Nonprofit Research

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    Understanding Management and General Expenses in Nonprofits
    (2001) Pollak, Thomas; Rooney, Patrick; Hager, Mark
    There has been growing coverage by the press and the accounting profession about how nonprofits report their management and general costs. There has also been growing attention by some donors, perhaps made most famously by claims by some donors that nothing should go to administration. While this area of nonprofit management has caught the attention of the public, it has largely escaped the research lens of scholars. This paper is a first step to understanding and explaining what management and general costs look like in the nonprofit sector and whether or not various institutional characteristics such as mission, size, age, sources of revenues, and/or accounting practices can help explain some of the variation in management and general expenses. We find that these institutional characteristics do matter quite a bit in explaining differences in management and general costs in nonprofits.
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    Response Rates for Mail Surveys of Nonprofit Organizations: A Review and Empirical Test
    (2003-06) Hager, Mark; Wilson, Sarah; Pollak, Thomas; Rooney, Patrick
    The failure of a substantial portion of mail survey recipients to respond to invitations to participate in research projects raises issues of nonresponse error. Because this error is difficult to quantify, survey researchers seek high rates of return to signal legitimacy and reduce questions regarding nonresponse bias. Research on survey method indicates that the design of the survey research process has a measurable influence on the rate of survey returns. This article focuses on three aspects of research design that are expected to influence mail survey returns in surveys of nonprofit organizations: questionnaire complexity, use of Federal Express versus standard mail, and the use of monetary incentives. Using an experimental design, the research concludes that questionnaire complexity and the use of monetary incentives generate no difference in returns, whereas the use of Federal Express to deliver the survey to nonprofit executives has a measurable positive effect.
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    Help Your Nonprofit Clients Improve Their Accounting for Capital and In-Kind Donations
    (2004) Wing, Kennard; Gordon, Teresa; Hager, Mark; Pollak, Tom; Rooney, Patrick
    Many nonprofit organizations, especially smaller ones, lack skilled financial professionals either on staff or on the board. Auditors and other external CPAs are in an excellent position to help these clients present their financial results in ways that will avoid misunderstanding and confusion on the part of financial statement users both inside and outside the client organization. Two areas that have created special problems for nonprofits are accounting for large capital donations and for in-kind donations. We’ll look at the problems first; then show you accounting solutions you can bring to your clients.
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    Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies Education
    (2006-09) Burlingame, Dwight F.
    “We need to reject the naïve imposition of the ‘language of business’ on the social sectors, and instead jointly embrace a language of greatness.” (Collins, 2005, p. 2). This quote from Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, recognizes that the push by many for nonprofits to become more business like is wrong headed. Instead, the critical difference is what makes a nonprofit great--or for that matter, a business great. In contrast to a business which uses financial returns as a measure of performance, nonprofits assess success relative to mission, and further, relative to the resources that they have to apply toward accomplishment of mission.
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    The Nonprofit Research Collaborative: November 2010 Fundraising Survey
    (2010-11) Association of Fundraising Professionals; Guidestar; Foundation Center; Blackbaud; IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; National Center for Charitable Statistics
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    The 2010 Nonprofit Fundraising Survey: Funds Raised in 2010 Compared with 2009
    (2011-03) Association of Fundraising Professionals; Blackbaud; IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; Guidestar; National Center for Charitable Statistics; Foundation Center
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    The Nonprofit Research Collaborative: Summer/Early Fall 2011
    (2011-09) Association of Fundraising Professionals; Blackbaud; IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; Foundation Center; Giving USA Foundation; Guidestar; National Center for Charitable Statistics
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    Late Fall 2011: Nonprofit Fundraising Study
    (2011-12) Association of Fundraising Professionals; Blackbaud; IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; Giving USA Foundation; Guidestar; National Center for Charitable Statistics
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    Financial Literacy and Knowledge in the Nonprofit Sector
    (2012-02) IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy
    Financial literacy and knowledge play a vital role in the creation and sustainability of a vibrant nonprofit sector, particularly in the current economic environment. For the past two decades, a growing wealth of economic and financial data has become available to help inform effective decision-making within the nonprofit sector. It has become increasingly important for nonprofit organizations to have the knowledge and skills that are necessary to apply and use this data for decision-making and benchmarking. However, little is known about the current state of financial literacy and knowledge at nonprofit organizations. One major purpose of this study is to fill this gap by investigating nonprofit organizations’ financial literacy and knowledge and exploring how such knowledge informs their practices. The 2011 Financial Literacy and Knowledge in the Nonprofit Sector report offers new insights on the resources nonprofit organizations use to manage their finances, identifies best practices in financial decision-making, and provides suggestions for improving financial planning in the long term. Conducted by the Center on Philanthropy, in collaboration with The Moody’s Foundation, this study seeks to better understand nonprofit organizations’ financial literacy and knowledge as well as the financial practices these organizations currently adopt. A composite definition of financial literacy is: The knowledge and skills of basic economic and financial concepts, as well as the ability to apply this knowledge in order to manage financial resources effectively.