Nonprofit Management : Center for Social Innovation (CSI)

Articles : All | News Articles | Stanford Social Innovation Review Articles | Blog Posts

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Nonprofit Initiative Mentors Women Entrepreneurs In Emerging Markets

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program is helping women in 22 countries in the developing world start and grow businesses, Dina Habib Powell, who oversees the effort told a business school audience.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Government, Nonprofit Management

Under One Roof

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

One-stop centers offer a safer future for victims of domestic violence.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Giving Just Got Easier: Philanthropedia Brings the Cream to the Top

If you want to give money to a good cause, how do you decide which organization to focus on amidst myriad choices? A new enterprise driven by Stanford MBAs, known as Philanthropedia, is making it easier for you to figure it out.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

For Love or Lucre

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

A veteran social entrepreneur provides a guide to those who are thinking through the thorny question of whether to create a nonprofit, a for-profit, or something in between.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

A New Type of Hybrid

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

Social entrepreneurs have taken the hybrid model to a new level, crafting it into what is in effect a single structure that can operate as both a for-profit and a nonprofit.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Alignment: A Key to Philanthropic Success and Impact

At the helm of the $1.4 billion James Irvine Foundation, Jim Canales spends much of his time focusing on one thing--alignment. A foundation must understand the environment in which it is doing work and build a good team internally to achieve success, he told a packed April 8 lunch-hour session at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Managing Nonprofits Requires Mainstream Business Skills

Strategy is key to success for nonprofit organizations, says the head of the Nature Conservancy. Steve McCormick, a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program, was one of the speakers at the May launch of the new Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Scrooge May Really Want to Help

Letting people pretend they are supporting worthy causes because there is something in it for them may increase their participation. Researchers say nonprofit organizations need to recognize the wide range of motives behind donations of both money and time.

Resource: News Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Research: Money Makes People Stingy

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

"The more money a person makes or has, the less generous, helpful, compassionate, and charitable he is toward other people,” says Paul Piff, a doctoral candidate in social and personality psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management

Research: Turning a Profit by Helping the Poor

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

Politically radical social workers didn’t expect to be working in a bank any more than white-collar bankers expected to be holding meetings in a crowded public market.

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Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management

Q&A: Richard Jefferson

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

Richard Jefferson believes that biotechnology can be used to benefit the poor and disenfranchised, but only if the R&D process is democratized so that everyone has access to critical scientific tools and technologies.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Who Are the Change Makers?

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

DRIVING SOCIAL CHANGE: How to Solve the World’s Toughest Problems by Paul C. Light

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Education, Nonprofit Management

Passing the Mic

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Spring 2011

20UNDER40: Re-Inventing the Arts and Arts Education for the 21st Century Edited by Edward P. Clapp

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

State of the Sector: Lots of Facts and a Few Thoughts

Tips for surviving as a Nonprofit during tough economic times.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Giving Sector Should Get Over Sense of Entitlement

Nonprofits need to be spending more money on those they serve despite hard economic times.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Shakeout Rumbling in Giving Sector

Nonprofits need to act now to improve all aspects of their operations or they will not survive the economic crisis that we are in.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Dissecting the Network Approach

Having an effective online presence goes beyond simply having a Web site.

Resource: Blog Post

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Creating the Safe Space to Talk About Race in the Nonprofit Sector

Just because we now have a Black President does not mean we should take the topic of diversity off of our agenda.

Resource: Blog Post

Video/Audio : All | Audio | Video

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management

Disaster Relief - How Can Business Help?

In their nonprofit management strategy, the American Red Cross recognizes businesses as key players in emergency preparedness and disaster relief efforts. In this audio interview, host Karl Matzke speaks with Joe Becker, the senior vice president of disaster services at the American Red Cross, who discusses how the national organization leverages the support of the business community to provide assistance beyond in-kind and financial resources, which is an approach applied by many in nonprofit management.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Strategic Restructuring for Nonprofit Organizations

David La Piana has been recognized as a leading expert on nonprofit management and governance. In this audio lecture sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, La Piana presents a continuum of partnership options ranging from strategic alliance to joint ventures to full-scale mergers, all to which falls under a term he has coined as strategic restructuring. Nonprofit management leaders are finding strategic restructuring as a way to respond to the current economic conditions.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Harnessing Technology for Social Enterprise

