The Future of Research on Nonprofits: Major Challenges for Academics and Practitioners

1. The Future of Research on Nonprofits:Major Challenges for Academics and Practitioners IDEEL ARENA and the Swedish Research Council Stockholm February 10, 2011 Dennis R. Young

2. Outline of my presentation • How has nonprofit research developed in the U.S. and elsewhere? Dimensions, drivers and issues. • What are the challenges and opportunities for nonprofit research driven by the needs of practice? • ARNOVA and the Gates Foundation: attempting to craft a pragmatic research agenda addressed to nonprofits and public policy • Summary observations and possible futures for nonprofit research

3. Evolution of nonprofit sector research • Pre-history of the field, pre-1970s • Organizing of the field, 1970s and ’80s • Seminal contributions, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s • Maturing and flowering of the field, ’90s – present • Alternative futures

4. Pre-history • Many studies of related subject matter – voluntary behavior, social movements, collective action, etc. • Case studies of particular organizations, e.g., March of Dimes, YMCA • Fragmented research, not specifically identified as “nonprofit”

5. Seminal Events • Commissions to study the sector • New infrastructure organizations, e.g. Independent Sector • Establishment of Academic centers • New scholarly associations • New academic journals and book series • New data bases

6. The early “big issues”: addressing Filer’s “terra incognita” • What exactly is a nonprofit organization? • What is the size, scope, significance of the nonprofit or third sector? • In what functions, services and activities do nonprofit organizations engage? • Why do nonprofit organizations exist in a market economy and democratic society? • How do nonprofits behave? How are they different from for-profit or governmental organizations?

7. Pioneering contributions • Establishing an empirical data base: Independent Sector, Urban Institute, Johns Hopkins Project • Formulating theories of existence • Formulating theories of behavior • Providing historical context • Providing international context

8. Early issues and challenges • Acceptance of “sector” as the unifying concept across academic disciplines • Determination of which “industries” or activities belong in the “sector” • Legal and cultural differences in the “third sector “ construct among countries • Incomplete and incompatible data • Funding for research

9. What have been the driving forces behind nonprofit research ? • Political/governmental antagonism (U.S.) • Private foundation support (U.S.) • Devolution and privatization; government support (Europe) • Expansion of democracy and market societies (e.g., Eastern and Central Europe, developing countries) • Academic entrepreneurship and intellectual interest • Needs of teaching and practice (especially growth of graduate programs in nonprofit management) • Not government funding (unfortunately?)

10. Digression on Current Funding for Nonprofit Research: Quick survey of NACC members • Survey of 50 NACC members/10 responses – 9 US centers and 1 Canadian • 9 centers had sponsored (funded) research/8 US centers • 4 centers received gov’t funding for research/3 US centers • Average % of gov’t funding for those with gov’t supported research was 31%/38% for US centers • Federal gov’t was most common source of gov’t funds • Other sources of research funding included foundations, nonprofit associations, corporations, private donors, internal university funds and endowments • Overall: nonprofit research funding in the U.S. is fragmented and government is not the dominant funder

11. Opportunities and Challenges of a “Needs based” Research Agenda • Not impossible for academics and practitioners to collaborate on research, despite different motivations and goals • Necessary to develop more effective and efficient management practices and public policies • Can be academically rewarding, especially in stretching the boundaries of traditional disciplinary research

12. Academics and Practitioners • Academics want rigorous, generalizeable research • Practitioners want clear, useable results • Collaboration requires mutual respect and understanding of each others’ needs and aspirations • Many practitioners are genuinely interested in relevant quality research, and many academics are motivated to learn from practice • Quality research of mutual interest can require substantial (external) resources

13. Some contemporary nonprofit research questions of mutual interest to academia and practice: • Governance: Effective board structures and policies • Finance: Effective mixes of income; role of endowments; incentives for giving and volunteering • Performance: Measuring mission effectiveness and financial health • Growth – “Going to scale” and achieving greater societal impact

14. More research issues of mutual interest to academic and practice • Strategy – When and how nonprofits should collaborate and compete • Policy Advocacy –Tensions between service delivery and public policy advocacy. Determinants of effectiveness in the policy arena • Human Resources –Best mixes of paid staff and volunteers. Effective compensation structures for nonprofit paid staff • Public Policy –Effective regulation and nonprofit accountability. Tax policy and exemptions.

15. The ARNOVA-Gates Conference: fleshing out a research agenda • October 4-5, 2010 in Baltimore • 30 scholars and nonprofit leaders • Goal to create a research agenda to study how public policy affects nonprofits in the U.S.

16. Key questions addressed • What are the most critical policy issues presently facing the nonprofit sector? • What do we really know, from rigorous research, about the positive or negative impacts of past, current, and prospective policies. • What are the gaps in our knowledge—not just research, but basic data—about the interaction of public policies and nonprofits? • What kinds of research might be framed to generate new insights of immediate utility to nonprofits and policy makers that would elevate the quality and hopefully the results of the nonprofit public policy discourse?

17. Emerging research themes • What are the different forms of funding available to the nonprofit sector and how do their impacts differ ? • How does government funding impact how nonprofits operate? • How do regulatory and tax policies support or hinder the nonprofit sector and the benefits it can deliver? • What are the challenges and opportunities from “emerging organizational forms”? • What are the civic roles of the nonprofit sector? • What is the value proposition for the nonprofit sector?

18. Observations about the U.S. academic/practitioner dialogue • Consensus around need for more data and description of how things actually work • Strong mutual interest in impacts of policy on nonprofits and nonprofits on society • Fundamental questioning of the role of nonprofit organizations and what their roles, privileges and obligations are and should be • Positive, empirical research and analysis as the common ground between practitioners’ desires for facts and actionable results and academics’ sometimes more esoteric interests in theory , models and relationships

19. An overall assessment of the current state of nonprofit research • Success in establishing a recognizable field of scholarship • Greater progress in some disciplines than others • Progress in creating useful data bases • Progress in international comparative research • Considerable progress in creating publications • Some progress with multi-disciplinary research efforts, especially coordinated book projects: • Large scale interdisciplinary projects are rare • Lots of opportunities for new, cutting edge work • Not yet clear that field is correctly defined

20. Alternative futures • Continued progress along current lines - not-for-profit organizations and discipline-based research • Integration across disciplines • Broadening to include cooperatives, limited-profit enterprises and other social purpose organizations • Reframing around other integrative concepts such as social enterprise , social economy or civil society • Broadening to embrace (at the bottom) less formal voluntary organizations and (at the top) transnational nonprofit organizations, associations and movements • Refocusing on“hybridization” of the economy - integration of nonprofit, business and government – networks, partnerships and mixed forms of enterprise

21. Final thoughts • I congratulate you on your dialogue ; encourage your development of a robust funded research agenda of mutual interest to academia and practice • Government funding is important. Private funding can add diversity, innovation and stimulus. • Needs-driven research can be both practical and useful, and intellectually compelling and academically rewarding • The appropriate research agenda will differ from country to country. Sweden and the U.S. differ substantially in the roles and functioning of nonprofits and civil society organizations. Hence our research agendas will necessary differ. • We can learn much from each other!