“Battered agencies” is a term that can describe local or indigenous agencies striving to serve low-income communities that are hindered by the same types of risk factors facing the families they seek to help. Although this article was first published by NPQ in 2006, it seems even more relevant today as social safety net organizations are stressed by the demand for service and the demands of regulators.
Despite our national self-delusions, it is clear that class matters—just as race, gender, and other accidents of history matter—in shaping the opportunities and life experiences of Americans.
Floyd Hunter developed a discipline for mapping who might be in these pivotal roles, and published his findings in the 1953 book Community Power Structure: A Study of Decision Makers. It and other work that flows from it provide a way for nonprofits to study their own environments to identify power actors.
Philanthropic attempts to become more “strategic” may come at a price. Last week we printed Printice Zinn’s provocative “Strategic Philanthropy: Who Wins and Loses?” and we thought that we would follow that up with this classic article from the NPQ archives on a related topic. Who decides how money should be used to better a community?
In a painting worth at least the proverbial thousand words, Alice Neel offers any number of trenchant insights into the often hidden dynamics of philanthropic social welfare investigation.
Whether you believe recent alarms about an impending leadership crisis or not, the Lights point out important considerations that should engage nonprofit leaders now.
These 14 practices are object lessons to convince organizational development consultants to do no harm to the communities served by their nonprofit clients. And if they inspire some greater ability to laugh at ourselves along the way, so much the better.
Accolades for the Gates Foundation and the contributions of Warren Buffett may be warranted, but they also want to pass over vital questions around impact and accountability.
Philantrhopist Lewis Cullman encourages others to extend the power of their money for social change through active peer influence.
Phil takes a ride he’ll never forget and learns that some people’s good works are other people’s “sheltered workshops.”
Money raised for a dog’s hip replacement sidelined for other purposes; a development director who’s pitching other charities on her employer’s time; plus, more questionable board antics.
Dear Nonprofit Quarterly Readers, Welcome to the first edition of the independent Nonprofit Quarterly, published under NINA, the Nonprofit Information Networking Association. As members of NINA’s newly constituted board, we are thrilled to deepen our participation and commitment to NPQ, a venture that we believe is critical not only to the development of the nonprofit