Harnessing engineering innovation and technology to further social causes is one path to social enterprise. In this university podcast, sponsored by Stanford's Center for Social Innovation, former rocket scientist Jim Fruchterman talks about how he created Benetech, an organization that uses technology innovation and business expertise to solve unmet social needs. He discusses how he has leveraged the intellectual capital and resources of Silicon Valley to create solutions that are truly life changing.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Nonprofit Management and Making Change

Those in nonprofit management constantly adapt to move their organizations forward. In this audio lecture sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Chip Heath, Stanford professor and coauthor of the book Switch, provides a framework for change. He demonstrates in case studies that three principles are involved in successful change, whether it be on the personal or societal front. Leaders in nonprofit management are called to attune to these principles when tackling change situations.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Lessons on Nonprofit Management

What are the key things anyone starting an organization should know about nonprofit management? In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation, Sarah Brown uses her organization, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, as an exemplar. She talks about how to choose an issue, establish a mission and goals, obtain funding, measure performance, and manage challenges.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Education, Nonprofit Management

Remedying Group Disparities in School Achievement

Inequalities between socially marginalized and non-marginalized groups have led to poorer school and health outcomes for African Americans, Latino Americans, and other non-Asian ethnic minorities. Although many structural factors contribute to these inequalities, this study examines one psychological factor: concern about social belonging — a sense of having positive relationships with others.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Government, Nonprofit Management

A Behavioral Science Perspective on Why People Vote

The investigation into what messaging motivates people to vote and the effectiveness of facilitating a voting plan during a presidential election.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Environment, Nonprofit Management

The Effectiveness of Message Framing to Influence Behavior

Most observers agree that human consumption is on a crash course with the environment. Although recycling programs have been implemented in many cities around the world, people often do not participate as often as they could. This research examines the effectiveness of messages that highlight the negative consequences of not recycling (loss frames) versus those that emphasize the positive consequences of recycling (gain frames) in influencing people's behavior.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Health Care, Nonprofit Management

Using People's Irrationality To Do Good

Identifying effective obesity treatment is both a clinical challenge and a public health priority. Can monetary incentives stimulate weight loss? Leslie John presents a study that examines different economic incentives for weight loss during a 16 week intervention.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Nonprofit Management

Know Your Sector

Nonprofits in the U.S. generate $1.1 trillion every year, which is more than the entire economies of Saudi Arabia and Sweden combined. "Know Your Sector", a video created by alum Ben Klasky (MBA '98), is intended as a resource for nonprofit employees, volunteers, and donors to better know the impact of their sector.

Resource: Video

Topic:

Leadership, Nonprofit Management

Nonprofit Management: The Art of Organizing Volunteers

"Every year, I say 'Never again,' but I do, and I love it." Does this sound familiar to you? Volunteer organizations enhance the quality of life, usually locally. But anyone who has been involved in a volunteer organization understands their fragility. BigTent, a platform for social groups, hosts 20,000 free, online forums with controls specifically for the needs of volunteer groups. Sheela Sethuraman talks with Laney Whitcanack, COO of BigTent.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Philanthropy, Nonprofit Management

If You Need Something, Just Ask

How likely are people to say "yes" to a request? We grossly underestimate how helpful people will be. We're also poor predictors of how many people will ask us for help. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation audio lecture, Francis Flynn explores why we are consistently bad at predicting cooperative behavior. He offers his counter-intuitive results from laboratory and fund-raising situations. Does it matter if you are reasonable? How much will it affect success if you first ask: "Will you do me a favor?"

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Name Your Price!

Giving things away for the prize people are willing to pay sounds like corporate suicide. In this audio lecture sponsored by the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, Leif Nelson shows it's a pathway to corporate citizenship, increased revenue, and an enhanced company image. He walks us through field experiments he conducted at major theme parks manipulating various aspects of the purchasing experience for souvenir action photos.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Cause Marketing, Nonprofit Management

Firm Stereotypes Matter

How do you view a nonprofit? A for-profit? A dot-org? Or a dot-com? Judgments of warmth and competence drive consumer behaviors such as the likeliness to visit a website or willingness to buy a product from an organization. Understanding consumer stereotypes plays a significant role in how nonprofits and corporations do business. In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored audio lecture, marketing professor Jennifer Aaker examines the implications stereotypes have on firms.

