Summary

About

Benefits to Working with the Center:

• Ability to access the expertise of Center faculty and other faculty and associates at George Mason University and other institutions
• Independence and credibility of Mason’s products and conclusions
• Access to talented Mason graduate students, working under the direction of Mason faculty
• Assistance with unique and novel issues requiring innovative solutions

Selected Research Projects:

• Nonprofit Employment Data (NED) Project
• Public Policy for Social Enterprise
• How the Nonprofit Sector Advocates for Itself
• Dow-Jones Index for the Nonprofit Sector
• Government Office for the Nonprofit Sector
• Online Platform for Collecting and Sharing Data on Nonprofit Organizations
• Foundations in the Washington, DC Region
• Government-Foundation Partnerships

Selected Workshops, Conferences, and Webinars:

• Outcomes Management Workshops
• Annual Regional Community Forum
• Courses on the U.S. Nonprofit Sector for Students Visiting from Abroad
• Webinar on Nonprofit Fundraising during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Graduate Coursework on Nonprofits in the Schar School

George Mason University has one of the largest, most well-respected, and reasonably-priced nonprofit management programs in the Washington, D.C. region and the country. At George Mason University, students can complete a Nonprofit Management Concentration in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree program, or they can earn Graduate Certificates in Nonprofit Management or Association Management. Students can also focus on nonprofit research in a Ph.D. program in Political Science. All are offered through George Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government. Individuals can also take regular graduate courses as non-degree students.

Course offerings give students the fundamental tools they need to effectively manage the day-to-day operations of nonprofit organizations while preparing them to lead these organizations in a rapidly changing environment.

Mason graduate courses in nonprofit management include:

• Introduction to Nonprofit Management
• Leading in the Nonprofit Sector
• Advocacy and Lobbying
• International NGOs
• Marketing and Communications for Nonprofits
• Resource Development and Fundraising
• Association Management
• Nonprofit Law, Governance, and Ethics
• Nonprofit Financial Management
• Performance Evaluation for Managers
• Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise

Web Links

• Website

People

Center Director

Alan Abramson (Ph.D. Yale University) is a Professor of Government and Politics in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and Founding Director of Mason’s Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise. In these positions, he teaches, conducts research, and works with leaders on a broad range of nonprofit and philanthropic issues. For more than a decade, Alan directed the Aspen Institute’s nonprofit and philanthropy program, overseeing the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund and other initiatives that helped to build the nonprofit research field in the U.S., strengthen nonprofit and foundation leaders, and deepen the understanding of policymakers about nonprofit activities. Before joining the Aspen Institute, Alan Abramson was on the research staff of the Urban Institute, where he worked on a variety of domestic public policy issues. Alan Abramson received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University and his B.A. from Wesleyan University. He is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles, and his work has twice won awards from the American Political Science Association. Alan is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and has also been named among the 50 most influential leaders in the U.S. nonprofit sector. In 2015-2016, Alan served as President of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), the nation’s premier association of nonprofit researchers. In 2018-2019, while on study leave from George Mason University, Alan served as the first Visiting Scholar at Independent Sector, a leading national membership organization for the charitable sector. Knowledgeable about a broad range of nonprofit issues, Alan’s major, current interests are: nonprofit-government relations; foundation policy and practice; social enterprise and social entrepreneurship; and shared governance, the engagement of all three sectors – nonprofit, government, and business – in addressing social problems.

Core Schar School Faculty Affiliated with the Center

Mirae Kim (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is an associate professor of Nonprofit Studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government. Before joining the Schar School, Kim was a faculty member of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University from 2017 to 2020, and before that she taught at the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri. Kim earned her PhD in 2014 from Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Before moving to the United States, Kim earned her bachelor’s degree in English literature from Seoul National University in South Korea and was an exchange student for over a year at Auckland University in New Zealand. Kim has also been leading the “Nonprofit Organization Research Panel” project. She created the NOR Panel project in order to provide valuable information for nonprofit practitioners while producing much needed data for researchers in the nonprofit community. During her doctoral studies at Rutgers, Kim served as a managing editor of the Civic Engagement Magazine that seeks to facilitate discourse about public service – and broaden interest in the field. Kim was also a member of the Penn Social Impact Doctoral Fellows Program. Currently, Kim serves as an associate editor on the editorial board of the Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs (JPNA). She also served the International Review of Public Administration (IRPA) as an associate editor.

