical part of the study is devoted to the theory of collective action and the concepts of the origin of non-profit organizations. It is revealed that the theory of collective action proposed by M. Olson may be the starting point in considering the emergence and functioning of nonprofit organizations. Further, based on an analysis of the characteristics of the organizational and legal forms of non-profit organizations by the method of team formation, it is proved that non-profit organizations are an organized form of voluntary collective action. Using official statistics (the sample survey – Comprehensive observation of the living conditions of the population) it was found that the level of population involvement in social practices is still at a fairly low level, but has growth potential, since a tendency to increase civil participation in three years is revealed the activities of the institutions in question. On the example of two cases (Moscow and Perm Territory), the effectiveness of the work of public organizations as organizers of collective actions is proved. The conclusion talks about the development prospects of the non-profit sector. In the face of a difficult economic situation, the issue of maintaining a positive direction of collective action in partnership with large business that is interested in maintaining civil consent and with stable state support is on the agenda. A promising area of research may be the study of the form of collective action through the organization of initiative groups that work without state registration and the formation of a legal entity, this form is mainly prevalent in small towns, especially in rural areas.

Latent Hybridity in Administrative Crisis Management: The German Refugee Crisis of 2015/16

AbstractStudying the so-called refugee crisis in Germany, this article asks about the effectiveness of crisis management by a large number of local administrations, each acting upon the same crisis impulse of a high number of asylum seekers who entered the country in 2015 and 2016. Instead of theorizing the exact administrative design features fit for an effective crisis response, the focus is on the ability of administrations to adjust. We conceptualize such shifts in administrative practices as informal and temporary (latent) deviations from routine action along two dimensions of organizational behavior typically dominant in private and nonprofit sector organizations, respectively: internal flexibility and citizen participation (hybridity). Novel survey data from 235 out of 401 German district authorities are reported. We test the effects of different forms of latent hybridization on administrative effectiveness using regression modeling. Findings indicate that changes in administrative practices towards more flexible and participatory action had a positive impact on self-reported crisis management effectiveness. The effect of flexible action was especially pronounced in districts that were allocated higher shares of asylum seekers. These findings advance theory on crisis management and bottom-up implementation, highlighting the ability of local agencies to shift practices as a key explanatory factor for effective administrative action in exceptional situations.

The state, civil society and the shadow state: Analysing three vectors of relationality

The term shadow state has become popular within the social sciences as a way of describing all voluntary, non-profit or third sector organisations, and their role in providing services of different kinds. Our main aim in this article is to examine the usefulness of the concept of the shadow state as a way of analysing the relationality of the state and civil society. We claim that one can usefully approach the relationality of the state and civil society within the shadow state along three vectors; vectors informed in part by anthropological research on the state. The first vector relates to the way in which organisations and agents construct the shadow state and its relation to both the state and civil society. The second vector examines the issue of embodiment within the shadow state and illustrates how relationality can occur within individuals and not just between different individuals. The third vector draws attention to how the relationality of the state and civil society plays out in actual or physical spaces. The pertinence of these vectors for understanding the relationality of the state and civil society is demonstrated through a case study of the governance of youth in contemporary Wales. In discussing these themes, we illustrate the muddled and contingent relationship between the state and civil society, and the potentially progressive politics that it can enable.

Development Prospects of Non-Profit Organizations as Suppliers of Social Services: on the Example of the Volgograd Region

The article provides an analysis of the formation of the social services market in the Volgograd region since the adoption of a federal law that introduced fundamental changes in the field of social services, allowing non-profit organizations to act as full participants in the social services market. A review of domestic publications addressing key issues is presented: economic and managerial aspects of access of non-profit sector organizations to the social services market, infrastructure support, the formation of a state support system, successful regional practices. The role of non-governmental suppliers in the social services market is shown, the specifics of the modern institutional structure of the social services market are described. The current state of the social services market is characterized, the data of the report of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia for 2018 on the implementation by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation of measures to ensure access to non-profit organizations to budgetary funds are presented. The main quantitative indicators of the social services market of the Volgograd region are highlighted. The results of a sociological study showed that the majority of the population does not use the services of non-profit organizations, the popularity of their services is low, and free services are most in demand. The possibilities of non-profit organizations when entering the social services market of the Volgograd region were identified: extensive experience in providing services, the availability of proven social technologies, targeted nature of assistance, customer focus. Despite the creation of conditions for expanding the access of non-governmental organizations to budget financing, there are barriers to accessing the social services market: delayed cost recovery when services are completed, economically unjustified tariffs, insufficient compensation to non-state suppliers, unnecessarily bureaucratic reporting procedure of non-profit organizations for services provided. To develop the demand and supply of non-profit organizations, it is necessary to inform the beneficiaries in more detail about the quality of the services provided, tariffs, increase the level of public confidence, introduce successful experience in other regions. Creating favorable social and economic conditions, consolidating the efforts of all interested parties can create an effective system of social services in the Volgograd region on the principles of interagency cooperation.