Resource: Audio

Topic:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Management

Disaster Relief - How Can Business Help?

In their nonprofit management strategy, the American Red Cross recognizes businesses as key players in emergency preparedness and disaster relief efforts. In this audio interview, host Karl Matzke speaks with Joe Becker, the senior vice president of disaster services at the American Red Cross, who discusses how the national organization leverages the support of the business community to provide assistance beyond in-kind and financial resources, which is an approach applied by many in nonprofit management.

Resource: Audio

Case Studies : All | Academic Cases

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Breaking New Ground: Using the Internet to Scale

Commissioned by KaBOOM! and authored by Katherine Fulton and alumna Heather McLeod Grant of the Monitor Institute, this case study looks at the challenges KaBOOM! faced and lessons the organization learned while pioneering an online strategy to scale its impact. This strategy involves giving away the nonprofit model online for free to empower others to act on KaBoom's behalf.

Resource: Practitioner Case

Topics:

Healthcare, Nonprofit Management

The Maitri Aids Hospice

It’s August 2000, and Maitri AIDS Hospice is reevaluating its approach to fundraising. The associate director for individual gifts is struggling with defining his purpose, and that of individual donors, with an organization for which individual donations still account for only 8 percent of operating expenses.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

The San Francisco Symphony

By the end of 1993, the San Francisco Symphony faced a shift in its financial fortunes, with forecasts predicting annual budget shortfalls. The executive committee must develop a strategy for the symphony that balances its financial needs and its artistic commitments and aspirations.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Bay Area Video Coalition

Bay Area Video Coalition, a nonprofit media services organization, has behaved like a high-tech business. Now it faces unique challenges and opportunities that are common to both nonprofit and for-profit businesses.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Artists for Humanity

The executive director of a teen arts and entrepreneurship training program in Boston, Artists for Humanity, weighs issues of expansion, staff turnover, and fundraising. The organization’s challenges reflect those facing many small nonprofits, particularly those with an entrepreneurial arm.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Community Forestry Bonds

US Forest Capital has proposed the use of tax-exempt revenue bonds to help nonprofits manage forestland more sustainably. Now the organization must convince Congress to amend tax codes accordingly.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Environment, Nonprofit Management

Marine Stewardship Council

The chairman of Marine Stewardship Council is charged with implementing an eco-labeling program for seafood products harvested in a sustainable manner. He wonders how the council could get customers to start shopping for labeled products, and how the MSC should approach industry to get seafood producers and retailers on board.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Economic Development, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust

In February 1999, the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust was preparing to expand its operations outside Cape Town, South Africa. However, a strike at one of their revenue-generating enterprises, and financial irregularities at one of their newest programs, threatened to thwart the Foundation's plans.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Education, Nonprofit Management

Coalition of Essential Schools

The new executive director of the Coalition of Essential Schools urgently needed to develop a new and sustainable fundraising strategy. He also faced other challenges around organizational structure, value proposition, marketing, and operations.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

Asian Neighborhood Design A

The executive director of Asian Neighborhood Design, a housing and community development organization, attempts to quantify the potential financial and social return for investors in his nonprofit enterprise. The director applies innovative tools, including a true cost accounting framework and a social return on investment analysis.

Resource: Academic Case

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Career Action Center

The Career Action Center started as a nonprofit to help mid-life women reenter the workforce, but due to various demands found itself catering to men and individuals in a host of age ranges. The leadership realized it needed to address the contradiction in the organization’s mission as a center for women that was open to all.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing, Social Entrepreneurship

The Blended Value Proposition

The Center for Blended Value is a think tank that promotes the concept of “blended value” investments. The founder wondered how to overcome the challenges associated with encouraging more foundations to adopt a value-mixing strategy of financial asset management.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Arts, Culture, and Religion, Nonprofit Management

Innermotion on the Move

Innermotion dance company presents performances based on themes related to incest and childhood sexual abuse. This video explores how the founder must reexamine her focus and priorities when faced with the loss of a major grant.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Education, Nonprofit Management

Mount Pleasant School: Achieving Excellence with Limited Resources

The director of a successful school in Botswana was planning her retirement. How could she institutionalize processes she had personally overseen that had led to the school's excellence?