Stefan Toepler (Ph.D., Free University of Berlin) is a professor of Nonprofit Studies and the Schar School’s MPA Director. He regularly teaches the Introduction to Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Law, and NGO Management and Policy. Prior to joining George Mason in 2002, he was deeply involved with cross-national research on nonprofits and global civil society at Johns Hopkins University, and more recently he was affiliated with the the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, conducting research on nonprofit-government relations in the Russian Federation and its regions. Dr. Toepler’s research interests range from the study of philanthropic foundations and nonprofit management and policy more generally to the roles of NGOs in international development as well arts policy and cultural economics. With over 100 publications, his most recent articles have appeared in the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Nonprofit Policy Forum, Economics, American Behavioral Scientist, International Journal of Public Administration, International Journal of Cultural Policy, and Development in Practice.

Center Affiliates

Peter J. Donaldson (Ph.D. Brown University) is a Senior Fellow, Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise. Peter Donaldson is president emeritus of the Population Council, which he joined after serving as president of the Population Reference Bureau. Earlier in his career, Donaldson was director of the Population Council’s program in Asia, director of the Committee on Population at The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and a senior staff member at Family Health International (now FHI360). Donaldson is a former member of the board of directors of the Population Association of America and past president of the Association of Population Centers. He currently serves as a Humentum board member. Donaldson has authored or co-authored numerous scientific articles and popular essays. He is particularly interested in funding for nonprofit organizations and global health.

Robin Mockenhaupt (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is a Senior Fellow, Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise. A national philanthropic and nonprofit leader in population health, Mockenhaupt is currently an independent consultant in philanthropy and nonprofit management. Robin worked in several roles for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 1999 – 2020, where she provided direction for organizational management and planning, health policy, strategic relationships, program management, and support for the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. She also worked in nonprofit organizations in aging, maternal and child health, and community health. She is a licensed consultant through the Standards for Excellence Institute, which provides an ethics and accountability code for nonprofits. She is a member of the Advisory Board for George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services, and is the former Chair of the Board of Grantmakers in Health.

Char Mollison  (M.A., Graduate Center of the City University of New York)  is a Senior Fellow, Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise. Known for her beauty, wit and pasta Bolognese, Char Mollison began her nonprofit career in the underground press movement of the 1960’s, covering issues ignored by the mainstream media. She then spent over a decade working for women’s rights, building the staff, volunteers, and coalitions to win new laws for women in education (including athletics) and employment (including the military). When nonprofit advocacy rights were threatened in the 1980’s, she joined the staff of Independent Sector, the major coalition of nonprofits and philanthropies in the U.S. From there she moved to the Council on Foundations, where she oversaw constituency services. She has advised government officials and nonprofit leaders in the U.S. and abroad, including Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. She is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar on the subject of nongovernmental organizations and civil society. Since 1997 she has taught graduate courses in nonprofit management, philanthropy, executive leadership, ethics, governance, and international NGO management and policy at George Mason University and elsewhere.

Research Projects

Global Civil Society

Government Relations and the Shrinking Space for Civil Society

Government relations continue to be one of the central determinants of nonprofit development globally. Recent work has explored relations between government and foundations (see this article in Voluntas) and sought to reframe key government-nonprofit relationship frameworks for a time in which the prevailing partnership is increasingly challenged (see this article in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly), as well as the regulatory and accountability aspects of the relationships (see this chapter).  Additional work underway examines shrinking space in Western, democratic societies (see this special issue in Nonprofit Policy Forum) and prospects for NGO service providers to help revitalize democratization efforts combating the current global wave of authoritarianism (see the vol. 43, no. 1 special issue of Public Administration and Development).

