In Search of the Nonprofit Sector

At a time when boundaries between the nonprofit, business, and public sectors have grown increasingly confused and contested, this volume by leading experts on nonprofit organizations offers new ideas and frameworks for understanding the terrain that lies between the state and the market. The chapters span a broad range of emerging issues including nonprofit commercialism, sector-bending hybrid organizational forms, increasingly sophisticated nonprofit advocacy activities, newly hatched forms of volunteerism and philanthropy, tensions in public-nonprofit contracting, and new roles for faith-based nonprofits in social provision. Contents include: Peter Frumkin, "Charity and Philanthropy After September 11th"; Joseph M. Knippenberg, "Faith, Hype, and Charity: Constitutional Controversies over Charitable Choice"; Leslie Lenkowsky, "The Bush Administration's Civic Agenda and National Service"; Mark E. Warren, "What is the Political Role of Nonprofits in a Democracy?"; Steven Rathgeb Smith, "Government and Nonprofits in the Modern Age: Is Independence Possible?"; Amy L. Sherman, "Faith in Communities: A Solid Investment"; Stephen V. Monsma, "Nonprofit and Faith-Based Welfare-to-Work Programs: Government's Partners or Government's Captives?"; Thomas H. Jeavons, "The Vitality and Independence of Religious Organizations: A Once and Future Trend"; Estelle James, "Commercialism--Does It Help or Hurt the Nonprofit's Mission?"; J. Gregory Dees and Beth Battle Anderson, "Sector-Bending: Blurring the Lines Between Nonprofit and For-Profit"; David Reingold, "Scaling-up National Service in an Era of Performance Measurement and Accountability." In Search of the Nonprofit Sector will be essential reading for scholars and practitioners interested in the pressing management and policy challenges facing nonprofit organizations today. Peter Frumkin is assistant professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a senior fellow of the New America Foundation. Jonathan B. Imber is editor-in-chief of Society and Class of 1949 Professor of Ethics and professor of sociology at Wellesley College.