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Environment, Nonprofit Management

Strategic Activism: The Rainforest Action Network

The Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth’s rainforests and support the rights of their inhabitants. In April 2003, a new executive director began a review of the organization’s strategy and mission.

Resource: Academic Case

Topic :

Education, Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy, Responsible Investing

The Sand Hill Foundation

Planned Parenthood is looking for funding to assess the Sand Hill Foundation’s Teen Success Program for replication. Those involved in the program hope to more constructively engage stakeholders in the evaluation process, monitor the program’s impact, and take action on evaluation results.

Resource: Academic Case

Research Papers : All

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Deconstructing Organizational Taboos: The Suppression of Gender Conflict in Organizations

This paper begins with a story told by a company president to illustrate what his corporation is doing to help women employees balance the demands of work and home. The paper deconstructs and reconstructs this story from a feminist perspective for organizational theory.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

The Prudent Trustee

This paper discusses how prudent investment objectives should compliment the investment horizon of funds under management. Namely, assets managed to satisfy long-term liabilities should be invested to achieve returns over the long term.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Hidden Gendered Assumptions in Mainstream Organizational Theory and Research

This article briefly summarizes work documenting gender inequalities in organizations, and the ways that gender theory and research have been ignored and marginalized in organizational scholarship. It then presents the idea of revisioning, and outlines several techniques for exposing hidden gendered assumptions in ostensibly gender-neutral scholarship.

Resource: Research Paper

Topics:

Nonprofit Management

Self-Enhancement Biases and Negotiator Judgment: Effects of Self-Esteem and Mood

This study finds that high self-esteem and positive mood affects negotiators' confidence and optimism prior to negotiations, as well as post-negotiation performance evaluations. The paper discusses the implications of these results for understanding why negotiators often fail to reach optimal agreements.

Resource: Research Paper

Courses : All

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Strategic Management of Nonprofits: STRAMGT 368

This course surveys strategic, governance, and management issues facing a wide range of nonprofit organizations in an era of venture philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. It introduces students to core managerial issues in the nonprofit sector, such as development/fundraising, investment management, performance management and nonprofit finance.

Resource: MBA Course

Innovators : All

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Ken Saxon (MBA '88)

Nonprofit executives dedicate their lives to many of society’s most intractable problems, yet are often overstretched and under-resourced. Ken Saxon speaks about founding Courage to Lead to build support and community around nonprofit executive leaders.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Susan Rothstein (MBA '78)

Susan reflects on her experience volunteering with a grassroots NGO in Cambodia and how she gained a new perspective on both the developing world and herself.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Board Governance, Business, Cause Marketing, Nonprofits, Social Enterprises, Socially Responsible Business, Environment, Leadership, Nonprofit Management

An interview with Michael DeLapa (MBA '85)

Michael DeLapa is heavily involved in environmental, land use, and energy issues. He has launched several non-profits in the Bay Area as well as the California Fisheries Fund.

Resource: Alumni

Topic :

Economic Development, Education, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with J. Charitha ("Chari") Ratwatte (MBA '09)

One of the first two Stanford GSB Social Innovation fellows, Chari works to provide economic opportunities to farmers in Sri Lanka.

Resource: Alumni , Fellow

Topic :

Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Development, Environment, Government, Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

An interview with Court Gould (EPNL '06)

Court Gould is pushing for Pittsburgh to grow sustainably. He's working hard to inform decision makers about to accomplish that most effectively.

Resource: CSI Affiliates

Topic :

Nonprofits, Nonprofit Management

Research: Improving Teamwork

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2011

Collectivist, group-oriented teams do better work.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management, Social Entrepreneurship

Research: Cadaver Commerce

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2011

The moral legitimacy of a new market can come as much from how you sell something as from exactly what you’re selling.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Finding Your Funding Model

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2011

Many nonprofit leaders seek reliable funding but are not sure how best to pursue it. Four guidelines provide a road map for leaders to identify and develop the right funding model for their organization.

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Research: How Leaders Encourage Innovation

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2011

Transformational leaders capitalize on the creativity that employees have.

-Subscription Required

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

Topic :

Nonprofit Management

Supplicants No More

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Fall 2011

THE END OF FUNDRAISING: Raise More Money by Selling Your Impact by Jason Saul

Resource: Stanford Social Innovation Review Article

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