Changing Policy Contexts for Nonprofit Management

This project will chart and analyze key policy developments affecting nonprofit management in both the U.S. and around the world. New opportunities due to growing civic engagement on social equity, climate, reproductive rights, and other global policy issues balance challenges to nonprofit organizations resulting from outdated regulatory frameworks, policy neglect–the unwillingness of governments to improve conditions and tax benefits, or political polarization challenging the legitimacy of nonprofits that are engaged in advocacy and value-based work in particular. One outcome will be a chapter for the 5^th edition of The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Management and Leadership, published by John Wiley.

Nonprofit Trends, Activities, and Impacts

Nonprofit Trends and Impact 2021—National Findings on Nonprofits and Donations Trends, 2015-2020

Funded by the Generosity Commission, this study – conducted in partnership with colleagues at the Urban Institute and American University – provides new evidence about the nonprofit sector in two ways. First, it illuminates how changing patterns of charitable giving affect donations made to various types of nonprofit organizations. Second, and in recognition of constantly evolving trends, this national, survey-based study represents the first year of an ongoing panel study that researchers will be able to use to analyze the long-term effects of these and related trends through subsequent studies of this representative panel of nonprofit organizations over time.

Mapping and Assessing the U.S. Social Sector Infrastructure

This project is examining the national infrastructure – or support system – for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations in the U.S. The research is being conducted jointly by staff at George Mason University and the Urban Institute. The research team is currently gathering input from a broad range of stakeholders to develop several reports, including:  a typology and map of the social sector infrastructure; an assessment of infrastructure financing; an analysis of the current state of the infrastructure; and recommendations for strengthening the infrastructure.  For more information, see the project page on the Urban Institute’s website.

Nonprofit Entrepreneurship:  What Do We Know, Where Are Our Current Data Gaps, and What Can a Multi-Disciplinary Approach Teach Us?

This project aims to highlight the state of our research knowledge regarding the broader dynamics of the nonprofit sector and the role these dynamics play in the vitality of the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit organizations are important contributors to the U.S. economy and key social services but the conventionally used 990 data and our existing theories do not appropriately account for early-stage nonprofits and thus we lack key insight into the growth, scaling, and innovation of new nonprofits.

Welcoming America Network: Local Government – Nonprofit Nexus in Serving the Immigrant Population

The growth of immigrants in the United States and their residential dispersion into different communities have given rise to various local responses to the immigrant population across policy domains. Launched in 2009, Welcoming America now has over 200 members from both local governments and nonprofits joining its immigrant-welcoming initiatives. To better understand the ways that local public service organizations serve the immigrant/refugee community and how they work with Welcoming America, this project implemented an online survey with about 110 nonprofit organizations and local governments that are currently part of the Welcoming America network as well as 35 interviews with leaders at these organizations.

History of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)

On the occasion of ARNOVA’s 50th anniversary, this project is developing a history of the association through a review of historical documents and interviews with key leaders of the organization.

Data on Nonprofits

Nonprofit Employment Data Project

With support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, this project is generating new information on trends in nonprofit sector employment and producing cutting-edge reports on key components of the nonprofit economy in regions and states across the country.  The project will also seek to work with other stakeholders to expand the use of a variety of federal data systems to enhance understanding of the nonprofit sector and its important role in our society.  In particular, tapping into these additional data sources will allow for a more robust understanding of the nonprofit sector’s economic role, the demographics of the nonprofit workforce, and federal funding of nonprofit organizations.  See additional, detailed information on this project elsewhere on this website.

Developing a Data Platform for Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations

The goal of this NSF-funded project is to create a data platform for social science research on nonprofit organizations. The platform will be a publicly accessible, internet-based, and collaborative research space that will help lower the costs of collecting and sharing large amounts of high-quality, multiyear data on nonprofits and their impacts. This platform project will strengthen research and evaluation, broaden access to data-intensive research, and lead to more scientifically informed decision-making by organizations, policymakers, and funders, and improved outcomes for the communities they serve.

Indicators of the State of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector

While the Dow-Jones and other indices provide timely information about the health of the business sector of our society, there is no comparable measure of how the nonprofit sector is faring. This project seeks to identify relevant data regarding the state of the U.S. nonprofit sector.  For a paper on “Assessing the State of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector:  What Indicators Should We Use?,” see this 2022 article in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

Social Enterprise

Public Policy for Social Enterprise

Hybrid organizations, often called “social enterprises,” seek to both “do good” and “make money” and appear to be increasing in number. Their emergence has led some scholars to say they constitute an emerging fourth sector of the economy, alongside the business, government, and nonprofit sectors. This project, with support from the Schar School’s Schar Initiative, is examining current legal and regulatory provisions in the U.S. and around the world related to social enterprise activity and is developing policy recommendations for the hybrid sector in the U.S.  For a paper on “Challenges Facing Social Enterprises in the United States,” see this 2019 article in Nonprofit Policy Forum.  A paper on “New Legal Forms for Hybrid Organizations,” is included in The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Management, edited by Helmut K. Anheier and Stefan Toepler and published in 2020 by Routledge.

Public Administration

Updated Edition of The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance

Center faculty are editing an updated edition of The Tools of Government:  A Guide to the New Governance. This landmark book, originally published in 2002 by Oxford University Press, explores in detail the current reality in the U.S. in which individual federal and other government agencies deliver relatively few services themselves but rather often develop partnerships with other governmental and non-governmental entities to implement government programs.  The book explores this concept of  “third-party government” – in which government agencies collaborate with other, “third-party” entities – in 22 chapters that focus largely on the different “tools” – including contracts, grants, vouchers, regulation, direct loans, loan guarantees, and others – that government agencies use to engage with other government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to provide goods and services.  With the recent untimely passing of Lester Salamon, the original editor of The Tools of Government, center faculty, as the editors of the updated edition, are now working with chapter authors to produce an up-to-date version of this important book.

The Choice of Governance Partners: Does It Matter?

As part of the updated edition of The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance (see above), center faculty and staff will be contributing a new chapter that examines the values and capabilities that different kinds of institutions – including federal, state, and local governments, nonprofits, and businesses – bring to partnerships that implement government programs.

Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF)

Source: Webpage

The mission of Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF) is to serve as an international journal that publishes original research and analysis on public policy issues and the public policy process critical to the work of nonprofit organizations. NPF provides a forum and an authoritative and accessible source of information for scholars, leaders, and policy-makers worldwide. A primary goal of NPF is to provide nonprofit leaders and policy-makers with readily accessible and relevant scholarly research. In addition to being an accessible source of information, NPF creates a publishing venue for the expanding population of nonprofit-public policy scholars.

Call for Papers

The journal Nonprofit Policy Forum is pleased to welcome the submission of unsolicited manuscripts year-round. NPF publishes original, high-quality research and analysis from all scholarly disciplines and all parts of the world that address important public policy issues affecting nonprofits, philanthropy, and social enterprise. A double-blind peer review process is used to select papers for publication.

NPF is published quarterly by De Gruyter, Inc. in open access format and is fully available at www.degruyter.com/loi/npf Open access is made possible by NPF’s generous institutional sponsors: the Humphrey School of the University of Minnesota; the Urban Institute; the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences of Case Western Reserve University; and the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). NPF’s editorial board consists of leading scholars from 20 different countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. The journal is included in the Emerging Science Citation Index (ESCI) and is searchable in the Web of Science Core Collection.

Articles published in NPF address a broad range of nonprofit public policy issues. Subject areas include but are not limited to: government tax, spending, and regulatory policies related to nonprofits and philanthropy; nonprofit advocacy and lobbying; other aspects of nonprofit-government relations; social enterprise and sector boundary issues; global/cross-national NGO issues; and developments in policy fields such as health care, social justice, the environment, education, and the arts that affect nonprofits.

NPF invites research papers of 5,000-8,000 words as well as shorter special features such as policy briefs, commentaries, case studies, interviews, and book reviews. Proposals for special issues are also welcome. More detail on how to submit manuscripts to NPF is available on NPF’s website, www.degruyter.com/loi/npf.

We are very pleased to become NPF’s co-editors-in-chief as of July 2021, and thank founding editor Dennis Young and managing editor Linda Serra for their excellent work in establishing a terrific foundation for NPF in its first decade of publication.

Alan Abramson, Mirae Kim, and Stefan Toepler
Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University
Co-Editors-in-Chief, Nonprofit Policy Forum (beginning July 1, 2021)